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.

Rafting Westwater Canyon

#130717-0136 Great camp at Black Rock 

Water, rivers and rapids.  I love it all and I just got back from a rowing trip through Horsethief, Ruby and Westwater Canyons on the Colorado River between Grand Junction and Moab. Ten friends in six different boats joined Sue and I for a five-day adventure. In the first two canyons, the river runs slowly with walls of slick rock sandstone except for a short section of black metamorphic rock where we camped the second night. The campsite is appropriately named Black Rocks #8. Day three when you hit Westwater, life changes drastically for five miles of rocking and rolling white water with named rapids such as Funnel Falls, Sock-It-To-Me and Skull.

#130719-0254   Macon Roland in Sock-It-To-Me

Skull had me worried a bit, for in the October of 2000 I was on the maiden voyage in my white-water dory. I christened it the Atchafalaya.  It is a beautiful wooden boat.  Skull has a fang rock that I bumped slightly and put a dent my new boat.  No worry for on this trip for I was in a fourteen-foot rowing raft which you cannot dent. I had a perfect run.  All six boats came out un-scared, except for one lost oar. In the desert heat, our rapid day was enjoyed with cool splashes and exciting rapid runs.

#130718-0199   Golden Eagle taking a bath

Our camps and camp cooking were awesome.  First night was at Rattlesnake Camp where we did not see a rattler, but had a drenching hard rain. It was a good wildlife trip, eagles everywhere. Coming around a bend in the river we saw a Golden Eagle bathing on the right bank. After shaking its wings it flew across the river just above eight wild Turkey and landed in a cottonwood. The Turkeys seemed to show no fear. Looking up and down the river we saw within 100 yards another Golden Eagle and two Bald Eagles perched in trees.  Many other bird species were seen as well as otter, beaver, lizards and snakes.  I am now looking forward to going back on October 2 to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains for my Fall Colors Workshop. 

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.

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 

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

Grand Isle Migratory Bird Celebration

Summer Tanager Eating Mulberry

Last weekend I was back with some serious birdwatchers for the first time in a while.  I had almost forgotten the passion they exude and the hard work involved in searching for beautiful little birds.  The celebration coincides with the spring migration.  Song birds of many species are crossing the Gulf of Mexico to return to their breeding grounds all over North America.  Grand Isle with its live oaks is one of the first landing places.  Here the birds rest up, drink fresh water and eat red mulberries to refuel for the rest of their journey.

A Regal Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

I positioned myself by one of these mulberry trees and waited  for bird of red, yellow, blue and rose to come to eat.  There are a few of these fruited trees along the Griletta Tract, one of the wooded areas the Nature Conservancy manages. Here a continuing flow of binocular clad folks asked me as I peered down the length of my 600mm Nikon lens if I had seen the black-whiskered vireo or the fork-tailed flycatcher, both very rare for the state.  I said no, I was concentrating on the colorful rose-breasted grosbeak and tanagers right in front of me.

Scarlet Tanager

The next morning as the sun rose I sat on the deck of the Nature Conservancy camp with four serious bird counters, David had over 400 birds on his list he has seen in Louisiana alone.  They had spotting scopes looking out over the dune to the Gulf waters, hoping the rare Razorbill could be spotted.  It is a Northeastern Auk type bird that has been seen a couple of times way of its course in Louisiana. I was also surprised to learn that the 430 different species of birds known to Louisiana in 1996 when my Louisiana Nature Guide came out has now been increased to 460. There are a lot of birders finding new avian visitors to Louisiana every year.

The Trail at Griletta Tract