The Family Unit!

One of the things I look for in filling up my time at "Ketelsen East" is to watch for sandhill cranes. Particularly since we fell in love with watching them overwinter down at the Whitewater Draw wetlands in southeastern AZ, we kept an eye out on the nesting pair we discovered about a mile from our house here in Illinois! The highlight last year was when I drove through the neighborhood where they hang out and I was able to shoot them through the open window of my car with a telephoto lens - getting the ultra-closeup at left!

So it was with some concern that a search of the usual haunts in the area where I would routinely see these cranes during my month here in April turned up nothing! Finally I asked some birders that I ran into on a walk and they indicated there was a nesting pair at another nearby body of water, so I held on to some hope they were still here.

Then on this trip, I startled an adult crane while on my bike ride, so I kept an eye peeled for them again. Finally about 10 days ago, near the above site where I photographed them in a neighbor's back yard, I spotted them across the small body of water. As is usual, a human on foot gets their attention right away and they paid close attention as I shot with my 300mm across the pool.

So this morning after my bike ride, I packed the 300mm lens and went out to the pond again intending to shoot them again. Coming over the rise where I could get a view of the water, no cranes. I pulled off the road for traffic behind me to pass and while debating what to do noticed they were almost right next to me under a tree - not 40 feet away! Lowering the window I started shooting with the 300mm and got some nice images of both adults and the youngster - again, them paying scant attention to me as long as I was in the car! This may be the closest I've been to a youngster and you can see that it hasn't developed any of the red coloration on its forehead.  It is tough to tell if this is the same family unit that was here last year - will have to do some comparisons of the close-ups to see if I can tell!


And what I can now say honestly is the closest shot I've ever gotten of a sandhill crane, I present the following macro photos of a crane feather I found on my first outing to photograph them above! I found a couple adjacent to the tree where they were standing today and they both share the brown/tan coloration of the cranes. The larger of the two is over a foot long, so can't imagine any other bird species it would be from. The two are from the larger feather, from the tip at left, to the quill end at right showing the branching from the feather barbs. These are both focus stacks of several exposures to extend the depth of focus.

I'm glad I located my crane buddies and will have to keep a closer eye out for them during my time here!

Fishing Season!

I'm currently at "Ketelsen East" in the western suburbs of Chicago, enjoying some "real" Springtime weather! After already threatening to break 100F about the time I left Tucson 10 days ago, the cooler temperatures, rain, flowers and outbreak of green here is a welcome sight! And we've had it all - 4" of rain over last weekend, and tonight there are freeze warnings in the area, so Summer still seems a long way off!

But with the downpour this weekend, on Monday the Fox River jumped out of its bank and got within about 50 feet of the house here! The image at left shows the water as it came up the "canoe beach" at far left and filled a depression in the middle of the lawn as shown. As the water drops back down, usually carp, some of pretty good size (I've seen up to 20" long!) are trapped in the "yard pond"! Somewhere I've got pictures that Melinda took of me trying to catch them by hand (hard) or with a large fishing net (easier) to dump them back in the river. After I gave up that earlier time, the herons and egrets move in and they were gone in a day.

So I wasn't really surprised, but startled when I saw my first great blue heron appear just before sunset tonight. The only telephoto I have is a 500mm Nikon mirror lens of '70s vintage given to me by a friend, and I rushed to install the adaptor that lets me use it with my Canon camera. Unfortunately I missed his playing with a sizeable fish, but got a nice portrait at left in the "yard pond" before he moved back over to the main river channel for some fishing where only his head is visible.


It started raining pretty hard again, and my last view of him was standing on the bank looking across it, or perhaps looking downstream at a kayak that was bearing down on him as he took off a few seconds later as they passed going upstream. If there are still fish in the pond, they will be back, though other than the one I saw the heron play with, I've not spotted any...

Fauna of the Fox River Valley

During my 5 weeks at "Ketelsen East" this Fall, I kept my eyes open for wildlife. Out in the woods around the house I often saw signs of 'possums, and skunks, but rarely saw their mostly-nocturnal outlines in the dusk. I saw "Bruce", our resident groundhog, but didn't catch him on film this time, nor the white-tail deer I would occasionally spot bedded down adjacent to the access road to the house.

Probably the stars of the trip were the nesting pair of Sandhill Cranes and their nestlings. I literally spotted them in River Bend Community Park, adjacent to the bike path, where I was able to bike to within 50 feet or so where I took the picture at left with my cell phone. I spotted them on an almost daily basis, both in the park and down the road about 150 yards where I think they stayed the summer. Not always carrying the "big" camera, after spotting them one day I had time to run home (a mile) to get the camera and get back with a telephoto. Of course, once off the bike or out of the car and they suddenly recognized me as a dangerous human and started fleeing, but was able to catch the male at right.


Of course, the image at right is reduced in size to fit the blog 1600 pixel-wide limit. While the plumage is a little drab, shown at full resolution at left, more details in his feathers can be seen and the bicolor feathers stand out nicely!

After spotting the house whose backyard they stayed in, I could find them most any time. At right is their usual stomping grounds between the house and a water lagoon. How cool would it be to have sandhill cranes living in your back yard?! I guess after the novelty wore off, it might be a pain - likely against the law to disturb them and even mowing the yard might be considered harassment... Again, if I was on foot they were quite wary, even when they were 50 yards away as shown here.


To get around their fear of humans, the cure, of course, was to drive up to them in a car! I drove down the street leading to the front of the above house, and the cranes nearly walked up to me! With the 300mm lens, it was quite easy to get the closest view I'll ever likely get of them! At right is the male again, and at right is the male in the background and one of the fledglings in the foreground. In this view you can see the youngster has lost some of the feathers off the top of its head and will likely be replaced by the characteristic red plumage that is on top of the adult heads! These pics were taken a few weeks ago when I was still there - duh! But they didn't seem in any hurry to head southwards. Hopefully the cold weather they've gotten since has motivated them to move further south!


Besides the cranes, Canada Geese were literally everywhere! There is a contingent of them that spends the winters in the Fox Valley and there were thousands lining the streets as seen at left, as well as school yards, local cornfields, really most everywhere there was space for a few hundred to congregate. They have certainly lost their novelty and the little "surprises" they leave behind don't particularly make them popular... Not particularly common, but seen several times were the odd egret and heron, though not as numerous as a half dozen years ago when they were seen most every day fishing along the banks of the river.



About the only other creature seen that I had not before was a garter snake that my friend Jane spotted while we were out walking. I've NEVER seen snakes of any kind on the grounds of the camp, so this one took me by surprise. It was also quite willing to pose for me and besides the still frame at left, I also took a stereo pair at right. Get out the red/blue glasses to see the view in 3D!





And, of course, I can't have just one anaglyph image on the blog - it just ruins the symmetry of its Tao, or something like that, so here is another, though it has nothing to do with the fauna of the area. It is of a little patio table that usually holds an ashtray for Melinda's friends to gather around outside to smoke when they visit. Well, the ashtray is still there, but unseen under the pile of leaves that fell naturally to cover table and chairs. And yes, I did my duty and swept off the sidewalk and table before leaving for Tucson, making sure the majority of the leaves were off the tree before doing so. Again, the red/blue glasses are needed to see the 3D!

It was a nice trip and I'm already looking forward to a return, though now that winter has a grip on the area, I might wait till it is closer to warmer weather. But you never know - I might get a hankerin' for some snow and cold weather!

Feliz Navidad de Puerto Peñasco!

We're just returned from a spectacular 3 days in Rocky Point, Mexico!  Our friend Donna joined us in paying a holiday visit to Margie, who has part-time interest in a house there.  Even though there was an apparent drug-related shootout 5 days before we arrived (killing 5), we decided not to change our plans, though perhaps many did, as beaches, streets, restaurants and fish markets were deserted while we were out-and-about.

We've posted about visiting Margie many times before. Her house is about a block from the Sea of Cortez, leaving the shore and seabirds visible with slight optical aid from her vantage points. The house layout is pretty much ideal - a trio of bedrooms on the ground floor, living room and kitchen sharing an open-air outdoor table on the second level, and an upstairs "astronomy" deck up on the roof.  I left tripods on the roof and spent most of the sunsets, sunrises and many hours of the day viewing a number of items that will appear here the next few days.

We made a number of short walks down to the
beach.  Temps were pretty nice for the end of December - reaching nearly 70F most days, though the water temperature was quite a bit brisker, but not too cold to get your feet wet.  Unfortunately for this trip, the moon phase was at 3rd quarter so the tides that can reach upwards of 6 meters near new or full moon were only about 1.5 meters, still an impressive range.  At left Melinda is shown enjoying some beach time at low tide.  Since we are budding birders, I attempted to document a few of the new ones to us.  And even while we've seen scads of brown pelicans in many locations, it is always amazing to watch these birds - the way they dive while fishing, and soar for seemingly hundreds of yards a few inches off the water.  You could actually see their wingtips splashing the water when they did flap to gain some altitude.

On Christmas Day we had reservations at Casa del Capitan, a restaurant atop a hill adjacent to a lighthouse overlooking the city.  Reservations were hardly needed as there were few other diners, and unfortunately it was too windy to sit outside and enjoy the view.  The mosaic at left was taken before sunset from the deck showing the development at Sandy Beach to the upper left, to the old town section below center.  Off in the far distance to the right is the extinct Pinacate volcanic range, which I'm told has some amazing crater fields.  The food was great, and we had a good time socializing with Margie and some of her friends from Cottonwood who were also down for the holiday.  At right is Donna and Margie after dinner.

But mostly is was a quiet time to unwind - we didn't have internet access, Margie's TV satellite plan only had Spanish language channels, and the international roaming charge was $1 per minute so I had my phone off the entire time...  It was fun to sit and watch the world spin, and you will see some of that the next couple posts.  And of course, we celebrated Christmas!  Margie had decorated the outside table area with Christmas lights that I suspect will remain up through the year - it was a very nice ambient glow for eating and conversing while enjoying the views.  Between friends, osprey, dolphins, the resident cat Amigo, and some of the celestial wonders you'll see the next few days, it was a memorable time!

Carolina Reptile Walk

While we were visiting Betty in Columbia, South Carolina, one of our destinations is the Three Rivers Greenway, a nice walkway/bike path along the Saluda and Congaree Rivers, flowing down the west side of Columbia.  While we have similar paths in Tucson, Columbia's has an actual river, with water flowing in it!  Tucson's system of washes are typically dry about 330 days of the year...

Our last visit was no exception, and it is always

fun to see the wildlife you can spot between the edge of land and water.  I assume it is pretty dependent on water level and time of the year, but this trip in early April seemed heavy on the reptile family!  It seemed every rock sticking out of the water had turtles on it and every branch extending into the water had frogs (yes, I know - amphibians, not reptiles)...  I haven't identified either of these, but both look pretty common.  This shot of the frog at right is my only picture that starts to show a pattern of white pigment under its chin.  Whether real or a temporary malady, I'm not sure.  A search didn't turn up anything...

A few yards down the path and I spotted a pretty good-sized snake, certainly 5 feet if not a little more. From the pattern, I believe it is a brown water snake, a non-venomous snake often found in low-hanging tree branches.  This fellow was basking in the sun and didn't pay me any mind, in fact, I didn't see it move at all, but it was gone when we passed by again 40 minutes later.  It certainly didn't have the triangular head of the pit vipers, so definitely wasn't a water moccasin.  It seemed pretty dull-colored and I thought perhaps it was looking to molt, but I'm thinking now that the brown water snake is normally dull in contrast...

 

 

 

Out in the river we saw a number of egrets and

great blue herons, but didn't see them fishing much or eating anything, so were wondering what they were doing...  Then we spotted huge schools of good-sized minnows in pools near the bank.  If this is any indication of the richness of river life, the birds might very well have been resting after a feeding session.

And lizards - we got lizards!  At lease different ones than we see in Arizona... Now that it is getting warm in the Southwest, the lizards we see move at seemingly the speed of light! The ones we spotted along the trail in Columbia at least were social enough that we got to take a few photos anyway... First up is the five-lined skink, one of the most common lizards in the Eastern US.  But they were cool to us as we don't have them in Arizona!  One of their most unusual features is a blue tail, easily detached when threatened to distract predators.  The blue tail may fade with age, though remains stronger in females.   I've got a thing for lizard fingernails, so love the little nails in the picture at right!

 

 

Also seen on the way back to the car was a Carolina anole -

easily seen with its bright green color.  The above link indicates it has some color-change capability, like a chameleon, and its behavior is distinctly different than the skink above - it stayed motionless for some time, evidently believing it was blending into the background, making picture-taking much easier.  The two pictures here are from the same frame, the right image shown at full-resolution to show the finest details.

So we had a great time visiting the river walking path with Betty.  Even in the urban area, we saw a nice variety of the creatures living there - common for South Carolina, but new for us!

Eagle Cam!

I'm not sure where I first saw it referenced, but I've got to take you all to an " eagle cam", watching over a Bald Eagle nest in of all places, Davenport, Iowa!  Now when I lived in Iowa, Bald Eagles were pretty much unknown in the Midwest that I recall.  With the ban of DDT in the early 70s (which affected their calcium metabolism and egg shell thickness), their numbers have surged, especially near wetlands and rivers.  I recall it being a big deal when my dad and stepmom took me eagle-watching one winter day in the Dubuque area back in the late '90s.  Then (and now) hundreds of eagles hang out along the river fishing in the open water  below the various locks on the Mississippi.

The Eagle Cam is on the property of an Alcoa

Plant, and the camera they've installed looks over the nest of year-long residents "Liberty"(the female - larger of the pair) and "Justice".  After eggs were laid in February, they hatched about 10 days ago, and both appear to be doing well.  The nest is cached full of fish parts and remains of rabbits and other creatures.  The nest, about 80 feet off the ground, is 7 feet in diameter.  The camera can be spotted in the picture at upper right to the left of the image.  It is quite high resolution, and has sound too!  Occasionally the camera zooms, pans and scans the area - today the chicks were alone for a few minutes and the operator zoomed in for a close examination!  Of course, if you check in at night it will be dark - you will only see something during the day...

I've got to admit that once activated, it is hard to turn away!  Last week, with high winds and below-zero temperatures, the adults were hunkered down over the newborn chicks.  Living next to the Mississippi, it appears fish is their primary food, and the adults patiently strip small pieces of meat off the carcass and feed the chicks very patiently.  Between feeding, keeping the eaglets warm, and fending off attacks from preditors, the adults have been very busy!  Alcoa is currently holding a naming contest for the babes, so feel free to go vote.

All photos here are courtesy of Alcoa, their video feed and blog that updates the eagle's status.  It will be fun to watch the little ones grow and learn to fly.  But do check it out - you'll be hooked too!

Something Smells Fishy

Red Pencil Urchin

It's been over twenty years since I've had the chance to go snorkeling, so that was second on my list (after seeing an active volcano first hand) for our trip to Hawaii.  Thanks to our friends, Andrew and Deb Cooper (residents of the Big Island), we all had free use of snorkel and beach equipment for the week!  Not only did they loan us masks, snorkels, fins, aqua shoes, chairs, mats, a beach blanket, and a cooler(!); they let us borrow a Nikon digital camera with underwater housing!  Generous beyond belief!  I've used a disposable underwater camera before (20+ years ago), but technology has improved greatly since then.  At the end of this post go to the link for our niece's underwater shots - taken with a disposable underwater camera, on this trip, as well!

Test shot in the pool

It was a real leap of faith, taking the camera underwater the first time - at least for me.  I couldn't stand the thought of something horrible happening to it, so 'tested it out' in our hotel pool first before actually taking the plunge in the ocean.  Fortunately, some kid was cooperative enough to jump in about the time I was taking a "test shot".  Once I felt confident we weren't going to be buying a new camera for the Cooper's, I was ready for hitting the ocean!

Green Sea Turtle

Green Sea Turtle

Snorkeling is about the most fun thing a non-diver can do in the ocean!  If you can kick your feet and float, you can snorkel.  Even non-swimmers can get in on the fun by wearing a life vest.  It's relaxing and opens up a whole new world, the underwater world!  I had been reading about good snorkeling sites, on line, for months in advance of our trip.  I found a site, Hawaii Snorkeling Guide that mentioned three great sites on the Big Island.  The first we chose was at a city park near Kona, Kahaluu Beach Park.  It was a great 'cove', protected from big waves, lots of coral and fish!  The walking from our shady spot to the water was a little rough on the feet, but I have really sensitive feet.  Every beach we went to we encountered Green Sea Turtles, and Kahaluu was no exception!  This guy was taking a break on the lava at the shore - before we even entered the water!  His buddy was still swimming with us in the cove for a while, also.  It's definitely 'odd' to come face to face with a sea turtle - we did our best to stay clear, though most everyone we spoke to said they are pretty harmless.  No need to provoke the locals though!  The second place we snorkeled was Mauna Kea Beach - Kaunaoa Bay.  Mauna Kea Beach is listed as one of the top 10 beaches in the world, and is perfect for beginners.  It is a huge cove of silky soft sand (great on the feet), with massive areas of coral surrounding the edges.  The coral there had areas of canyons that were great to swim through!  The coral is where the action is, so it was great to have so many areas to see.  As the tide came in there were areas of the coral that only had a few inches of water covering it - so it was sometimes hard to swim over and avoid touching!  Knowing that there are sea urchins and anemone's helps to remind one to "take only pictures, leave only bubbles".
Dean is already talking about a return trip in the Spring, to do some more 'serious' astronomy.  I'm already envisioning us taking more underwater pictures - and looking at underwater cameras on line (there are really very affordable ones out there)!  There are Queen Angels just waiting to have their picture taken so they can be on our blog, and we never made it to the third beach recommended by the Hawaii Snorkeling Guide!
Be sure to go to our niece's blog: Shannon's Song.  She has some AMAZING pictures from our snorkel trips!


There's a lot of pictures here, and I hope I have the fish identified correctly!

Deanfish

Melindafish

Yellow Tang, and some of the amazing coral!

Fourspot Butterflyfish

A little Goby of some sort, hiding in the coral

Moorish Idol

Closer look at the Moorish Idol

Orange Spine Unicornfish, Convict Tang and a Yellow Tang

A little Pufferfish!

One of my favorites, Raccoon Butterflyfish

Reef Triggerfish.  These guys are really fast!

A Stoplight Parrotfish.  They give the place some color and can be up to 2 feet long!

Teardrop Butterflyfish

Ornate Butterflyfish

A Threadfin Butterflyfish, and Convict Tang

Yellowfin Surgeonfish

Yellowfin Wrasse

Yellow Tang - more than you can count!