Skolai Images

Hey Folks,

So why go to Icy Bay? Well, firstly because it’s such an amazing place. The scenery is superb – National Geographic list Icy Bay as one of the world’s top 10 treasures. Secondly, I’m working on a book on Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Icy Bay is in the park. Thirdly, I hadn’t been there before. 4th, the natural history of the place is so unique. Icy Bay is a relatively new place, with the recent retreat of 3 glaciers, the Guyot, the Tindall and the Yahtse, there are now 4 fjords, filled with the cool waters of the northern Pacific Ocean.

When the area was first explored by European ships 150-200 years ago, Icy Bay didn’t even exist. John Muir, the great naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club, visited the area a little over 100 years ago, and Icy Bay didn’t exist. (more…)

Hey Folks,

Guess who should be back tomorrow? Here’s a hint: you might get to see something besides birds on here real soon. Of course I’m writing this post 2 weeks in advance, so there’s a chance you might not, too. But by the time this goes online, I should be just about back from 2 weeks in ……?

I ain’t telling.

So here’s the male of the Barrow’s Goldeneye again. I liked this image because his bill is wide open and he’s looking at me. I had just moved slightly, where I was more visible to him, and it was as if the bird was saying ‘dude, I so TOTALLY see you’. This was one of the last images I made of this duck. What a cool bird.

Male Barrow’s Goldeneye, Wrangell – St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

Here’s the female of the 2 Barrow’s Goldeneye ducks I photographed recently. I couldn’t have asked for a more co-operative pair. They were surprisingly tolerant. I didn’t have a blind setup or anything, just slowly and gingerly made my way around the pond, through the woods, hid behind a small bush, and waited for a few hours, and they gradually started coming over my way from time to time, where I could get some images.

It’s wild to see the different between the male and the female of the species. The male of the species, in breeding plumage, is way sharper looking than the drab female. This is pretty common in numerous species, but particularly birds.

Female Barrow’s Goldeneye, Wrangell – St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

Yep, birds again. Here are 2 of the 3 Great Horned Owl chicks I got to photograph recently. I could never manage to find all 3 perched together. I also never managed to find them in any kind of decent light, so had to shoot at the higher end of the ISO range on my camera – which is a total disaster. The D2x is terrible at higher ISOs (anything over 250, IMO), which makes life miserable late in the day for shooting wildlife – the best time, of course, to find wildlife.

So, these little guys are probably flying around the park now, racing each other through the boreal forest as they swoop, silently, down on the snowshoe hares that are really abundant right now.

Great Horned Owl chicks, Wrangell – St. Elias National Park, Alaska.
Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

More birds. Here’s a gull, checking out what this weird looking thing poking out the flap of my blind was. I only saw the bird briefly, and managed 2 shots, one of which was sharp. I have no idea what kinda of gull it is. Perhaps some of the bird-wise people here might know better.

Thanks.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

Continuing with the bird theme again, here’s a trumpeter swan I found on my recent travels. The trumpeters were the first birds I saw back in the park as spring began, 2 of them actually swimming on the Kennecott River as it first opened up. Once the river is ice free, it becomes a silty chocolate brown color, and quite a raging river, the last place a swan might frolic. But early on, as the first ice melts back, the water is a deep aqua blue, clear and cold, and not as torrential as it becomes in the summertime, once the glacial melt increases. So I was kinda surprised to see trumpeter swans there early on. Then I saw them on the ice, from where I posted a photo or 2 a month back. Now the ponds are all open and the swans grace their way along the surface (I know, ‘grace’ isn’t a verb, but it sounds nice). They’re definitely an awesome bird.

Trumpeter swan, Wrangell – St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

I think of all the birds in the world, the loon has to be the most beautiful. I think the saying should be ‘beautiful as a loon’, not ‘crazy as a loon’. I’ve spent a bit of time watching loons lately, and have yet to seen them do anything crazy. But oh my, their beauty is immeasurable. Absolutely amazing. This pair are, according to my bird guide, ‘Arctic loons’, or Gavia arctica, as the Latin name would have it. I thought they were Pacific loons, or Gavia pacifica, but some other photos clearly show the front of the neck to be green more than purple. – so I’m gunna call them Arctic loons. Of course, the same guidebook says the crown and nape are ‘pale gray’ – I saw a blend of creamy tones none of which could be described as ‘gray’, by even the most bland scientific measurement. So much for guidebooks and trying to be objective.

So here’s a ‘thank you’ to my new friends, the Arctic loons, the most beautiful birds in the world.

Cheers

Carl

hey Folks,

Here’s the best of the duck opportunities I had. A Barrow’s goldeneye. A male and a female were hanging out at this small pond, and I spent a number of hours there trying to get some images. ducks spend a lot of time floating around on ponds with their head tucked under the wings sleeping. ‘Dabbler’s they’re called – well these ducks did more sleeping than dabbling.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

It’s been an fun week so far .. the birds are back in the north country, and that means lots of time wondering how I can sneak my way close enough for a photo of one of them. Ever try to sneak up on a bird? It’s a tough gig. They have ‘eyes like eagles’ funnily enough, and always know exactly where you are – and how close they let you approach seems to correlate precisely with how well they fit in the frame of your camera – as they get more than half the viewfinder, they fly away – regardless if you’re shooting an enormous bald eagle or a sneaky little robin. But it’s fun, and it’s so great to have them back in the north. The woods literally come alive every morning with the various songs and calls of the migratory birds, all getting their groove on and nesting and breeding before summer. I hadn’t realized how much I dig their many sounds until they returned.

Here’s an osprey photo. I was set up in my blind trying to get some duck photos – with no luck. This osprey appeared and I tried to get some images of him/her. It was ridiculously hard, as I was sitting on the ground, kneeling in fact, with my tripod about 1 foot off the ground. I had the 500mm and a teleconverter mounted on it, and this osprey appears, flying around looking for something to eat. So I’m literally flopping about on the ground, on my back shooting up at this osprey, swinging my camera and lens around like a militiaman and his gattling gun. I didn’t get much in the way of sharp images, but it was pretty cool – especially what happened about 10 seconds later.

I was sitting on my blind waiting on some ducks to approach (they never did – ducks are among the sneakiest of all birds) and this osprey started flying overhead. All of a sudden out of the woods comes this Goshawk on the attack .. it was all over pretty quickly. The osprey, far larger, had it’s butt kicked all too soon, and took off from where it came. The Goshawk disappeared back into the woods once the osprey was gone. They must have a nest I there somewhere, but I never saw it.

Cheers

Carl