Tag: ozark bill

Three Fuzzballs

birds

“No important change in ethics was ever accomplished without an internal change in our intellectual emphasis, loyalties, affection, and convictions.  The proof that conservation has not yet touched these foundations of conduct lies in the fact that philosophy and religion have not yet heard of it.  In our attempt to make conservation easy, we have made it trivial.”

-Aldo Leopold-

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Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera,  EF400mm f/5.6L USM lens, ISO 400,  f/6.3, 1/160 sec

Mondays Are For The Birds – Black-throated Green Warbler

birds, Mondays Are For The Birds

The BTGW nests primarily in conifers such as white pines, spruce and hemlocks in Canada’s boreal forests.  Did you know…?  A major source of wood pulp for the paper and tissue industry are the trees that are harvested from the boreal forests of the world.  There are two easy things we can all do to limit our burden on these resources.

1) Recycle: Recycling is quite easy in much of the country and has a significant role in limiting the need for virgin wood pulp.  Also consider purchasing products made from recycled paper products.

2) Limit use of unnecessary paper products: A horrible player here are solicitous catalogs and junk-mail.  There are ways we can drastically reduce the pounds of this we receive in a year’s time.  https://www.catalogchoice.org/  The disposable paper towels and other sanitary wipes are other industries that use significant percentages of wood pulp.  There are many ways we can reduce usage of these products as well.

Yes, wood pulp is a renewable resource, and yes, humans are part of planet and will always be users of these resources.  However, what many do not realize is that replanting trees is not the same as replanting natural habitat.  Many bird species, including several wood warblers will only nest in specific, old-growth trees.  These habitats have taken hundreds of thousands of years to develop the complex interactions of this original, world wide web.  Planting a monoculture of cultivars developed to best meet the needs of man comes nowhere close to replacing the splendid diversity or wilderness aspects of these places hold.

“The only conclusion I have reached is that I love all trees, but I am in love with pines.”

-Aldo Leopold-

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“Black-throated Green Warbler, September 2012”

Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera,  EF400mm f/5.6L USM lens, ISO 640,  f/5.6, 1/640 sec

Missouri’s Conservation Ethic

landscape

Did you know?  The Missouri program of The Nature Conservancy has protected nearly 150,000 acres of critically important natural habitat?  Their science-based approach to choosing important and biologically diverse habitats combined with their ability to work with private individuals, governments, corporations and a variety of other organizations has enabled them to protect forests/woodlands, savannahs/prairies and freshwater habitats across our great state.  Their annual update was released recently and in it are a few photographs I donated for it’s use.  Please have a read to see what The Nature Conservancy has been up to in Missouri this past year.  And please, do give some thought of making a charitable donation for your new-years plans.

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Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, EF17-40mm f/4L USM @ 40mm, ISO 100,  f/14, 1/10 sec

Wilson’s Warbler

birds, wildlife

I realize I missed the focus on this one, but the little guy was posed so nicely.  I figured this was a species that would take a lot of time and patience to capture, and I was very surprised to get this much.

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“Wilson’s Warbler, Autumn 2012”

Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera,  EF400mm f/5.6L USM lens, ISO 640,  f/5.6, 1/400 sec

Alton Angels

birds, wildlife

A few images taken of the Trumpeter Swans at RMBS, near the town of Alton.

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Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera,  EF400mm f/5.6L USM lens, ISO 640,  f/5.6, 1/1600 sec

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Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera,  EF400mm f/5.6L USM lens, ISO 800,  f/5.6, 1/1600 sec

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Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera,  EF400mm f/5.6L USM lens, ISO 800,  f/4.5, 1/1000 sec

Mondays Are For The Birds – Great Black-backed Gull

birds, Mondays Are For The Birds, wildlife

I know it’s not Monday, but it is the first day back after a nice holiday break.  Same thing, or even worse…

This GBBG was spotted this past September during the local Audubon Society’s pelagic seabird trip to Carlyle Lake.  The species is the largest gull found on the North American continent.  They will eat any protein source they can find, including carrion and prey upon anything they can overpower, including smaller birds.  This striking guy is a first-year bird and this species will not breed until their forth year.  Interesting is the differences in behavior among these often difficult to distinguish gulls.  This guy almost always flew solo and higher than the flocks of Ring-billed that constantly followed the boats.

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“Great-Black-backed Gull, Autumn 2012”

Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera,  EF400mm f/5.6L USM lens, ISO 640,  f/5.6, 1/1250 sec

Snow in SEMO!?!?

landscape, Ozark Grist Mills

The forecast suggested the day in which I had been waiting for years might finally be here.  Finally, the combination of snow in the big-spring country of south-eastern Missouri Ozark region, a vehicle that can move through these hilly, un-plowed roads and a day off to enjoy myself in them.  I was also fortunate to have a friend who was just as excited about it as I was!  I told Steve I’d pick him up from his place and we would visit Big Spring and whatever other places we desired and had the daylight to enjoy.  This is the second winter season I have owned my current 4WD vehicle, but considering our winter last year, this was really the first time I’ve gotten to drive it under snow and icy conditions.  It definitely lived up to my expectations.  Remembering one must still drive slow and anticipate braking (as the three 4WD vehicles in the ditch that I passed demonstrated) we took our time and arrived at Big Spring State Park with a minimum of butt-clenching.  It was definitely worth the drive!  My photos do not begin to capture the beauty and peacefulness of our surroundings.

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“Ozark Whitewater″
Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, EF17-40mm f/4L USM @ 19mm, ISO 100,  f/13, 1/10 sec

Nothing can beat a day spent during or after a snow at a place such as this.  Although definitely slower and quieter during this “blue season”, life was still obvious in surrounding us.  Mosses and lichen were wet and vibrant, and the bright green watercress contrasted nicely with the deep blues and sharp turquoise of the spring effluent.  A first for my eyes was the conspicuous in-this-season mistletoe bunches that are evergreen and apparently still robbing their Sycamore hosts even during the “dead of winter”.  I imagine I have observed these plants in the past, but assumed they were dead leaves potentially put together by a squirrel.  And the birds!  The birds were very abundant immediately surrounding the spring.  Nothing beats being able to observe a Bald Eagle and a Belted Kingfisher simultaneously without having to turn your head.  The photo below shows the geology that is not as visible in the green months.

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“Big Spring, Winter 2012″
Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, EF17-40mm f/4L USM @ 36mm, ISO 100,  f/11, 1/60 sec

Every slight change in viewing angle resulted in noticeable changes in color of different sections of the spring’s effluent.  I don’t believe I have ever seen so many shades of blue in one place at one time.  I converted the image below to black and white, then toned as a “duotone” by bringing a selenium tone to the shadows.  I hoped to focus attention on the textures in the water and the heights these waves reached.

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“Exhalation″
Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, EF17-40mm f/4L USM @ 17mm, ISO 100,  f/14, 1/8 sec

After getting a satisfactory but still much too short experience at Big Spring, we left what unmarred snow was remaining and headed to the next spot I was eager to see with a cap of snow, Falling Spring.

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“Falling Spring Mill-house, Winter 2012″
 Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 40mm, ISO 100,  f/11, 0.4 sec

It always brightens my spirit to see that this delicate structure still stands and in relatively little disabuse.  The spring’s discharge was light on this day, but the noise of the water falling the ~20 feet to the pool below was enough to drown almost every other sound.  A nice point of visiting in the winter was being able to trek around the beaver pond a bit.  Steve discovered the beaver den with obvious “trails” moving outward from it in the water.  The picture below was taken facing away from the spring and shows the fiery warmth of the late-day sun that was cut by the height of the hill.  I love the contrasts provided by the bare Sycamore branches and the reflections from the beaver pond.  A stunning view indeed!

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“Holding the Sun″
 Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 85mm, ISO 100,  f/14, 0.6 sec

Seeing what can be found on a day like this and how few people were out to make these experiences ensures that I will definitely be down here to capture more scenes like these.