Author: Earthwatcher

I am a very analytical person. My creativity flows from my need to understand and explain. I made a career of distilling processes to their essence and reconstructing them to be more efficient and productive. My approach to photography is an extension of my life’s work. I distill a scene to identify its processes and actors. I try to understand how the processes, generally the forces of nature and the forces of humans, have and are interacting with the actors to create the scene. I focus on one or more of the actors and compose a scene that shares a moment with them in an aesthetically pleasing way. Actors may be humans or wildlife. They also may be the sun, the moon, a tree, a river, mountain or other object. Each image shares a unique moment showing how its actors and processes have, are, and sometimes even will impact each other. But I also want to entice the audience to linger and to find their own story. I want them to imagine themselves experiencing the sights, the sounds and the feeling as if they were there.

Great Blue Heron

by Earthwatcher, posted in Atlanta, Bird Photography, bird watching, birding, Birds, Chattahoochee, Chattahoochee National Recreation Area, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Earthwatcher, Fujifilm Cameras, GA, Georgia, heron, nature, Nature Photography, Roswell, Wildlife, Wildlife Photography
Photograph of a bird, a Great Blue Heron, wading in a river. It is a large bird, facing left. on the right side of the picture. It has a gray body and neck. Its head is white with a wide blue stripe the width of its head passing through its eye. Its beak is primarily yellow with some blue on the top. It has one leg and foot submerged in the water while the other is raised and is reaching toward the left. The background is in 3 parts. The river is at the bottom, the mud bank is in the middle, and the top is green foliage.
Island Ford, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Sandy Springs, Georgia, USA; SEP 2025

Please click on caption to see image in higher resolution

Canada Geese

by Earthwatcher, posted in American River, American River Parkway, Atlanta, Bird Photography, bird watching, birding, Birds, California, Chattahoochee National Recreation Area, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Earthwatcher, Fujifilm Cameras, GA, Geese, Georgia, Goose, nature, Nature Photography, Wildlife, Wildlife Photography

Canada Geese are quite common and often don’t make an eye-catching photo. But when seen in the right environment and living their lives, their beauty is enhanced marvelously.

Photograph of 4 Canada Geese floating along a rive surrounded by low, green, aquatic foliage. The riverbank in the background is slightly out of focus. It is mostly gray-brown dotted by green leaves. The riverbank serves as the background. It is lined with reeds, with green brush and brown grass behind. The Canada Geese are large birds whose back is brown, its breast and bottom are white, its neck and head are black, and it has a white chinstrap.
Island Ford,
Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Sandy Springs, Georgia, USA; SEP 2025

Please click on caption to see image at higher resolution!

Photograph of 5 Canada Geese standing in a stream, all facing to the left. The riverbank is in the background. There are brown and green reeds along the river edge with various shrubs and grasses behind them. Next to the riverbank, the stream is running smoothly, reflecting the plants along the riverbank. The river under the geese is running over obstructions causing ripples. The Canada Geese are large birds whose back is brown, its breast and bottom are white, its neck and head are black, and it has a white chinstrap.
William B Pond Park,
American River Parkway, Sacramento, California, USA; DEC 2014
Photograph of 4 Canada Geese, two facing left one floating in the stream facing right and the other on the riverbank facing right. The background is brown and green reeds lining the riverbank in front of a gray, fog covered, forest scene. Next to the riverbank, the stream is running smoothly, reflecting the plants along the riverbank. The river under the 2 geese in the front is running over obstructions causing ripples. The Canada Geese are large birds whose back is brown, its breast and bottom are white, its neck and head are black, and it has a white chinstrap.
William B Pond Park,
American River Parkway, Sacramento, California, USA; DEC 2015

Cascade on Pond Creek

by Earthwatcher, posted in Atlanta, Chattahoochee, Chattahoochee National Recreation Area, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Earthwatcher, Fujifilm Cameras, Georgia, landscape, landscape images, landscape photos, nature, Nature Photography, Photography, river
Image of a ravine in the early morning. The foreground is a rock feature spanning the width of the pictures. In 2 spots, small cascades of white water fall into a pool of water that reflects the trees above. Behind the rock feature is the ravine. On the left side is a prominent tree trunk behind which are bushes covered in green leaves. On the right side is a hillside covered with trees and reddish-brown leaves.
Cascade on Pond Creek
Island Ford, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Sandy Springs, Georgia, USA; AUG 2025

Click on caption to see image at higher resolution.

Bumble Bee on Common Milkweed

by Earthwatcher, posted in Earthwatcher, Fujifilm Cameras, Insects, nature, Nature Photography, Wildlife, Wildlife Photography
Bumble Bee on Common Milkweed
Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Parkersburg, West Virginia, USA; JUN 2025

Brushstrokes in the Fog

by Earthwatcher, posted in Alpharetta, Atlanta, Chattahoochee, Chattahoochee National Recreation Area, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Earthwatcher, Georgia, landscape, landscape images, landscape photos, nature, Nature Photography, river, sunrise
The picture is of a river with part of its far side bank. The river is covered by light fog. There are rays of sunlight filtering in through openings in trees along the far bank. The sunlight highlights portions of the fog creating shafts of light that illuminate and reflect from the river.
Island Ford, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Sandy Springs, Georgia, USA; July 2025

A Great Blue Heron Takes to Flight

by Earthwatcher, posted in Alpharetta, Atlanta, Bird Photography, bird watching, birding, Birds, Chattahoochee, Chattahoochee National Recreation Area, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Earthwatcher, Fujifilm Cameras, GA, Georgia, nature, Nature Photography, Photography, Wildlife, Wildlife Photography

Island Ford, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Sandy Springs, Georgia, USA; July, 2025

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in the Early Morning Sun.

by Earthwatcher, posted in Earthwatcher, Fujifilm Cameras, GA, Georgia, lake, landscape, landscape images, landscape photos, nature, Nature Photography, Okefenokee, Okefenokee National WIldlife Refuge, swamp, tree
This picture is about light penetrating dark regions of the Okefenokee Swamp. The bottom of the picture is the very dark water in the swamp with patches of reflected features from the forest. On the left side is a large, gray, bald cypress tree, adorned by gray Spanish moss partially highlighted by the morning sun. The background is the focus of this picture. It is primarily Spanish moss and other vegetation that, with highlights from the sun reach into other areas that is obscured most of the day. The right side is green vegetation and Spanish moss.
Revelations in the Marsh;
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia, USA, MAY 2025

Please click on caption to see images in higher resolution!

The foreground features 2 Bald Cypress Trees with tall, mostly green, vegetation at their base. The trunks are large, gray, and vertical. The background is tall green vegetation in front of blue sky. The base of the trees is surrounded by very dark water dotted with green vegetation.
Flourishing in the Crevices;
A diverse set of plants find a home in the crevices of Bald Cypress trees.
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia, USA, MAY 2025
This photo is about the Spanish moss that is backlit by the morning sun and is reflected in the very dark water of the Okefenokee samp. On the right side of the picture is a tree that is mostly hidden by green vegetation. There is a long branch that is extending from the tree and it supports a curtain of Spanish moss. There is some green vegetation intertwined with the moss. The moss is partially reflected in the water.
Sunlit Shroud Over the Swamp;
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia, USA; AUG 2018

#Landscape #Cypresss #Tree #Okefenokee #SpanishMoss

Juvenile Hawks

by Earthwatcher, posted in Uncategorized
1. A single juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk lying on a nest made of sticks in the lower left side of the picture. This large bird has a black eye and beak, and a gray-brown crest on its head. Its body is mottled, with large gray-brown spots against the background of tan. The background is a portion of a large gray tree trunk with green needles and a blue sky.
Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk;
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia, USA, MAY 2025

On our recent trip to the Okefenokee  NWF it was baby season for Red-shouldered Hawks. It was fun to see.

Please click on caption to see image at higher resolution.

2. Two juvenile Red-shouldered Hawks perched upright on a tree branch, on the lower left side of the image, and highlighted by the sun. The birds have a light-colored crest on their head, black eye, and black and yellow beak. Their breasts are yellowish-brown with brown vertical stripes; the one on the left has a white patch near the top of the breast and some white at the top of its legs. The background is white tangled Spanish moss.
Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawks;
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia, USA, MAY 2025

#Photography #Photographie #PhotosOfTheDay #fujilove #fujixt  #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #bird #birdwatching #birding  #birdphotography #birdoftheday #birdid #bestbirds #hawk

The Standoff

by Earthwatcher, posted in Bird Photography, bird watching, birding, Birds, Earthwatcher, Fujifilm Cameras, GA, Georgia, hawk, nature, Nature Photography, Okefenokee National WIldlife Refuge, Wildlife, Wildlife Photography
Red-shouldered Hawk;
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia, USA, MAY 2025

We had the opportunity to visit one of our favorite spots: the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. While there we got to see a very interesting event. About 2 feet above the Hawk’s head is the Squirrel’s nest. The squirrel was about 15 feet away in another tree running around like crazy trying to distract the hawk.

Squirrel;
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia, USA, MAY 2025

Update: Molting Eastern Bluebird

by Earthwatcher, posted in Uncategorized

A birding expert corrected my interpretation of the Molting Male Eastern Bluebird. They explained that what I am seeing is a brood patch. See the explanation below.

From Wikipedia 20250428: The brood patch is a patch of featherless skin on the underside of birds during the nesting season. Feathers act as inherent insulators and prevent efficient incubation, to which brood patches are the solution. This patch of skin is well supplied with blood vessels at the surface, enabling heat transfer to the eggs when incubating.