Category Archives: Birds

Photos of birds, bald eagles, tundra swans, hawks, waterfowl, wading birds and more.

Pectoral sandpiper, anwr, alaska.

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pectoral sandpiper, anwr, alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s a Pectoral sandpiper photo, taken on our recent trip to ANWR, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. The shorebirds out on the coastal plain were really a treat – we were so lucky to see a number of cool birds. I’ll try to write a thorough report when I get time. In the meantime, dig this.

Cheers

Carl

PS – I edited this after the great biologist Milo Burcham pointed out the error of my initial post, which said the bird is a buff-breasted sandpiper – Milo, of course, is correct, and I, of course, was wrong – the bird is a pectoral sandpiper. Thanks Milo.

Pacific Loon, Section 1002, ANWR, Alaska

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Pacific Loon, Section 1002, ANWR, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s a Pacific Loon image I got late one evening near the Canning River, on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, ANWR, Alaska. This photo took me quite a while, and a lot of walking, to swing. I think it was nearly 2am when I clicked the shutter here. I’d been over near this pond earlier, but not able to get close. I ended up walking around for a long time, finding a few other birds to photograph, and then cam back by the loon pond. This loon and its mate were getting more and more comfortable with this strange tripod-toting creature wandering around, and finally came close enough for me to manage a few photos. I wish the light was a little brighter, and the wind not present, as the rippled effect on the water isn’t as nice as a calmer surface, but one takes what one can in the arctic. At least the wind kept the bugs at bay.

Section 1002, the coastal plain, of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the area hotly debated over with the proposals to drill for oil. I think the wildlife that live there, will be much better off if drilling and gas extraction aren’t allowed; I think we’ll be better off for it, too.

Cheers

Carl

Long-Tailed Jaeger, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

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Long-tailed Jaeger, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska.

hey Folks,

I just got back in from a long and really cool trip to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge – awesome place! This is a photo of a Long-tailed Jaeger, sitting on a small mound on the coastal plain, taken around 1:00am; gotta love that summer arctic thing!

I’ve got about a million things to do, so this is just a quick short post – but do stay tuned. I have some ground-breaking stuff here, new, never before taken photos from the Refuge, and some discussion that will likely amaze a number of readers – the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a topical place right now, with the oil prices, and all, and I’m sure you’ll find some of my findings very interesting, maybe a little disturbing (or disturbed), and even surprising.

Cheers

Carl

Oystercatcher, Icy bay, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska

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Oystercatcher, Icy bay, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

So why go to Icy Bay? Well, firstly because it’s such an amazing place. The scenery is superb – National Geographic list Icy Bay as one of the world’s top 10 treasures. Secondly, I’m working on a book on Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Icy Bay is in the park. Thirdly, I hadn’t been there before. 4th, the natural history of the place is so unique. Icy Bay is a relatively new place, with the recent retreat of 3 glaciers, the Guyot, the Tindall and the Yahtse, there are now 4 fjords, filled with the cool waters of the northern Pacific Ocean.

When the area was first explored by European ships 150-200 years ago, Icy Bay didn’t even exist. John Muir, the great naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club, visited the area a little over 100 years ago, and Icy Bay didn’t exist. Continue reading →

Male Barrow’s Goldeneye, calling, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska

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Male Barrow’s Goldeneye, calling, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Guess who should be back tomorrow? Here’s a hint: you might get to see something besides birds on here real soon. Of course I’m writing this post 2 weeks in advance, so there’s a chance you might not, too. But by the time this goes online, I should be just about back from 2 weeks in ……?

I ain’t telling.

So here’s the male of the Barrow’s Goldeneye again. I liked this image because his bill is wide open and he’s looking at me. I had just moved slightly, where I was more visible to him, and it was as if the bird was saying ‘dude, I so TOTALLY see you’. This was one of the last images I made of this duck. What a cool bird.

Male Barrow’s Goldeneye, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Cheers

Carl

Female Barrow’s Goldeneye, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska

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Female Barrows Goldeneye, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Here’s the female of the 2 Barrow’s Goldeneye ducks I photographed recently. I couldn’t have asked for a more co-operative pair. They were surprisingly tolerant. I didn’t have a blind setup or anything, just slowly and gingerly made my way around the pond, through the woods, hid behind a small bush, and waited for a few hours, and they gradually started coming over my way from time to time, where I could get some images.

It’s wild to see the different between the male and the female of the species. The male of the species, in breeding plumage, is way sharper looking than the drab female. This is pretty common in numerous species, but particularly birds.

Female Barrow’s Goldeneye, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Cheers

Carl

Great Horned Owlets, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska

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Great Horned Owl chicks, perched on a spruce tree, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Yep, birds again. Here are 2 of the 3 Great Horned Owl chicks I got to photograph recently. I could never manage to find all 3 perched together. I also never managed to find them in any kind of decent light, so had to shoot at the higher end of the ISO range on my camera – which is a total disaster. The D2x is terrible at higher ISOs (anything over 250, IMO), which makes life miserable late in the day for shooting wildlife – the best time, of course, to find wildlife.

So, these little guys are probably flying around the park now, racing each other through the boreal forest as they swoop, silently, down on the snowshoe hares that are really abundant right now.

Great Horned Owl chicks, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.
Cheers

Carl

Trumpeter swan, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska

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Trumpeter swan on pond, and reflection, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

Continuing with the bird theme again, here’s a trumpeter swan I found on my recent travels. The trumpeters were the first birds I saw back in the park as spring began, 2 of them actually swimming on the Kennecott River as it first opened up.

Once the river is ice free, it becomes a silty chocolate brown color, and quite a raging river, the last place a swan might frolic.

But early on, as the first ice melts back, the water is a deep aqua blue, clear and cold, and not as torrential as it becomes in the summertime, once the glacial melt increases. So I was kinda surprised to see trumpeter swans there early on. Then I saw them on the ice, from where I posted a photo or 2 a month back.

Now the ponds are all open and the swans grace their way along the surface (I know, ‘grace’ isn’t a verb, but it sounds nice). They’re definitely an awesome bird.

Trumpeter swan, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Cheers

Carl

Great horned owl chick photo, Wrangell St. Elias national park, Alaska

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baby Great Horned owl chick, Wrangell St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Hey Folks,

I was gunna call this post “You Can Call Me Al”. 🙂 🙂 🙂

I really wanted to get some owl photos this winter, and I heard them outside the cabin nearly every night. But i could never manage to spot one. I did run across a nest towards the end of winter, but it was buried in a thick grove of trees, and too high up to afford any photos, without seriously disturbing the nest.

So I pretty much figured no owls for me this year.

Until this particular evening comes along. I’d photographed trumpeter swans, loons, some flowers, and was poking around just as dark rolled in (dark as it gets in Alaska in June) and look what I find. Eventually there turned out to be 3 Great Horned Owlets, and an adult in the area. The adult was kinda skittish, and bailed, so I didn’t stay around long, and the light was toast anyway (this was shot at 1/30th of a second, f4). But I was overjoyed to even see, nevermind get to photograph, these little guys.

They’re SO cute!

Cheers

Carl