Tag Archives: naturalist

BACK YARD SAFARI

1 Reply

  661-15-1

 Boreal chickadee

Ever feel like going on a safari but just can’t get away? Well, take a safari in your own back yard. Here you’re the expert. You know the terrain and what to expect.  And believe it or not everyone can benefit from this little exercise. In fact, even with the smallest back yard, some amazing and beautiful images can be made. I regularly take a backyard safari.

640-15-3

Pine grosbeak

My Big Backyard
I bet my back yard is bigger and wilder than yours! Our ten acres of northern boreal forest borders Wrangell/St. Elias National Park, Alaska, our largest National Park. My back yard stretches south for a couple hundred miles through the wilderness of Alaska.  We have had grizzlies, wolves, red fox, lynx, great gray owls, nesting hawk owls, bald eagles, golden eagles, willow ptarmigan, great horned owls, sharp-tailed grouse, boreal owls, marten, caribou, Alaskan moose and much more on out little ten acre homestead. But still it is usually a difficult challenge to photograph the local wildlife .  Nothing comes easy.

32-15-10

Red squirrel

Developing Photo Potential
Getting the most out of your backyard safari is the same as any photo trip. In fact your own backyard offers the best opportunity to learn to develop photographic potential. And, there is no better place to gain valuable experience in finding solutions to photographic problems we all encounter in the field.

Look for a unique perspective.

Create feeding stations for birds and squirrels.

Take the time to let wildlife become used to your presence.

Build a blind if you have shy wildlife species.

32-15-18

Red squirrel jumping

640-15-6

Pine grosbeak

THE COLOR OF WINTER

Leave a reply

Month after month of white, gray, blue and green of the cold interior Alaskan winters leaves me wishing for warmer hues.  Fortunately warmer colors in winter are out there, if you look close enough.

649-10-22

The common red poll adds a tiny  touch of color to the long Alaskan winter.

hb cranberry-13-22The fruit of the high-bush cranberry seems to be to winter resistant.

sunset-1

Winter sun sets.

aurora_borealis_202 copy (2) A rare crimson aurora sets the night sky on fire.

PHANTOM OF THE BLACK SPRUCE BOG

1 Reply

 

55-15-17Alaskan lynx

Some authors claim the lynx is strictly a hunter-predator.   I have observed several lynx that do not fit perfectly into that mold.  I do think lynx prefer fresh game they have killed themselves, But what if game is scarce and lynx are very hungry?  This is the situation in much of interior Alaska this winter.  The snowshoe hare population is currently at the bottom of its ten-year cycle.  There are always a few snowshoe hares in prime habitat which is thick, white or black spruce mixed with a variety of other trees such as aspen, birch or poplar as well as willows and alder.  But in the stands of pure black spruce, which dominate much of the landscape near my home snowshoe hare tracks are nearly absent.  What remains for the lynx are primarily red squirrels, spruce grouse, willow ptarmigan, and voles.  Lynx have been known to kill and eat red fox but that is not common.  Same goes for mink, marten and the short-tailed weasel.  And I suppose the lucky lynx could catch a woodpecker or gray jay if they were distracted. Continue reading →

FRAMED BY A RAVEN

1 Reply

604-197Raven pair get acquainted during a snowstorm.

Ravens have been lurking around mankind ever since humans began making footprints.  They are quick to learn and take advantage of any  food sources we provide.  And, ravens are smart, perhaps the smartest bird on the planet. They have the largest range of vocalizations of any living creature except of course, for us humans. Continue reading →

TRACKING THE LYNX

1 Reply

55-6-4ON THE TRAIL OF THE LYNX

I’d been on their track for  a mile or two. It had taken nearly two hours to get this far moving slowly through the forest on snowshoes. The thick and stunted boreal forest was mostly black spruce. Small stands of tall aspen and veins of thick and lofty white spruce stood where the nutrient poor soil drained enough to prevent permafrost. The understory consisted of numerous species of willow along with Labrador tea and blueberry. Tracks and trails of snowshoe hares were everywhere. The snowshoe hare population undergoes huge swings in numbers during their ten-year cycle. Likewise, other prey species such as spruce grouse were on the upswing driven by years of low predator numbers. The hare population had peaked. And with the increasing snowshoe and grouse population, lynx, coyotes, red fox, northern goshawks and great horned owls, and even the smaller northern hawk owl populations were once again on the rebound. Continue reading →

PHOTOGRAPHING MOUNTAIN SHEEP

Leave a reply

 

14-14-28Dall ram checks out photographer.

 Walk softly and carry a big lens.  All species of North American mountain sheep, the bighorns, Rocky Mountain bighorn and desert bighorn and the thinhorns, stone sheep and dall sheep are naturally skittish. Specific protocols are required when photographing wild sheep at close range.  Ever on the lookout for predators, wild sheep are tuned into sounds of rocks tumbling down the mountainsides or moving across noisy scree slopes.  Sudden movements or too much noise are likely to send mountain sheep stampeding towards the nearest cliffs.  A telephoto lens is a must.  The perspective a telephoto gives will separate your subject from the background. Continue reading →

WHITE SHEEP, WILD MOUNTAIN

2 Replies

14-14-2Dall ram peeks over a windswept ridge.

Pursuing wild rams in the far north is an addiction of mine.  Those who are afflicted with this particular disease willingly subject themselves to cold and wind, sweat and pain. Other symptoms include an insatiable desire to witness dramatic wildlife amid glorious wilderness settings. Continue reading →

FLYING SQUIRREL AND BOREAL OWL

Leave a reply

68-14-2                       665-53-2

Northern flying squirrel and boreal owl at the entrance to the same old northern flicker nesting cavity.  The flying squirrel taken with a Nikon D3s digital camera  and boreal owl shot with a Nikon F3 on Fujichrome film were taken more than ten years apart. The images illustrate the importance of the northern flickers, a keystone species. The flickers nest building activity increases forest biodiversity.  Photographs were taken near my home in Slana, Alaska.

 

ALASKAN FLYING SQUIRREL

Leave a reply

68-14-1Alaskan flying squirrel peers out of an old northern flicker cavity just as darkness sets in.

Northern flying squirrels are more common in Alaska than most realize.  They are found in coastal rainforests as well as the boreal forests of the interior.  Flying squirrels are nocturnal thus rarely seen.  I began to see them as I photographed the nocturnal activities of a pair of nesting boreal owls.  As it turns out, boreal owls and flying squirrels share the same habitat preferences.  They seem to prefer the big white spruce stands that grows along streams and other places where permafrost is not close to the surface.  They share these places with the red squirrel.  Red squirrels are active during the day and flying squirrels are active at night.  But in the far north where it does not get dark for a several weeks during the summer, their activities overlap. Flying squirrels nest in abandoned northern flicker nesting cavities or other natural hollows.