I came across this scene just minutes after the sow grizzly and her two cubs killed the young calf of this cow moose. The poor moose just kept circling, her mothering instincts so strong that she would continue to move in close to check on her calf, until the sow would chase her off. The cow moose left the area a couple of times, but continued to return. Finally she was able to get in a position above the bears where it appeared to me she could see her calf was gone, after this final look, she left for good.
Eight snowshoe hares in a short section of road in Denali National Park, Alaska.
Two years ago I spent a fair amount of time photographing hares, as it seemed the population had peaked. Last year I was surprised to find even more, but this year the number of hares was nothing short of unbelievable! Driving the road in evenings and mornings was literally was a challenge, often they wouldn’t move from the road and you would have to drive around them. Dozens were killed by cars everyday making easy pickings for other wildlife. One wolf in particular seemed to walk the road every evening just eating road killed hares. [click to continue…]
Great Horned Owl nest, Denali National Park, Alaska.
I have never had a close look at a Great Horned Owl, so to see one on a nest with two chicks was a real treat! Now, back into the park. (Note: Thank you Calvin for the heads up on the species, I have made the correction).
Porcupine.
Usually when I see a porcupine, all I see is the backside and a lot of quills as it slowly flees. It is nice to know these guys really do have a face!
A wild wolf in Denali last night.
Yesterday I hit the road and made the long drive to Denali National Park. I arrived at about 10:30 last night, and since it was still light out, I decided to drive a few miles into the park for a look see. Much to my surprise, I came across this wolf along the road just 8 miles into the Park! She was a beauty! This was close enough to capture this with a 100-400! What a great start. [click to continue…]
A cow moose in first morning light near Seward, Alaska.
Newborn moose should be dropping any time right now, if they haven’t already. I made the rounds early in the morning, but did not find any new calves. This female still had last years calf with her. It was good to see a yearling; young moose have a difficult time surviving a deep snowy winter like this past one.
Lincoln’s Sparrow on Lupine from a past summer, near Seward and Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.
I want to take my photo blog in a new direction. Well maybe a better description is an additional direction. I still plan to post a photo nearly every day and share experiences from the field and our travels, but I want to do more. [click to continue…]
A Red-necked Grebe from last week in Wasilla, Alaska.
It is easy to see how this bird earned it’s name. It was a gloomy evening, but using flash saved the day with this photo by bring out the rich color in this birds plumage.
Here are more Alaska photos.
This photo was from our trip to San Diego a little over a year ago.
Magazines and books often select more then one photo to mock up for cover consideration. We had been on a bit of a losing streak lately missing out on what could have been exciting covers for National Geographic Adventure and Via Magazine. Maybe now our luck is changing!
Shorebirds fly over the Copper River Delta, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.
I have avoided putting any advertising on our main photo website despite some lucrative offers because I think they are a distraction that would take away from the photos.
[click to continue…]
Muskrat.
We visited my artist mom for Mother’s day and got an added bonus – a muskrat! I have never been able to get close to these guys before, much less have one climb out of the water onto a stick in nice light!
Sea Otter
As wonderful as the birds have been here in Prince William Sound, it is hard to beat an animal as cute as a Sea otter!
Resting shorebirds for as far as the camera can see! And after flying thousands of miles, who can blame them. I stopped down the f/18, but it is hard to get much depth of field when using telephotos. I kind of like the out of focus effect.
Today (Tuesday) there weren’t as many birds as on Monday when I captured this image. High tide is when the best photography takes place, but today a predator (I believe it was a Merlin) passed over at high tide and cleared the birds out in a hurry. We did get a nice break from the rain.
Flocks of shorebirds in Cordova, Alaska.
What a fantastic day! Wow! Not just the sheer quantity of birds, but the way they fly together. It isn’t in perfect unison, but more like a synchronized dance where the entire group can continually vary the size, shape and color of the flock with endless combinations. I was mesmerized. Hugh Rose has lead tours here for many years, he says there had to be over a 100,000 birds today – they basically just arrived today. I was shooting non-stop thinking it couldn’t possible get any better, and that was when I heard the words “O my God! [click to continue…]
Actually this is a jackrabbit, so maybe I should have titled this Silly Wack-wabbit. 
Seems like at the end of a trip we start evaluating our travel plans and methods. Our trips outside Alaska to the Lower 48 have typically been fairly long trips for a couple of reasons. [click to continue…]
A Gila Woodpecker tends to a nest cavity in a Saguaro Cactus – McDowell Mountain Regional Park, Arizona. [click to continue…]
At least for one of them. This is a Common King Snake attacking what I think is a Western Shovel-Nosed Snake. It might be a Sonoran Coralsnake. This was really something to see. They were still battling when it got dark, but clearly the much larger King Snake was winning. It will be interesting to see if there is any sign of them in the morning.
I had been wanting to explore along the Verde River, and choose tonight to venture into the thick brush because it was cool, and I didn’t think I would have to worry about any snakes – so much for that thinking!
Desert Tortoise.
I was thrilled to finally see a wild desert tortoise last weekend. On top of being a threaten species, these tortoise spend more then 95% below ground in burrows. That combination makes them a rare sight.
I spotted one while mountain biking last weekend, but by the time I returned to my vehicle and grabbed my camera, I was unable to find her. I have looked for her everyday since then – how far can a tortoise go! I finally spotted her again yesterday while doing some more mountain biking photos. This time I had my camera - what a treat!
by Ron on February 26, 2008
Costa’s Hummingbird Nest.
I thought I would stick with the bird theme. This hummingbird is tiny! According to Sibley, it is one of our smallest birds – it weighs in at 3.5 grams. I shot this right at sunrise with a 600, plus 2x converter, plus extension tubes and still couldn’t fill the frame.
You can see this little gal right outside the Anza-Borrego Visitor Center. Employees roped off the area surrounding the nest after a dog started sniffing near the nest; that does make finding the bush with the nest a lot easier, look for the barriers.
by Ron on February 25, 2008
Anna’s Hummingbird Nest.
I found this nest a few days ago. I must admit, I couldn’t help but think of her during the night as the wind blew and the rain came down. I can’t imaging how much the branches most have been moving around as she sat there keeping the two little jellybean sized eggs warm.
They have a fourteen day incubation period, I look forward to seeing the chicks.
by Ron on February 14, 2008
I had always heard that best way to bring attention to a blog is to write something controversial. Little did I know, my decisions to replace my digital darkroom with a PC instead of a Mac might be controversial, but 24 comments and a bunch of links later, it was by far my most active posting. There actually was a lot of valuable feedback in that post from many people and I really appreciate it.
So now that I have used my new Falcon Northwest digital darkroom for a few weeks, I thought I better provide an update to that threaed. And since I’m sitting on a plane – what a perfect time to write! [click to continue…]
by Ron on January 24, 2008
Black Bear in Pedersen Lagoon.
An annual salmon run brings lots of black bears to the shores of Pedersen Lagoon, Kenai Fjords National Park. I think I counted 13 separate bears over a two day period just within the lagoon!
by Ron on January 23, 2008
A sea otter family enjoying the relative safety of Pedersen Lagoon, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.
Notice the large pup asleep on the belly of one of the adults.
