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It seemed far too long since I’ve published any images, so I thought I’d get back to what I like to do.
Back in late September, 2012, we found this small waterfall and pool below Long Falls in northern Maine. I think it was near Long Falls. Maybe. It’s been a while.
I set up on the slippery rocks and took a series of bracketed exposures, but for this image, I only used one ridiculously long exposure. Sometimes, simpler is better.
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They don’t start out life all colored in.
A short while ago, I published an image of a spectacular male Wood Duck keeping a watchful eye on his brood. There was good reason to be watchful: There were so many of them!
The female Wood Duck and her brood had taken a break from swimming the river, jumping up in a lineup along a fallen tree. There was a bit of a tussle as they scrambled up among the turtles that had been sunning there, but eventually everybody seemed to fit in and settle down.
If you look carefully toward the right side, you can see a bit of yet another young duckling. There may have been a couple of others there… I lost count after a while.
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From his log perch on the Silver River in Florida, a male Wood Duck keeps a close eye on his mate and their brood of baby ducklings.
For my preferences, Silver River is an amazing place to photograph wildlife from our kayaks. Motorboats are allowed to travel only at idle speed. No fishing is allowed. The five mile stretch of the Silver is essentially a wildlife sanctuary, attracting all manner of creatures. In fact, if you leave the Silver River and travel the nearby Oklawaha River, with fewer restrictions, it’s like night-and-day.
April is a great time to visit. The sun is getting warmer, flowers are starting to bloom, and the local critters are busy making ever more critters.
In this scene, I took some time to float near the male Wood Duck, who seemed quite unaffected by our presence. At the time, I thought he was solitary, but as it turns out, his mate was nearby and had a brood of eight or nine ducklings. (I’ll have an image of the brood coming up soon.)
If you haven’t yet seen it, one of my images of the Rhesus macaque monkeys at Silver River was picked up by Seeker Daily, part of the Discovery Network, and featured in a short video piece. You can find that video on YouTube, titled “Is There A Monkey Island In Florida?”
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Again at the Silver River in Florida.
This was taken on the back side of an island that used to be a tourist attraction. Whether the boat was used for ferrying guests, or was used as a prop for greater realism, I’m not sure, but it makes for a great haven for turtles.
I think that turtles make fascinating subjects. Even though they don’t move very much — which is good — the way they huddle together on exposed logs can make for interesting compositions.
I had any number of funny albeit puerile titles and captions in mind for this one, but Susan said, “Oh, don’t be such a boy.” So I promised I wouldn’t.
Suffice it to say, I wonder what’s inside that they’re willing to wait for so long?
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After the chill of the evening wears off, a number of cold-blooded animals climb out of the water to warm themselves in the sun. Alligators tend to favor land or vegetation mats, turtles tend to climb up on logs that stick out of the water. In both cases, the chosen location is a good one in case a quick escape is needed.
This little guy — a Suwannee River Cooter, I believe — is actually only a few inches long, perhaps 5″ at most. I slowly nudged my kayak toward his carefully chosen log and snapped a few frames at 210mm.
Why “Grouch?”
This was the look he gave me just before grudgingly dropping into the cold water.
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While paddling kayaks along the Silver River near Ocala, Florida, one can see a wide range of wildlife, often in interesting combinations. Here, a Great Blue Heron, taking a break from wading, shares a bit of dry space with a turtle.
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Is there an entomologist in the house? I’d love to know what he’s feeding.
Continuing on the theme from “A Mother’s Kiss”, here’s the papa House Sparrow with his offering for the babies. When the kids got to be this size, the male and female parents were constantly flying to and from the house in an effort to keep the babies satisfied.
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While the mother and father House Sparrows were busy bringing food (bugs, actually) to the new babies, I was able to set the camera on a tripod behind a few fava bean plants and fire frames using a remote trigger.
Either the noise of the lens closing, or the blink of the lens, must have startled the mother a bit.
Fortunately, she went about her business of conducting nearly constant feeding trips. Clearly, the largest baby found a good way to snag most of the bugs: Block the hole.
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I recently rented a couple of macro lenses from BorrowLenses.com, testing them out in our gardens.
Springtime is in full swing around here; lots of plants are budding out and blooming. As I honed in with the macro lenses, I was astonished at how well these lenses show us details that we might otherwise pass by without noticing much of anything. Some plants the we believe we’re familiar with take on a completely different appearance when seen closely.
As I was shooting, I recalled a scene from a movie we watched recently, Forks Over Knives, a documentary that examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods. The scene showed a school teacher holding up various vegetables to a group of young students. Many of the students failed to identify potatoes, tomatoes, and other “common” vegetables. Their experience of these foods tends to come only from highly processed and brightly packaged commercial product.
I find that sad.
In the next few weeks, I’ll be posting some of the macro images I’ve taken (and will continue to take!) Can you identify the plants? We’ll start out with something relatively straightforward.* Answer below.
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* It’s a baby blueberry. 🙂
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He probably has every right to be angry, what with a camera pointed at his bath.
Mockingbirds are particularly cantankerous. They’ll squawk, sing countless songs, and chase interloping birds out of their territory. And around here, they’re everywhere.
This image was captured by setting the Nikon D7000 behind some cover foliage, then using a wireless remote trigger to take the shot. One thing we have over the birds is technology.
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