Himba village, Nambia, October 2021
Hello and Happy Mother's Day from Minnesota! I am grateful to be visiting my mom this year and enjoying the wildlife & scenery in my hometown of Outing. Yesterday I woke to a beautiful foggy morning that is so quintessential to the northern lakes area. Add to that roughly 70 trumpeter swans and it was a serene experience. Here are a few of the images I created.
Have a great day out there and be sure to honor all the moms out there, human and nonhuman, as well as our sacred Mother Earth.
Colin
I ski past this pair of nesting bald eagles frequently but getting a good perspective & lighting without a distracting background has been challenging. Yesterday, those components came together when one of the eagles was perched in the dead branches of a cottonwood tree. When I saw the symmetry of the stark branches coupled with the direction of the eagle's gaze against an open sky, I knew this would end up being a monochrome image.
Hope you enjoy,
Colin
Since taking up residence at the Eagle River Nature Center, owls have become one of my favorite subjects. Biology was my best subject in school and even though I am not a biologist by degree, I have accumulated a lot of knowledge regarding owl habits and behavior through observing them and researching online, all while developing a discerning eye for spotting them.
I've had countless encounters with both great horned and saw-whet owls here and on Monday morning, Feb. 1, at 10 am AKST, I will be a guest on Alaska Public Media’s "Hometown Alaska" where I will have the honor of sharing my experiences photographing owls in the ERNC vicinity. You can tune into 91.1 FM if you are in the Anchorage area or stream the program here: https://www.alaskapublic.org/cat.../programs/hometownalaska/. It will be available for streaming after the live program as well.
I hope you are able to listen, I always look forward to sharing my experiences in the field!
Colin
If 2020 had any overriding themes for my photography I'd say it was owls, rainbows, and lynx, in that order. While it's been a challenging year in many ways, I am grateful for the opportunities I found in my backyard and look forward to what 2021 will bring.
I am hopeful that travel will resume before too long and while it's not likely that I will be leading another tour in Cuba this winter, I am looking to return in February of 2022. Michael L Haring and I have two tours scheduled for Iceland this coming August, both of which are already half full. For more information on the tours and to sign up for our e-newsletter, please visit our new website: https://naturalexposurestours.com/. We will also be launching a Facebook page for Natural Exposures Photography Tours, LLC, which I will announce in the near future.
Have a great weekend out there and, as always, thank you for following my adventures!
Colin
Juvenile great horned owl
July double rainbow
Female lynx
Hey Everyone! You may recall that last summer I was able to join local owl enthusiast, Andrew Fisher, while he checked the activity in nesting boxes he had built & placed around the Anchorage area. Later in the season, I went out with him again along with a biologist from the State of Alaska and documented the banding of saw-whet fledglings. I am excited to say that Andrew will be giving a presentation on his owl boxes for the Eagle River Nature Center via Zoom this Sunday at 2pm (AKST). I will be attending virtually and you can too! Follow this link to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrcOmvrjojHNDq1dYitqrPYzjmANokF3Hc?fbclid=IwAR3TTTGsXnx4F1vFSdAduHIA6-L5tWLDNlpsVsLfPGjfn7wIPmPRaMvp7RY
Thank you and I hope you can join us!
Colin
Sw-whet owl fledglings
After my day in Denali National Park last week, I spent a few days in Fairbanks waiting for the skies to clear in hopes of auroras. On Saturday I drove around the Delta Junction area until I found a great place to set up for the lights. It turned out that I was a day early for the auroras, but I did see and photograph my first northern hawk owl!
Enjoy, and thank you for following along.
Colin
Saw-whet owlet banding - this is the followup to yesterday's post. Last month I was able to join local owl enthusiast Andrew Fisher along with a biologist from the State of Alaska to observe and photograph the banding of saw-whet fledglings. There are still a lot of unanswered questions about the seasonal behaviors of northern saw-whets, so banding these fledglings will help provide useful clues to their travel & migration habits if they are discovered in a future survey.
It was a privilege to accompany these experts into the field and take part in owl research. I hope you enjoy the images and the cuteness overload!
Colin
Happy Wednesday out there, everyone! This is the first of two posts from a pair of unique experiences I had earlier this season. First, I joined local owl enthusiast Andrew Fisher as he checked nesting boxes in the Anchorage area. Using an endoscope that broadcasts a live image onto his phone, he was able to peer into the boxes to see whether they were occupied and had clutches of eggs. Andrew builds and maintains these boxes on a volunteer basis to support the growing population of northern saw-whet owls in Southcentral Alaska. After determining which boxes were occupied, I later joined Andrew and a biologist with the State of Alaska to observe and photograph the banding of several fledglings. I will share those photos in the coming days, so please stay tuned.
Have a great day and thank you for following along!
Colin
Adult northern saw-whet owl.
Rise & shine! Good morning out there. It looks to be a lovely start to the day with a forecast of clouds & rain in the days ahead so enjoy the sunshine if you can.
Also, here's a yawning great horned owlet...
Cheers,
Colin
Back to raptor photos today. Look closely, those are northern goshawk chicks. This was a rare opportunity to observe them in their nest at eye-level. I even watched the adults successfully hunt and feed the chicks! Soon they will be soaring and hunting on their own.
Colin
A female great horned owl shares a snowshoe hare with her offspring. This was taken shortly before the juvenile began flying. I observed them sharing a red squirrel high in a cottonwood tree a few days later but since junior is airborne they seem to have moved to new hunting grounds.
Have a great Monday out there and thank you for following along!
Colin
Great Horned Owls, Eagle River Nature Center, Alaska
Please enjoy this juvenile great horned owl having a little siesta while taking a moment to allow yourself to slow down and breathe. Have a great weekend out there, everyone, and thank you for following along!
Colin
The great horned owl is a master of disguise. I wonder how many times I've walked right past one of these large birds, completely unaware that I was being watched. I believe I've developed a discerning eye for particular shapes and textures that has led to more owl sightings. It's like the four-leafed clover in that once you believe they are omnipresent they begin to reveal themselves, but believing is half of the battle.
Have a great Wednesday - keep your eyes and your mind open to what might be lurking nearby!
Colin
Great Horned Owl, Eagle River Nature Center, Alaska
Great Horned Owl, Eagle River Nature Center, Alaska
Great Horned Owl, Eagle River Nature Center, Alaska
It's a soggy start to the weekend here and not everyone looks happy about it. Stay dry, stay well, stay inspired!
Great horned owlet, June 2020.
Colin
Get horned owlet, Eagle River Nature Center, Alaska
Happy Nature Photography Day 2020! In addition to recognizing the art of nature and wildlife photography today, I am also happy to announce that my Facebook page surpassed 5,000 followers this past weekend! I could not have reached this milestone without all of your likes, comments, shares, and of course, sales & tour bookings. Facebook has been integral to growing my business and your steadfast support has allowed me to continue to do what I do best. Here is a great horned owl image that I captured recently, the first of several that I will be sharing in the coming days.
Thanks again and have a great week!
Colin
Great Horned Owl, Chugach State Park, Alaska
When you get to know your subjects as well as the light patterns in a particular area you can be in place for opportunities like this, which is certainly my best juvenile great horned owl image to date!
Have a great weekend out there. Be safe, be well, and thanks for following along!
Colin
Happy Halloween! Since owls seem to today's theme, I decided to jump on board and share a few of my nighttime images of great horned owls. I spent several hours trying to capture the third image of the owl taking flight, going out each evening and setting up, hoping that I'd be ready if & when the opportunity presented itself. My patience & persistence finally paid off after a couple weeks!
Have a safe & fun holiday and weekend!
Colin
Look 'hoo' is out of the nest! When I visited this great horned owl family previously, this juvenile was still in the nest while its sibling had ventured out to a nearby branch. Now they are both out of the nest and will not return. Young may leave the nest as early as 5 weeks old by hopping onto branches and begin flying at 9-10 weeks of age.
Seeing as how this is graduation season, are there any human parents out there experiencing empty nest feelings??
Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend and thank you for following along!
✌️🦉 Colin
"I saw it!"
"Saw what?"
"A saw-whet!"
"Say what???"
That's right, I saw it! The northern saw-whet owl. At 7-8 inches in height and weighing less then 4 ounces, it is one of the smallest owls in North America and we are on the northern edge of its range here in Southcentral Alaska. In fact, saw-whets just started showing up in this area within the past 10 years. They are elusive little creatures and mostly nocturnal.
Have a great Memorial Day out there and enjoy this last day of the holiday weekend!
Colin
"I always feel like somebody's watching me..." 🦉
I often wonder how many times I've walk past an owl, a lynx, or any stealthy creature that is observing me intently while I am completely and blissfully unaware.
Happy Monday out there! Here's to a great start to the week.
Colin
