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Photo of the Month Archives 2002 |
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Sex in the Sierra
The Sage Grouse is a species that's imperil! The Gunnison subspecies in Colorado is already listed as endangered. Sage Grouse in Idaho, Washington, Oregon and California according to some should be as well. Loss and degradation of habit (the usual story) are the leading causes to their endangerment. It's hard to think of this species being in trouble when you see a hundred or more on a spring lek, but when you look at the overall population with numbers that reported by some showing a decline by 80%, it's alarming. Within the vicinity of my home, there are a dozen or more leks, some with as few as a two birds, other leks now abandoned! This turkey sized bird is way too big to miss! Photographically, this is a species photographers should not just venture out on their own to photograph. A number of years back, a photographer drove their vehicle right onto a lek to photograph the birds, wanting to use their vehicle as a blind. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand how that isn't a good thing. There are a number locations throughout the west where photographers can hook up with guides or biologists to witness and photograph the Sage Grouse strutting on their leks. It just takes a little homework to find these folks. If you get the opportunity to photograph grouse (which I really encourage you to seek out), keep in mind these few tips. You normally have to arrive at the lek way before dawn. I'm sitting in my chair on the border of the lek no later than 4:30am when photographing grouse (bundled up against the cold, as in 10 degrees). There I sit for 90 minutes waiting for the sun to rise. During this time you can hear the male grouse booming and hear coyotes try to find a way to a quick meal. As the sun comes up, the excitement gets intense, especially when new females fly into the lek. Not too long after sunrise, it's all over and the grouse fly back into the sage until the next morning. So you sit for a long time for a short shooting window, and it's cold! But just so you understand how hot and heavy it can get, this photo of the month was taken on a morning when I took 1472 captures in less than an hour! It's sad to me that some of most treasured spectacles of nature are now on the brink of disappearing. The Sage Grouse is one species you just might want to do some homework on (lots of webpages on them like http://www.western.edu/bio/young/gunnsg/gunnsg.htm) and to plan a trip for next year to celebrate spring with one of the more unique members of our wild heritage! Photo captured by: D1H, 600f4AFS w/TC-20e on Lexar digital film (at 6:02am) Baylands
One of my usual winter haunts is the San Francisco Bay area, the Palo Alto Baylands in particular. I found that even there the birds were scant but your know, it only takes one bird to make your shooting worth while. In this case, I had more than one, I had three Black-necked Stilts. One of the really cool things about the Baylands that even long time shooters there seem to miss is the early morning shooting of reflections. The water is so still and the birds not up an moving yet lends itself to killer reflection images. The first thing I do is beeline over to this one small pond right on the walk way where I can photograph the reflections for about 20 minutes at sun rise. This time my subjects were stilts which were still asleep and not even aware of our presence. Photo captured by D1H, 600f4 AFS w/TC-14e on Lexar Digital Film The Dipper Challenge
I've been watching this one particular Dipper nest site for nearly 20 years. I have no clue how many different pairs of Dippers have used it over the decades, but it's so easy to get to and always remains the same that I'm constantly drawn back to it. I was incredibly surprised that in the middle of winter (though we don't have much snow left), the end of February, I found the Dippers at their nest site courting! What's the challenge if I know where the nest always is? The challenge is the nest is under a rock in pitch black! Complicating it all is the bird itself is charcoal gray and most of the stream that it calls home is in constant shadow. Even with everything against me, I've tried for years to capture "the shot", which I still haven't done yet! You might not know the Dipper, what John Muir called the Water Ouzel. It's a bird a tad smaller than your fist. It forages for insects in rushing water (that's freezing in temp in the Sierra). It has a special "underwater mask" membrane that permits it to see underwater. Watching them for just a minute as they "fly" underwater, you'll be hooked for life! What's my personal challenge in photographing the Dipper? I first want to communicate visually they are unique which in a large part has to do with the world in which they live. Water doesn't look like water when it's frozen in time. You surely don't know it's rushing water. So I always shoot at a slow shutter speed to make the water go "foggy." This means a shutter speed around 1/15 or slower. But as you can imagine it's hard to get the subject sharp at this speed. This is especially true with the Dipper which is constantly "dipping" or bobbing up and down. This is even worse when they're courting! Using flash is a mixed bag because while it can freeze the motion of the Dipper, it can create a ton of specular highlights on the water. This months photo was taken at end of last month. The Dipper is working its way around in the rushing water foraging in between bursts of courtship. Definitely not the best I can do but that's the challenge, isn't it! I'm just happy to know that another generation of Dippers is going to nest under that rock and I have at least one more summer to improve on my past results. That's cool! |
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One day winter and literally the next day spring. Isn't wildlife photography just grand! Both photos taken right out my window. Snow photo with 300f4AFS and worm photo with 600f4AFS, both with D1H.
Spring has sprung and it must be April! I'm incredibly fortunate that one of the amazing spectacles of natures occurs right down the street from my home in the Sierra. For a short, couple week period each spring, the Sage Grouse gather on Leks. Here, the males puff up their chests inflating air sacks that emit the most unusual sound, strut around in circles, all in an attempt to woo a female. I first photographed this event back in 1989 and every year I'm drawn to the leks just like a female grouse!
I've got cabin fever bad! For some unknown reason my winter flocks have not invaded my bird feeders. All my little feathered friends that I photograph daily have not shown up for me or any of my neighbors so my typical subjects are not around, so I'm going batty! That calls for a road trip! 