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

Dreaming of Fall

Blue Skies over the Mississippi River

Fall is in the air, yet I hate to speak so soon as I doubt anybody is turning their air conditioners off in the next few days. I see, smell and feel the signs of autumn though.  On Labor Day I took a Mississippi River boating trip, the skies were a deep blue, an indication of fall in difference to the dull whitish blue of our southern summer skies.  You know, hot and hazy.

We saw a bald eagle, might be a resident but a good chance he is coming back for nesting season. Later two big flocks of teal were flying downstream, darting around in their tight formations. Last week at Lake Martin there was a tinge of rusty red in the bald cypress. Maybe it will be a good year for fall colors. That bodes well for me because I am starting a new book on Louisiana landscapes.  Good fall colors will be beautiful, important and photogenic for the project.  Other signs are the French mulberry in bloom, the muscadines dropping their red fruits and the sugar cane taller than a six-foot person. Finally, just a few days ago my hummingbird feeders went from one or two birds to fifteen, this happens every year just before they migrate to South America.

We've got 17 more days before autumn equinox and a lot of hot days left, but I feel it in my bones the change is coming.

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.

Digital Photography at the Manship

Image 130621-0522
CC Lecture at the Manship Theatre Photo by Kelly Tate

Last Friday we had a great crowd of digital nature photographers at the Manship Theatre.  It is truly a wonderful venue to sit and watch anything on that stage.  I told the crowd I was humbled to show my images on the same platform as Jessie Winchester, BeauSoleil and other fine musicians. I pointed out the four things that go into a good photograph and in my opinion that is equipment, technique, composition and location.  Once you accomplish that you need to always be ready and look and wait for the good light. Then wonderful photographs will dance off your memory cards.

After the lecture and a few door prizes that Nikon Professional Services offered, we went up to the Manship Gallery where the Louisiana Photographic Society exhibited some of their work along with images from Steve Uffman and I. The exhibit will run until July 30^th.  To the attendees, get out in nature and keep on clicking.

St. Bernard Parish

Image #20616 - 10/19/05

I went to Breton Sound to catch some fish and take some photographs of the birds and marsh southwest of Yscloskey, Louisiana.  With me was expert fisherman Steve Uffman who is also a very good nature photographer.  He will show some of his work at my lecture June 21st at the Manship Theatre (you can buy tickets here).  He loves to shoot flying birds and we saw many species on this trip. Some were Forsters, Least, Royal and Sandwich Terns, Oyster Catchers, Brown and White Pelicans, Snowy and Great Egrets, Little Blue Herons and Laughing Gulls. We did not catch a fish and I'll just blame it on all the time we spent taking pictures.

Image #WE-4191 - 8/10/2006

I’ll show you the birds later. Today I want you to see the same wrecked front porch I had photographed after Katrina.  The house was washed away by that terrible storm.  The three images were taken from about the same spot in different years. The rebuilding is slow for a lot of homeowners in some areas of Southeast Louisiana.  On the other hand, the public buildings and schools have been built back beautifully and looking like they are hurricane proof.  I am hoping we go hurricane free this year.

Image #130509-0481 - 5/9/13

Eagle Expo

A bald eagle swoops down to pick up some food.

The Eagle Expo concluded yesterday and as usual more bald eagles were seen than the previous year.  I spent three days in the Morgan City area and got some of the best shots yet, before and during my Bald Eagle Photography Workshop.  It was cold, but sunny on all my swamp and marsh outings except Thursday afternoon.  The blue skies behind the brilliant white head and golden beak of the adult bald eagle made for great images.

One of the twenty-two alligators we saw catching rays.

In my lecture we talked about digital workflow using Adobe Lightroom and the basis for a good digital natural history photograph, particularly those of eagles. I tell my students there are four parts to a great photograph. Perhaps the most important is being there.  And we were here by the largest concentrations of bald eagles iLouisiana so everybody had a chance to shoot.  Luckily we got one beautiful adult bird swooping down to water level very near the boat.  Other wildlife seen were egrets, herons, ibis, owls, hawks, nutria and alligator.  Even though it was cold, the sun brought numerous three to six foot gators out to warm themselves on logs.

One nest we visited had two large eaglets that will probably be testing their flying skills in about 10 days. We got good shots. A behavior highlight, yet too far out for good pictures, was an immature eagle chasing an osprey carrying a fish. After a few minutes of aerial acrobatics the osprey drops its fish. The eagle caught it in mid air and was soon being chased itself by an adult eagle, who eventually got the fish. Life is tough in the great outdoors.

A bald eagle nest with eagle and eaglet.