Copper River Delta Shorebirds

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel, Wildlife 7 Comments

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!”

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel, Wildlife 16 Comments

Cordova Shorebirds

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

Silly Wabbit

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel, Wildlife 14 Comments

Jackrabbit

Actually this is a jackrabbit, so maybe I should have titled this Silly Wack-wabbit. 🙂

Seems like at the end of a trip we start evaluating our travel plans and methods.  Our trips outside Alaska to the Lower 48 have typically been fairly long trips for a couple of reasons.Read More

Snakes Alive!

Ron NiebruggeArizona, Phoenix, Photos, Travel, Wildlife 22 Comments

snakes

At least for one of them.  This is a Common King Snake attacking what I think is a Western Shovel-Nosed Snake.  It might be a Sonoran Coralsnake.  This was really something to see.  They were still battling when it got dark, but clearly the much larger King Snake was winning.  It will be interesting to see if there is any sign of them in the morning.

I had been wanting to explore along the Verde River, and choose tonight to venture into the thick brush because it was cool, and I didn’t think I would have to worry about any snakes – so much for that thinking! 

Desert Tortoise

Ron NiebruggeArizona, Phoenix, Photos, Travel, Wildlife 9 Comments

Desert Tortoise

Desert Tortoise.

I was thrilled to finally see a wild desert tortoise last weekend.  On top of being a threaten species, these tortoise spend more then 95% below ground in burrows.  That combination makes them a rare sight.

I spotted one while mountain biking last weekend, but by the time I returned to my vehicle and grabbed my camera, I was unable to find her.  I have looked for her everyday since then – how far can a tortoise go!  I finally spotted her again yesterday while doing some more mountain biking photos.  This time I had my camera –   what a treat! 

Costa’s Hummingbird Nest

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel, Wildlife 8 Comments

Costa’s Hummingbird

Costa’s Hummingbird Nest.

 I thought I would stick with the bird theme.  This hummingbird is tiny!  According to Sibley, it is one of our smallest birds – it weighs in at 3.5 grams.  I shot this right at sunrise with a 600, plus 2x converter, plus extension tubes and still couldn’t fill the frame.

You can see this little gal right outside the Anza-Borrego Visitor Center.  Employees roped off the area surrounding the nest after a dog started sniffing near the nest; that does make finding the bush with the nest a lot easier, look for the barriers.

Anna’s Hummingbird Nest

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel, Wildlife 4 Comments

Anna’s Hummingbird Nest

Anna’s Hummingbird Nest. 

I found this nest a few days ago.  I must admit, I couldn’t help but think of her during the night as the wind blew and the rain came down.  I can’t imaging how much the branches most have been moving around as she sat there keeping the two little jellybean sized eggs warm.   

They have a fourteen day incubation period, I look forward to seeing the chicks.