Tag Archives: photography

PHOTOGRAPHING MOUNTAIN SHEEP

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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

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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

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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.

 

THE NOCTURNAL BOREAL OWL

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665-14-288Adult male is a night hunter and his prey consisting of small birds and mammals, such as this red-backed vole, are located by sight and sound.

Since nesting began, the male has been impossible to locate in the dark, damp forest near Slana, Alaska. But each evening he arrives at the nest site to deliver prey to the owlets. As the Alaskan days grow shorter, the male becomes active as twilight engulfs the stand of tall white spruce and poplar.  He is the sole provider for the five owlets snuggled inside a hollow stub.  The female abandoned her owlets when they were three weeks of age.  They no longer needed brooding so apparently her role is complete. Continue reading →

THE ALASKAN MOSQUITO

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The mosquito is the worlds most dangerous insect.  Luckily, none of Alaska’s three dozen species or so is known to transmit disease.  Though not deadly in the far north, they are none the less very troublesome. Here are a few other facts about Alaska’s mosquitoes.  Only females bite.  Some species prey on cold-blooded wood frogs.  Some species live around 8 weeks as adults.   The snow mosquito over winter as adults and may live a year.  Populations can move 25-50 miles.  Larva and pupae live in water. Continue reading →

THE YELLOW-SHAFTED FLICKER

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600-14-115For more than two months this male northern flicker and his mate maintain a territory centered around their nesting cavity in an Alaskan black spruce forest. Flickers are the most common woodpecker in Alaska’s interior. Continue reading →

BOARS, THE MOST DANGEROUS GRIZZLIES?

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15-11-14  Grizzly boar.

What happens in a close encounter with a grizzly bear is dependent on a lot of factors.  What you do is important but the most important factor might boil down to which of the local bears you have just run into. Not all grizzly bears are the same.  In fact they are all individuals, with different habits and temperaments.  Sub-adults, lacking experience and confidence, often travel with a sibling for extra security and status.  Females with cubs don’t like close surprises.  Sows with cubs attack people more often than other classes of bears.  These defensive attacks can be very serious but rarely end in death. Continue reading →

BOREAL OWL – PART 3

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Yesterday I climbed a ladder twenty feet up to a natural hole in a decaying poplar within the boreal owl territory. I had found the male inside the cavity once, so I had always thought it was a likely place for a nest.  I took a quick look inside the cavity with flashlight and mirror but there was nothing inside.  A single gray, downy feather clung to the bark on the outside. The owl must have been spending some time there, I thought. When I looked around I was surprised to see the little boreal owl glaring at me from about ten feet away. It was clearly agitated that I was at the hole. A few minutes later as I photographed the owl from the ground, I suddenly heard the rapid calling of the male.  But it wasn’t the owl I was photographing.  There are two boreal owls here!

This morning just after six a. m. I returned to the owl territory. As I neared the poplar the cavity seemed to have vanished.  Through binoculars I could see the female was at the cavity entrance peering out at me.  What perfect camoflauge. It has been fifty one days since I first located the little male boreal owl.  Well, it seems that all his persistant singing has finally paid off.

23Female boreal owl in cavity.