Tag: “bill duncan”

The Birds from Brazil – Yellow-headed Caracara

birds, The Birds From Brazil, wildlife

I recently returned from a work trip to Brazil that covered a good portion of the southern states of Sau Paulo, Parana, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul.  Of course I had to find a little time for birds and photography.  I plan on sharing a number of images from the trip here and on Flickr.

English Name: Yellow-headed Caracara

Portuguese: Carrapateiro

LB: Milvago chimachima

 

Yellow-headed Caracara - Adult 2
Yellow-headed Caracara – Adult

 

Yellow-headed Caracara - Adult 3
Yellow-headed Caracara – Adult
Yellow-headed Caracara - Adult
Yellow-headed Caracara – Adult
Yellow-headed Caracara - Juvenile
Yellow-headed Caracara – Juvenile

Here’s to Fishin’

birds, wildlife

There are so many reasons I love spending time at Clarksville watching the eagles.  One of the primary reasons this is so much fun for me is the glimpse that it provides of the biology and everyday life of these birds.  I can never predict what the birds will be doing or even where they will be on a particular day.  Try and use the weather patterns to predict their numbers and when and where they’ll be fishing or finding a meal.  More than likely you’ll be wrong.  Just recently I was somewhat disappointed during a trip where I thought the conditions would be perfect for some photography of some wild fishing activity.  Nope.  During that day the birds were in the hundreds, but primarily concentrated near the ice-line about a half mile downstream.  I guess maybe they were finding meals in the disappearing ice?

So, here are a few interesting things that I think only still photography can give one a glimpse of.

You see this in a lot of the eagle shots that I post.  I love that the birds always look closely at their catch, even as they are still getting the air back underneath their wings.  Every-time they do this.  I’m not sure if they’re inspecting the size of their meal, or if perhaps they’re just ensuring a good foothold on their prey.

IMG_5132

Next is something I noticed while I was watching in the middle of one of our extreme cold spells this winter.   There were not great numbers of birds fishing immediately below the dam, but those that were there were fishing like crazy!  I saw several instances of what you see here: birds with obviously stuffed crops were still picking them up left and right.  I wondered if these might be animals with chicks in nests nearby.

IMG_5110

Finally for tonight, here is one I was fortunate to catch a frame of.  This fish was so large and the eagle was travelling so quickly that the inertia rips the single leg that had a strong hold backwards.  The bird seemed to barely hold on.

IMG_5124

OZB’s Favorite Images from 2013!

"monochrome", birds, landscape, Uncategorized, wildlife

Yeah, I know.  We are almost through two months of 2014, however that’s possible.  But, I really wanted to make a post like this (I still don’t have all of 2013’s images processed) .  I know it’s popular in the photo-blog community, but I think it really is a nice way to cap the year.  I had quite a time in narrowing this list to ten.  I’m not saying these are my best images of the year, but these are the ones I found to be the perfect combination of capturing something special, being meaningful for me and being at least competently captured.  Follow the links to the posts that each image was featured in.  I apologize to the images that did not make the list.  😉

Here we go…

#10) “Confluence Contradiction”

Taken on a trip to Big Spring this April, this one was something I had never seen in all of my visits to this feature.  Sarah and I were really excited to see the Current in high water and I was lucky to make this image before the water from the river had overtaken the blue colored spring effluent later on this day.

10

#9) “Autumn Regality”

Taken early one cloudy autumn morning following an evening storm, the diffused light, and saturated foliage worked well with the complacent attitude of the alpha buck.

9

#8) “Singing Cerulean”

Observing multiple Cerulean Warblers was one of several things that made putting up with the heat and insects worth our while.

8

#7) “Greater Prairie Chickens in Flight, February 2013“

Lifers for both Steve and me, spotting and photographing two of Missouri’s literal handful of Prairie Chickens was the highlight of our trip to Prairie State Park last winter.

7

#6) Untitled composition taken at Lee’s Bluff on the St. Francis River

This was a recent finding for us, and one in which I hope to get back to soon and often.  This relatively easy S-curve was but one of many potential compositions that I tried to capture.

#5) Untitled composition of Short-Eared Owl

I’ll never forget the day when we were able to watch multiple SEOW up close and personal.  The highlight was taking a shot of this one perched on an MDC sign at B.K. Leach C.A.

5

#4) “Coward’s Hollow”

I had been looking for this spot since I first started exploring the MO Ozarks several years ago.  This year I was able to find it, and just after an incredible amount of rain!

4

#3) Untitled composition of Sandhill Crane in flight

Taken with my newest bird lens, I was in the right place at the right time to squeeze off this keeper.

3

#2) Star Trails at Dunn Ranch Prairie

Among so many other unforgettable experiences from Steve’s and my trip, the chilly July night spent working on my first serious attempts at astro-photography ranks near the highest from 2013.

2

#1) “Are You Sure It’s Dead?”

With my medically documented disorder for decision making, it’s an official miracle that I was able to narrow down the subject and the specific image for the top spot in my favorite images of 2013.  Finding such a nest at just the right place and time to observe these parent Scissor-tailed Flycatcher raising a healthy brood was such serendipity.  This image was taken at Tucker Prairie C.A., the first stop of this particular journey.  We were torn between watching these guys until fledging and heading on to the other great spots along our route.

Well, I hope I did my 2013 collection justice with this list.  I can’t imagine 2014 could top the experiences of last year.  If the experiences and associated photographs of 2014 even come close in comparison, I will truly be a fortunate creature.  Happy New Year.

Ozark Bill

1