Muskrat.
We visited my artist mom for Mother’s day and got an added bonus – a muskrat! I have never been able to get close to these guys before, much less have one climb out of the water onto a stick in nice light!
Copper River Highway
We took a drive out the Copper River Highway – it seemed like we were going back about two months in time!
It appeared a large snow blower had cleared a path through the drifts just wide enough for my truck. The drifts in some places were 15 feet tall! It would have been fun to see Child’s Glacier with all this snow, but at this time the road was only cleared to mile 40 something, and you pretty much needed 4 wheel drive to even get that far. Child’s Glacier was still another 20 miles away.
Shorebird Migration
Yesterday we returned to Seward after a short, but wonderful trip. It seemed only fitting to post a photo of a group of shorebirds departing the Copper River Delta. Here are more Cordova, Alaska photos.
Copper River Delta Shorebirds
Resting shorebirds for as far as the camera can see! And after flying thousands of miles, who can blame them. I stopped down the f/18, but it is hard to get much depth of field when using telephotos. I kind of like the out of focus effect.
Today (Tuesday) there weren’t as many birds as on Monday when I captured this image. High tide is when the best photography takes place, but today a predator (I believe it was a Merlin) passed over at high tide and cleared the birds out in a hurry. We did get a nice break from the rain.
“O My God!”
Flocks of shorebirds in Cordova, Alaska.
What a fantastic day! Wow! Not just the sheer quantity of birds, but the way they fly together. It isn’t in perfect unison, but more like a synchronized dance where the entire group can continually vary the size, shape and color of the flock with endless combinations. I was mesmerized. Hugh Rose has lead tours here for many years, he says there had to be over a 100,000 birds today – they basically just arrived today. I was shooting non-stop thinking it couldn’t possible get any better, and that was when I heard the words “O my God!Read More
Cordova Boat Harbor
Cordova Alaska boat harbor during a stormy, rainy night last night.
Yesterday we took the Alaska State Ferry from Whittier to Cordova, one of may favorite Alaska towns, to see the amazing shorebird migration. I have always wanted to see this amazing event, and it currently is a big hole in our Chugach National Forest coverage. Unfortunately, we have seen lots of rain, and very few birds, but that should change during the next few days… hopefully!
Confessions of a “Professional” Photographer
Look at how deep the snow is along Exit Glacier Road! Hard to believe it is May 3rd. This is near the Resurrection River bridge and is as far as you can drive right now. Judging from the snow depth, it may be awhile before you can drive the rest of the way to the glacier. Now this really isn’t the photo I was going after this morning – I better explain.Read More
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