Heading North

Image 140210-033.jpg American Coots take flight

Watching a flock of American Coots take off from Bayou Copasaw in the Terrebonne Parish marsh yesterday made me wonder if the birds were thinking it's time to go north and find their nesting grounds. Those chunky black birds use churning feet and short wings to take off the water like a turbo prop plane on a runway. They need to think twice before flying away, we got another cold snap here, and it's still icy up north!

I had the shivers in the damp cold yesterday even when it peaked to 70 degrees. We were traveling at 30 mph in Steve Uffman’s bay boat over water that was 48 degrees, burrrrr!

Snow and Goldfinches

Sunshine or snow, the goldfinches and other winter birds love my feeders. The birds have been voracious in this cold and icy weather. These colorful feathered friends are the perfect subject to try out my new GoPro camera with, especially with its Wi-Fi hotspot hooked up to my iPad. Gosh its nice sitting in the kitchen drinking hot tea as the temperature was slowly climbing toward 30 degrees while clicking the shutter remotely.

Image #140126-0029 Goldfinches feed before the snow on 1/26/14

The GoPro camera uses a super wide-angle lens to capture close up action images of surfers, skiers and mountain bikers, so it makes kind of distorted view of my feeders. The new device will have some practical uses in my new book project concerning Louisiana Landscapes and other natural subjects. I will be launching a blog about this project soon.

Image #140130-0400 Goldfinches on a morning of snow 1/30/14

In this cold weather I am having a greater variety of species at the feeders. Some like the blue jay, red-bellied woodpecker and white-throated sparrows rarely come. The last few days they too were hungry for my feeder's seed. When the yard was totally white, seven male cardinals in their bright red coats decorated the white and gray landscape with vibrant colors. I once read that the state of Maine uses more birdseed per person than any other state. I can see why, they need a little color in their long white winters.

Image #140128-0364 Cardinal and sparrows feed in the snow 1/28/14

2000 Bags

Last Saturday was a milestone for I put the 2,000^th bag of grass clippings in the Big Hole. Since my blog of 6/18/2012 I have named the newly formed land Spring Creek Delta and it is growing to the edge of the bluff above Spring Creek.  So far I have created 900 square feet of new flat land, always sinking and subsiding, but there are no levees to disrupt the source of sediment.  The soil supply which is these bags of leaves and grass clippings seems to be endless.  And I am are saving them from the Baton Rouge landfill.

Image #130907-0248 Last Saturday with the 2,000th Bag

The view is great and the land is solid. The new soil has been used by numerous species of wildlife.  Check out my blog of 7/20/12 which discusses my remote night camera to see some of those animals.

Image #110813_0014 Near the Beginning with Only 36 Bags Put In

Last week I brought out a camp chair and started writing. The point of the project, other than saving bags of organic material from the landfill, is to have a special place to write. It worked, I feel inspired here and there are bonuses such as the coyote that walked within 40 ft of me as I sat still. It bounded down the bluff to the creek then chased a grey squirrel up the other bank. I imagine I will see lots of critters here over the next few years.

Kind of a crazy project, but its good.

Redfish and Kayaks

After a brief safety meeting, organizer Danny Wray’s horn sounded and the majority of 523 registered kayak and similar non-motorized watercrafts launched from Bridgeside Marina in Grand Isle. “To Ride the Bull”, bull redfish that is. It’s the largest number of kayakers ever enter into a fishing rodeo. This one for catch and release of redfish. Red was not only the shade as the palate of boat paints were likened to a giant box of colored pencils rolling across a tabletop.

    

#130817_0023.  The horn sounds and boats head into the Bay.

I stood atop the Grand Isle Bridge holding an umbrella over my camera looking across Caminada Bay as the fishermen paddled and peddled to their favorite fishing spots. It rained, misted and occasionally stopped all morning. The wet hardly bothered most of the tough fisherman.  Hook up! I saw the fishing pole bend on a boat below.  The kayak which was tied to another was quickly released.  The lucky person rode the bull, the big fish pulling the kayak. After reeling in in, photographs were taken, and she released it without getting it weighed for the tournament. Perhaps she didn’t think it was big enough, or maybe she was not a competitive person. The winner was Jeff Gleason of Folsom, Louisiana with a fish weighing 32.96 pounds.

#130817_0086 Catching and releasing a red fish.

Just after noon the tide was moving out through Caminada Pass to the Gulf. Those paddlers who were near the mouth of the bay struggled against this current. Strange, August in Grand Isle and shivering cold boaters were returning to the pier, some dead tired.

Michael Mathews and The Backpacker of Baton Rouge crew were there with kayaks and GoPro cameras.  They were title sponsors. Friday night there was a GoPro Red fishing Film Festival.  Films were self-portraits of Kayakers catching fish.

Life is good.  Life has changed from cane pole fishing on a ten foot bateau with maybe a Kodak Brownie Camera of yesteryear.  To a lime green peddle powered fishing kayak with a shockproof, waterproof miniature video camera that can be shot remotely from a smartphone. It doesn’t matter how you do it, just get outdoors.

Birds and Flowers

Do you remember Billy "White Shoes" Johnson? The kickoff return specialist for the Houston Oilers in the 1970s? He was known for his white shoes and his fancy end zone dances. I thought about him when I saw this Neotropic Cormorant in Cameron Parish a few days ago. The bird not only had white shoes, but flew a little awkwardly due to its heavy feet. Perhaps his feet are covered in bird poop. Anyway, it really stood out in a crowd of thousands of cormorants, egrets, spoonbills and herons nesting here. I plan on bringing a photo workshop here next spring when the birds are nesting.

 Neotropic Cormorant
Image #130613-0028

One of his brethren did not fare so well. I was focused in on a roseate spoonbill's nest with my 600mm lens when I heard a big splash and turned to see a small alligator grab a swimming cormorant. As I moved the lens to the left, the alligator submerged with its prey to drown it. After waiting patiently, the reptile resurfaced with the now dead bird locked in his jaws. I got the shot below. 

Alligator eats a cormorant
Image #130613-0399 

Later we went to Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge to find the fragrant water lilies and American lotus in full bloom. Acres and acres of this important wetland were covered in creamy colors. I'll be showing images from this shoot at my lecture at the Manship Theatre on Friday. My intention is to help budding photographers learn the tricks to get the best shots.

American lotus in bloom
Image #130614-0264 

Atchafalaya

In the last two weeks I went into the Atchafalaya 6 times, it was kind of like the old days.  Almost anyway, because when I first ventured into the basin I would usually go in for 5 nights.  I would camp in my Gart Brothers $19.95 canvas pup tent, carry my cameras in a Coleman ice chest, sleep on a piece of foam rubber that I bought from an army surplus store and eat canned tuna, peanut butter, apples and sweet rolls. So it was different in the fact that these six were day trips, on five I stayed until sunset and on the other we went for sunrise, but a blown tire on the boat trailer caused us to miss that part of the morning. On one trip I took friends, three others were with workshop students and two were exploring by myself.

A young raccoon on top of a cypress tree at sunset.

Different again because on all six, I saw bald eagles. That never happened in the 70’s. On recent trips I always see more wildlife.  Beaver, alligators and the biggest treat was two young raccoons that ran down the bank and climbed up a small bald cypress tree just as the last gleam of a setting sun put a little light on one’s face. Best of all was the peace and quite of the fall landscapes. Moss covered bald cypress trees were especially photogenic in the low afternoon light.  There were lots of choices for angles in the small bayous north of Flat Lake, the banks of Cross Bayou and the big second growth trees of Mimms Lake.  When this rain stops I am heading back out, those same trees should be in their peak of fall colors.

Reflections of moss covered bald cypress trees near Cross Bayou.