Antarctic Ice

Ron NiebruggeAntarctica, Photos, Travel Leave a Comment

Arch in a large iceberg near Petermann Island, Antarctica.

Arch in a large iceberg near Petermann Island, Antarctica.

I love finding huge arches in icebergs!

I must admit, there is a bit of self-imposed pressure when you are Zodiac cruising as I always want to be the one to find my passengers the best stuff!  Finding an iceberg like this sure helps!

Gold Harbour

Ron NiebruggeAntarctica, Photos, Travel 6 Comments

Gold Harbour, South Georgia, Antarctica

Gold Harbour, South Georgia, Antarctica

Gold Harbour, South Georgia, Antarctica this past December. I don’t think this fur seal is going to have much luck finding a place to relax!

Black-browed Albatross

Ron NiebruggePhotos, Travel Leave a Comment

Black-browed albatross, Steeple Jason shown within the Falkland Islands.

Black-browed albatross, Steeple Jason shown within the Falkland Islands.

Panning with a black-browed albatross as it comes in for a landing at the huge colony on Steeple Jason Island, Falklands.

Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 24-105 at 105, f/9 and 1/25 of a second.

Anza-Borrego Wildflower Outlook

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos 2 Comments

Desert Lily from last night in Anaz-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

Desert Lily from last night in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

I have two bits of good news regarding the desert wildflower bloom in Anza-Borrego.  First, not only are there lots of wildflower plants popping up all around – some areas are really green, but there are actually a few wildflowers already blooming as you can see from this desert lily photographed yesterday.  I have also seen patches of sand verbena as well.

But, there are very promising looking areas, I think in a few weeks it could be a good year – maybe not a great year, but certainly much better then the last three.  Maybe it is because the plant is easy to recognize, but I’m seeing lots of desert lilies in particular – one of my favorite desert wildflowers.

On top of that, it rained most of the night late last week, so that will only help, that is as long as things don’t get too hot.  The forecast is for highs in the uppers 70’s, low 80’s for the next week, as long as we avoid the 90’s I think we are ok.

What is the other good news?  The lack of Sahara Mustard!  Articles in the local newspaper speculated last year that three years of drought should have killed off the seed bank of this highly invasive species, and so far, that seems to be true!

I have been spending at least a month here for a number of years each winter so I have a pretty good feel for the wildflowers, but if you don’t believe me, here are some other opinions:

Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association wildflower outlook.

Anza-Borrego Bloom Report

Desert USA

Even the Park Ranger who I obtain my workshop permit from thought it could be the best year in many years – baring a hot spell.

So fingers are crossed, I’ll keep posting updates here.  I still think the best bloom won’t be for a few more weeks and will go well into March.  The upcoming warm weather might speed things up a bit, in fact, the Swainson’s Hawks have already begun their migration through the area – the earliest this has ever been recorded.

 

 

Antarctic Humpback

Ron NiebruggeAntarctica, Photos, Travel 2 Comments

Humpback whales, Hope Bay, Antarctica.

Humpback whales, Hope Bay, Antarctica.

This was an exciting morning – we had two humpback whales just swimming and resting around and underneath my Zodiac  They were doing the same thing with Joe’s boat that you see pictured here – it was a thrill!   The only bummer – I had left the little card out of my GoPro.  🙁  This was in Hope Bay, Antarctica.