Photography – Page 9 – Ripple Effects

Saturday Snapshot September 19: Pelican Chaser

I’m a pelican chaser. Like those driving towards the eye of the storm, I drive and chase Pelicans from the ground, as far as the road can take me, which is not very far before they’re out of sight.

Unlike that of the storm chasers, my task is serene. From afar, I see the objects of my obsession. Distinctly, I can tell they are Pelicans and not Canada Geese, or Herons. I learned that the Great Blue Herons are solitary, but the Pelicans are gregarious. And as they fly in the sky, Pelicans come in droves and don’t fly the V formation as strictly as the Canada Geese. Since they are larger than the Geese, it’s usually quite easy to identify them:

It’s always wonderful to see a big bird fly majestically in the sky, never mind the baggy beak that looks a bit cartoonish:

So, instead of craning my neck to catch them in the sky, it’s always added pleasure to see a clan of them on the rocks in the river. They look so graceful, like umm… bathing beauties in a movie scene:

I’d spent hours watching their movement, or the lack of it. They are serene, nonchalant, quiet and calm. I’d see them preening on end. Seems like that’s more important than feeding. Their sheer size is awesome. Look at that seagull in the lower left corner in this picture:

I love their leisurely demeanour, not a care in the world… see how they yawn, looks like a most pleasurable pastime:

or playing with their flappy beak. Yes, they can turn it inside out:

or keeping up with the latest gossips:

Or day-dreaming like Snoopy, as the WWI flying ace fighting the Red Baron:

Don’t think they’re all cool and aloof, drowsed in oblivion. They are highly alert of the potential party crasher, like that time, two dogs approaching the edge of the water. They know when to fold, when to walk away. As for the Pelican Chaser, that’s the best time to capture some action:

Haven’t we all heard it before: “Serenity is golden… But sometimes a few ripples are needed as proof of life.”

Just say’n …

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TEXT AND PHOTOS AND THAT FAMOUS QUOTE

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ARTI OF RIPPLE EFFECTS

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Saturday Snapshot August 22: Summer Still

It snowed yesterday. I waited, but it didn’t change, unlike what they say about our weather that if you don’t like it, just wait 5 mins.

But it was only August 21st, summer still. However, I get the message that nature sends so clearly… nothing gold can stay.

Before it fully disappears, here are some photos showing our summer lingering still.

At the pond, the Great Blue Heron and Yellowlegs bask in the summer sun.

Glad to see the songbirds are still here. They know best when to fly south. Apparently not yet. Saw this Least Flycatcher a couple of days ago. Mutually curious:

And this young Yellow Warbler… Hang around a bit longer, li’l guy, a much warmer week ahead is in the forecast.

But of course, I can’t help but see the ripening berries and the seeded dandelions:

Just a while longer… it’s summer still.

(P.S. It’s gorgeous today. Going out to see my avian friends. More next week.)

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Saturday Snapshot June 27: The Busy Beaver

It is on the face of our 5-cent coin, an emblem of Canada. And thanks to conservation and the lack of demand in the pelt hat, the Beaver – at one time endangered – is now safe in numbers.

However, we seldom see one, definitely not an everyday sighting. As for me, I’ve never seen one on land like the image on the coin, busy with its chore. But they are around; surely we can see the aftermath they leave behind. Here are evidences of their presence:

That’s why we have these:

I’ve had the chance of seeing a beaver recently at a pond, taking a break from its busy schedule:

Sure looks like a bear is swimming towards you:

A closer look and you can see its long and robust body:

Beaver

yet agile, diving in and speeds away underwater:

But what I find interesting are the ripples it makes. Look back at the above photos and below:

Or is it just me, watching out for ripples everywhere?

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Saturday Snapshot June 13: Birdspeak

Note: Click on the photo to enlarge for a better view.

Evening. Outside the home of the Starlings.

Junior doesn’t look very happy. I’m hungryyyy!

Now where is she? What’s taking her so long?

Here you are… fresh worms:

Now eat up, chomp, chomp, chomp:

What? You want more?! This is my third trip already.

After some time, Mom Starling finally comes back with more.

Ok, here you are, fresh worms! Now where did the monkey go?

You want me to bring it to your room?!

Get off the computer!

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Saturday Snapshot May 30: Of Birds and Men

Living adjacent to a Provincial Park, I’m always amazed at how tolerant and adaptable the birds are towards our human intrusions. Birds and men co-exist considerably well in my neck of the woods:

There’s even a vague resemblance between birds and man-made structures like in this photo, The Great Blue Heron and the Light Post:

And then there are the Canada Geese, who aren’t shy and actually quite imposing, never observe right of way’s, and never keep their voices down in public places. Since some of you in response to my previous Saturday Snapshot post were surprised that Canada Geese nest in tree trunks, here are a couple more photos for you. People just walk or bike by below these trees, as the Geese give birth to their young just above their heads; no, not in the water. How can you build a nest in the water anyway?

From afar, the Goose at her nest:

At the doorstep:

Of course, you’ll see them in the water once the Goslings are big enough. Here is a family outing:

Here’s a picture of co-existence in harmony… the sailboat was in close proximity to the Geese family, yet both parties took a nonchalant attitude, doing their own thing:

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Saturday Snapshot May 23: Birds Among Buds

While some of you are enjoying roses and rhododendrons, or harvesting your first tomatoes and zucchini, we’re finally seeing buds on our tree branches that were still bare just a few weeks ago.

Here are some photos of what you can see within our budding grove. Probably the most common and easiest to photograph are the Robins. They like to pose and they are not too camera shy:

For a few days I was trying hard to shoot the elusive Ruby-crowned Kinglet, for their calls are clear and distinct. Lured by their songs, I walked into a thicket of bushes and trees and lost my direction for a while in the forest. Love’s labour’s not lost. Here are some of the fruits of my venture off the beaten track. You can see two tiny dots of red on the crown of this one:

But trust me, I saw one flash out in red at the crown flapping his wings frantically from a short distance, but only for just a second. I didn’t even have time to lift my camera and it flew away.

Here’s another Ruby-crowned Kinglet. I must say the budding leaves are more appealing here.

Where do you see the Canada Goose nesting? Inside tree trunk cavities. Here’s one:

On a nearby trunk, the Northern Flicker tapping away, with calls you can hear from a distance:

Have you heard of the Happy Wren? Here he is, probably the happiest bird around at 8 a.m. He was on that branch for half an hour chirping away, loud and clear:

Remember the Great Horned Owlet? He’s grown quite a bit. Here’s a recent photo:

Don’t recognize him? Here’s looking at you kid:

Within the budding grove, birds come and go. Another spring, another generation. This owlet will soon fly away when spring comes to an end. But those eyes I won’t soon forget.

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Saturday Snapshot May 16: Silhouettes

Often when I’m outdoor, the light, shadow, direction of the sun and the time of day are less than ideal for photography. That’s the time when I see beauty from another perspective. The lack of light on the subject, or when it’s backlit, makes it all the more intriguing.

I’ve learned to appreciate silhouettes. They are more soulful and quiet. When devoid of colour, I can see more clearly the subject’s shape and form, and its solitary existence. Here are some photos I’ve taken lately… a kind of Wabi-sabi.

The slow and meditative movement of the Great Blue Heron:

Look at the shadow in the water, like a Chinese brush stroke:

A solitary Belted Kingfisher:

Cattails by the pond in the evening light:

Guess who’s still busy at dusk:

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Saturday Snapshot May 2: Big is Beautiful

It was a grey and overcast evening sky. I was driving away slowly, resigned that not everyday had to be a fruitful birding day. And then I saw it.

From afar, it looked mythical, like a miniature Loch Ness monster, still as a statue. I quickly and quietly got out of the car and made my way closer.

The Loch Ness monster doesn’t have a beak, does it?

Lock Ness 2

No mistaking now… I’d come face to face (almost) with a Great Blue Heron:

For the next few days, I went back to that pond and experienced some gratifying moments. I saw two Great Blue Herons the next day, albeit hard to get them both together in one frame. Here are some images:

I’m one who often plays down sheer size. I take pleasure in the small things I can find and not derive joy from how big a bird is. However, I must say, this time seeing the Great Blue Heron makes me see that sometimes size does matter. In comparison with the ducks, the Great Blue Heron distinctly stands out:

Aloof and stoic, the Heron is also very sensitive and camera shy.

Seeing me take a few steps closer, it quickly took off. In relatively slow motion, it lifted off with majestic poise. This is what I’ve found: the bigger the bird, the slower the flapping of wings, the more graceful it is in flight. I admit these are not the sharpest pictures, but they are the best shots I could get:

I call that a fruitful day.

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Saturday Snapshot April 18: A Whiter Shade of Spring

We don’t have green grass yet. Flowers, another two months. A hidden stream I saw a few days ago was still in ice. This is our spring. And I’m fine with it, for on a clear day, I can see for miles all the way to the snow-capped Rockies.

These photos were taken earlier this week. On that day, I had to stop my car and capture these sights. The sun was out in full force and the sky was magnificently blue, all clear for me to use just my point-and-shoot camera (mind you, one with a pretty good zoom I admit).

A whiter shade of Spring than most of you are used to:

Ah… the benefit of living right at the foothills of the Rockies:

The wide open space can cast away all claustrophobic wintry blues, and set your imagination free. Have you seen the pyramids of Giza covered in snow? Here they are:

Or flashback to the days when the sky, mountains and grasslands fuse with your homestead. Breathe in the scene; the firewood can wait:

By the next few weeks, these mountains will still be covered with snow (actually they are snow-capped all year). The icy stream will long have melted, colours will return. I’ll show you our birds and other living creatures. But right now, I look beyond the dry, brown grass up to the mountains, and soak in this whiter shade of Spring.

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Seven Stanzas for a Happy Easter

“Seven Stanzas At Easter” by John Updike

Make no mistake: if he rose at all
It was as His body;
If the cell’s dissolution did not reverse, the molecule reknit,
The amino acids rekindle,
The Church will fall.

It was not as the flowers,
Each soft spring recurrent;
It was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled eyes of the
Eleven apostles;
It was as His flesh; ours.

The same hinged thumbs and toes
The same valved heart
That—pierced—died, withered, paused, and then regathered
Out of enduring Might
New strength to enclose.

Let us not mock God with metaphor,
Analogy, sidestepping, transcendence,
Making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the faded
Credulity of earlier ages:
Let us walk through the door.

The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache,
Not a stone in a story,
But the vast rock of materiality that in the slow grinding of
Time will eclipse for each of us
The wide light of day.

And if we have an angel at the tomb,
Make it a real angel,
Weighty with Max Planck’s quanta, vivid with hair, opaque in
The dawn light, robed in real linen
Spun on a definite loom.

Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
For our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
Lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are embarrassed
By the miracle,
And crushed by remonstrance.

– John Updike (1932-2009)

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Happy Easter to All!

Saturday Snapshot March 21: Welcome Back

We don’t have to wait for the official date. We’ve been enjoying unusually warm weather in the past few weeks. Creatures great and small come out to greet the early Spring; actually, many of them are here throughout the winter. The warm temperatures bring one creature out in particular, the birder.

Good to hear the Cedar Waxwings among the budding branches. Yes, I always hear their convivial buzz before seeing them:

The White-tailed deer, here all year round, but seldom do I see such a large party:

The curious red squirrel loves company:

I think I saw both the pinkish Common and the white Hoary Redpoll, sent here by Spring and instinct:

I’m always amazed to see our Great Horned Owl Mama and Papa coming back to the same spot to nest every Spring for the past few years. Every time, Mama will give birth to two Owlets in exactly the same hollow tree trunk.

Once they are fledged, the family will move on. Homing instinct will bring Mama and Papa back the next Spring. Where do the young ones go? Nobody knows.

Can you see Papa Owl in the trees?

Right in the middle. Here he is, eyes wide shut:

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The Rite of Spring: Goldeneyes Courting

From afar, I could only see their amusing act through my camera lens. The male Common Goldeneye would let out a sharp call, stretch his neck straight up, drawing attention, then quickly bend his head far backwards, touching his rump, then snap right back, overcompensating by kicking his orange feet out of the water.

Pardon the inadequate description above. Actually looking at them is hilarious, like watching a bunch of class clowns trying desperately to impress. Here’s the sequence.

A sharp call to draw attention:

Stretch neck straight up:

Bend over backwards:

Snap out of it:

Male synchronized swimming – courting en masse:

As for the females, looks like they are not easily moved, or maybe just feigning indifference:

No matter. Spring is at hand.

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