Audubon Photography Awards Win
I’m thrilled with my win of the Fisher Prize in the 2023 Audubon Photography Awards. The winning photograph shows the interaction between a pelican in the water at night and the ghostly silhouette of a shark swimming up underneath it. Brown Pelican and Galapagos Shark From the APA description of the award: It recognizes the most creative approach in photographing birds—for example, highlighting an unexpected point of view—blended with technical expertise and an original composition. The Fisher prize pushes the traditional canons of bird photography to daring new heights, while never compromising strict ethical guidelines. The image was created while…
Birds of the Rio Grande Valley
I had the opportunity to spend a day in the Valley this winter. Many of the species found here are typical of eastern Mexico, not found north of the border beyond extreme south Texas. This Long-billed Thrasher is a non-migratory native of the area. Long-billed Thrasher With the normally dry weather in this area, birds are attracted to any and all sources of water – so blinds set up near these ponds can be exceptionally productive. Yellow-rumped Warbler taking a bathLesser GoldfinchCurve-billed ThrasherGolden-fronted WoodpeckerNorthern Cardinal The Northern Cardinal is of course a much more widely ranging bird, but some beautiful…
Wildlife of the Galapagos
I traveled with my family to Ecuador this summer – and while there spent a week in the Galapagos. The Galapagos islands are of course famous for some very unique flora and fauna. The islands are remote and harsh, but at the same time pristine and frankly, extraordinary. And they are a wildlife photographers dream! Great Frigatebird The only practical way to at least somewhat cover what the Galapagos has to offer (and somewhat is a very appropriate word to use here) is by boat. We traveled on the gorgeous Grand Majestic and these images chronicle what we saw at…
Roseate Spoonbills from Florida
“Gorgeous at a distance and bizarre up close” is a fairly accurate description of the Roseate Spoonbill. These gregarious waders are locally common in coastal Florida and even non-birders generally know of this distinctive bird. I was able to dedicate a weekend photographing these birds at a colony in Tampa Bay. I was able to get some photos before the dawn light hit – slow shutter speeds and blurry artistic shots are definitely my cup of tea. But I always seem to get some – did you drop your camera while you got that shot sort of comments 
After…
Bald Eagles of Skagit River
The Skagit River has arguably the largest concentration of Bald Eagles int the lower 48. In about November, the birds from Canada and Alaska start showing up to feast on the dying salmon. I spent a long weekend photographing these birds from the water. There was plenty of opportunity to photograph the eagles interacting with each other as they tried to get to the salmon. No one was hurt in all the fighting – that I could tell. This sort of aggressive behavior is typical at this time of year. With some patience and skillful maneuvering by the boat captain,…
In London for the BRITISH WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS
Life and death at the edge of the world – Shetland Isles I was thrilled to announce last month that this image of mine had won the Animal Behavior category of the 2018 BRITISH WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS. The BWPA aims to recognise the talents of photographers practicing in the UK, while at the same time highlighting the great wealth and diversity of Britain’s natural history. This makes it especially noteworthy for me as I have only been to the UK once (when I took this image) and my British wildlife portfolio is quite limited. I do hope to rectify that soon.⠀…
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Pelicans of Kerkini
My travels earlier this year took me to the astonishingly beautiful Lake Kerkini in Greece. It was winter, the snow capped mountains of Kerkini are visible in the distance and form a dramatic backdrop for one of the most important wetlands in this part of Europe. For those interested in birds, this area has a special claim to fame – this is where you can best approach, observe and photograph the threatened Dalmatian Pelicans. So after a long drive from Sofia in neighboring Bulgaria, I reached here late at night. I got the distinct feeling that US passports aren’t very…
Gannets of Shetland
After a fantastic time with the confiding puffins of Fair Isle, I decided to spend some time photographing Northern Gannets on some of the other Shetland Islands. Northern Gannets are some of the largest seabirds of the North Atlantic. They breed in only a few large colonies and spend most of their time out at sea. Their stunning white plumage is as beautiful to see as its hard to photograph properly. First stop was Hermaness National Nature Reserve on Unst. Overlooking Muckle Flugga – Britain’s northernmost point, this is a haven for seabirds with the gannets here representing 5% of…
Puffins of Fair Isle
Clowns of the sea – puffins are unique and iconic seabirds. I’ve had the pleasure of photographing Horned and Tufted Puffins at leisure from various bases in Alaska including the dramatic colonies of St. Paul Island in the Bering Sea. Atlantic Puffins are found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and while there are several places to view them, after some research, I settled on the tiny rock called Fair Isle in northern Scotland. Fair Isle doesn’t seem to get a lot of visitors – relatively speaking – which is a good thing because the infrastructure can only support…
Sandhill Cranes in the Winter
I had the opportunity to visit some Sandhill Cranes at a roosting site on the Wisconsin River last month. This was one of the last possible opportunities to photograph them before they migrated south for the winter. Winter means early sunset and the cranes didn’t arrive till the light was failing. Nevertheless, the vast numbers of cranes arriving together gave me an opportunity to try some long exposures. I particularly like how the cranes in flight look like wraiths in the air. I also tried some artistic blurs with the cranes when they finally landed close by when it was…
A Journey to the walls of the Smithsonian
I’m thrilled to have an image selected in the Highly Honored section of the BIRDS category in the very prestigious NATURE’S BEST 2016 WINDLAND SMITH RICE INTERNATIONAL AWARDS COMPETITION. This image of an Indigo Bunting on a freshly opening sunflower was photographed not far from my home at the POPE FARM CONSERVANCY in Wisconsin. It made a short list with some other very talented photographers from over 20,000 images submitted from 51 countries. The image will be displayed in large format (courtesy Epson America) at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC in an exhibit that opens October 24, 2016.…
Zambia – South Luangwa National Park: Mfuwe
I had the very cool opportunity to spend part of August this year in Zambia with my family. Naturally, I packed my gear along and there were excellent photography opportunities throughout. Since I photographed prolifically, I’m breaking this into three posts with one each to cover the Mfuwe and Nsefu sectors in South Luangwa National Park as well as the Lower Zambezi areas. In the Mfuwe sector of South Luangwa, we stayed at the lovely FLATDOGS CAMP right outside the park gate. This sector of the park is known for its unusual abundance of large game including leopards. I naturally had some…
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Birds of Hungary
Hungary is home base to some of the folks that wrote the book on hide photography in Europe. I was able to spend a week trying various locations around Hortobágy National Park for some of the iconic European species that breed in the area. European Bee-eater We started off in a hide to photograph Hoopoe at a nesting site. Hoopoes are colourful birds found across Africa, Asia, and Europe, notable for their distinctive “crown” of feathers. This Corn Bunting also made itself known. Some time in a tower hide in front of Red-footed Falcon nest boxes – meant a lot of…
Spring in Finland
I had the opportunity to spend a week of May in Finland this year. I have always wanted to see Ruff in breeding plumage and this was my opportunity to do so. For a short duration each year, Northern Finland offers a great opportunity to see displaying Ruff – one of the most stunning species of shorebird in the world. I did my research, packed up my Collins and made the decision to leave behind spring migration for a week while I hopped the pond. It took about 24 hours to get from Madison, WI to Kuusamo, Finland (via Minneapolis,…
In Search of Spruce Grouse
Known as ‘Fool Hen’ – the Spruce Grouse relies on staying still to remain hidden. This makes it one of the tamest birds to approach, once you find one. And therein lies the problem – you have to know how and where to find one. I signed up on a field trip organized by the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin titled “In Search of Spruce Grouse” which offered the opportunity to find these birds in the coniferous bogs of Chequamegon National Forest in the northwoods of Wisconsin. The trip was quite successful and we ended up finding five individuals including…
Birding New Zealand
I spent a couple of weeks on the South Island in New Zealand around Christmas. While this was officially a family vacation, I managed not to close my eyes when some of the awesome birdlife passed by. The number of species (and number of pages in the field guides) in New Zealand pales in comparison to the ABA area, but being an isolated island it is perfectly situated for a number of very unique endemic species. Like in most other places, human activity has led to steep declines in the populations and even extinction of many of these species –…
Birding on the Bering Sea
The second half of my trip to Alaska this June was spent on the little rock called Saint Paul Island. A small (very small) Saab aircraft took us from Anchorage on a 3-4 hour flight (air travel like other things is flexible in non-urban Alaska) to this small island. There was some excitement as tsunami warnings were out while we were in the air due to an earthquake in the Aleutians. But everyone and their bags made it ok (again – a noteworthy event). Saint Paul Island is the largest of the Pribilof Islands, a group of five Alaskan volcanic…
A Midsummer Week above the Arctic Circle
I’m just back from having spent a week observing and photographing breeding birds in the tundra of Barrow, Alaska – the northernmost city in the United States. The trip was exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. My flights involved connecting through Minneapolis, Seattle, Anchorage, Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay for a grand total of over 20 hours before stepping foot in the small community of Barrow. No rest for the weary — I met up with some great photographers and we headed out to drive the surrounding dirt roads in search of birds that very day. It was fascinating to see…