Category: Fujifilm Cameras

The California Condor

by Earthwatcher, posted in bird watching, birding, Birds, Fujifilm Cameras, Grand Canyon, Nature Photography, Uncategorized, Wildlife, Wildlife Photography
Adult and Juvenile California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus);
Mather Point, South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park; AUG 2019

This past week, I had the opportunity to visit the Grand Canyon National Park. While there, I saw a rare site: a juvenile and adult California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus). This vulture can reach 4 ½ feet long with a wingspan of nearly 10 feet; 25% larger than the more commonly seen Turkey Vulture.

What makes this bird remarkable, beside its size, is that it was nearly driven to extinction. Many millennia ago, it ranged across the entire North American continent. By the time European settlers arrived, it was found mostly in the western part of North America.

During the 20thcentury, California Condor populations declined until extinction became extremely likely. In 1987 all remaining 22 wild birds were captured. These birds formed the breeding stock for a federally sponsored program aimed at reestablishing them in the wild. These condors were bred and their offspring released into the wild. The birds have begun breeding in the wild. Captive birds continue to be released. The population is now expanding.

The birds can sometimes be seen in places like the Grand Canyon but seeing them is still the exception rather than the rule. So, I feel blessed to have been able to see and photograph these magnificent birds.

Note: Please click on caption to see images at higher resolution.

Juvenile California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) in Flight – P1;
Mather Point, South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park; AUG 2019
Juvenile California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) in Flight – P2;
Mather Point, South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park; AUG 2019
Juvenile California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus);
Mather Point, South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park; AUG 2019

These and other images are available to purchase on my website: www.earthwatcher.us or by contacting larry.klink@earthwatcher.us.

Some Random Landscapes

by Earthwatcher, posted in California, Fujifilm Cameras, Grand Tetons National Park, landscape, landscape images, left brained, Mt Shasta, Nature Photography, volcano
Grand Tetons at Twilight from Schwabacher’s Landing;
Schwabacher’s Landing, Grand Teton National Park, WY; MAY 2019

Here are a few landscapes from our recent trip to the Rocky Mountains.

Note: Please click on caption to see image at higher resolution.

Spring Foliage on Flathead River;
Confluence of Bear Creek and Middle Fork of the Flathead River near Glacier National Park, MT; MAY 2019
Mt Shasta;
US Rt 97 between Dorris and Weed, CA: JUN 2019
Grand Tetons at Sunrise from Schwabacher’s Landing;
Schwabacher’s Landing, Grand Teton National Park, WY; MAY 2019

These and other images are available to purchase on my website: www.earthwatcher.us or by contacting larry.klink@earthwatcher.us

Elk, Moose and Pronghorn from A Trip Through the Rocky Mountains

by Earthwatcher, posted in Earthwatcher, Fujifilm Cameras, Grand Tetons National Park, Nature Photography, Wildlife, Wildlife Photography, Yellowstone National Park
Male or Bull Elk (Cervus canadensis) with Antlers in Velvet;
Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park, WY; MAY 2019

In sharing these images today, I am using the common North American names for these animals. It was interesting learning about these animals though because, the names are not consistent. Even in North America, the Elk is referred to a Wapiti, from the Shawnee term Wa Piti meaning White-rumped. Also, Elk are sometimes claimed to be the same as the European Red Deer. However, mitochondrial testing in 2004 found that the much smaller Red Deer is a different species.[i] To confuse matters further, in Eurasia, the Moose is called an Elk.[ii]

The Pronghorn is sometimes referred to as an antelope but it is not a true antelope. Unlike true antelopes, the keratin sheathing on its horns is shed and regrown annually. The pronghorn is also the only animal that has branched horns.

The Elk and the Moose are members of the deer family, which means they have antlers made of bone. The pronghorn and true antelope, as well as cows, sheep and goats have horns which have a bony center covered by a keratinous sheath.

Anyway, forget the confusion unless it helps in social conversation and enjoy these magnificent animals.

[i] Elk Network. https://elknetwork.com/whats-the-difference-between-red-deer-and-elk/

[ii] Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose

Note: Please click on caption to see image at higher resolution.

Female Moose (Alces alces);
Moose Wilson RD, Grand Tetons National Park, WY
Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana)
Female Elk (Cervus canadensis);
Grand Tetons National Park, Near Moran, WY; MAY 2019
Female Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana);
Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park, WY; MAY 2019
Male or Bull Elk (Cervus canadensis) with Antlers in Velvet;
Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park, WY; MAY 2019

These and other images are available to purchase on my website: www.earthwatcher.us or by contacting larry.klink@earthwatcher.us.

Phinizy Swamp Nature Park – Herons, Egrets and Alligators

by Earthwatcher, posted in Bird Photography, bird watching, birding, Birds, Fujifilm Cameras, Wildlife, Wildlife Photography
The Staredown; American Alligator and Snowy Egret;
Phinizy Swamp Nature Park, Augusta, GA; JUL 2019

We had the opportunity to visit the Phinizy Swamp Nature Park near Augusta, GA a few weeks ago. While there, we were treated to some bird and alligator sightings including some interesting egret – Alligator interactions.

The Phinizy Swamp Nature Park is part of a complex shared with the Phinizy Center for Water Sciences. According to their website, the Phinizy Center for Water Sciences studies rivers and watersheds to understand impacts on water quality and quantity. The history of the park is fascinating. It tells the story of a stream that was once the recipient of waste from sanitary and storm sewers of Augusta and how it was cleaned up. Today, it serves as the third stage of water treatment – further filtering water cleaned by the water treatment plant.

On our visit, we were treated to adult and juvenile Little Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets and Alligators. At one point we watched a Snowy Egret having a stare down with an alligator. After about 5 minutes, the alligator turned and left. In another incident we saw an alligator with sticks and green vegetation covering its head and snout. I was curious if alligators used camouflage when hunting. There was little information. But one article referenced an article published in the journal Ethology Ecology & Evolution by Vladimir Dinets, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. He stated that, during the nesting season for birds like egrets, alligators will cover themselves with nesting material to attract prey.  

Another interesting discovery was the juvenile Little Blue Heron. Mate Rouse, a guide at the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge mentioned to us that the juveniles were all white. I had buried that fact somewhere in my brain. So, on this trip, I saw some white birds that looked like egrets but didn’t look quite right. The legs were a gray-green color and the beak was more gray. So, I took photos and did some research only to discover that I wasn’t looking at egrets, I was looking at a juvenile Little Blue Heron. That moment connected the dot back to what I had been told.

I hope you enjoy the images. I hope someday you can stop at Phinizy Swamp Nature Center. There are lots of other birds there to see also.

Note: Please click on caption to see images at higher resolution.


Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea);
Phinizy Swamp Nature Park, Augusta, GA; JUL 2019
Juvenile Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) – P3;
Phinizy Swamp Nature Park, Augusta, GA; JUL 2019
Camoflauged American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
Phinizy Swamp Nature Park, Augusta, GA; JUL 2019
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula);
Phinizy Swamp Nature Park, Augusta, GA; JUL 2019
Juvenile Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea);
Phinizy Swamp Nature Park, Augusta, GA; JUL 2019

These and other images are available to purchase on my website: www.earthwatcher.us or by contacting larry.klink@earthwatcher.us

Some North American Bear Sightings

by Earthwatcher, posted in Fujifilm Cameras, Nature Photography, Uncategorized, Wildlife, Wildlife Photography
Brown Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis). Also known as Grizzly Bear;
Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada; MAY 2019

On our recent trip through the Rocky Mountains, we were very lucky and saw a few of the North American Bears. You may see that they are identified as black bears and brown bears. I don’t know why they were named that way. Both black and brown bears can be black, brown, cinnamon and blonde. I’ve even seen black bears with white “collars”. The major differences is that the brown, or grizzly, bear has a distinctive hump and ears that are more rounded and more closely spaced. Brown bears usually grow to a larger size than black bears.

Note: Please click on caption to see image at higher resolution.

American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) with Cub
Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada; MAY 2019
American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) – P2;
Kootenay National Park, Alberta, Canada; May 2019
American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) – P1;
Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park, WY; MAY 2019
American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) Cub;
Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada; MAY 2019

These and other images are available to purchase on my website: www.earthwatcher.us or by contacting larry.klink@earthwatcher.us.

A Trip to Joshua Tree National Park

by Earthwatcher, posted in Bird Photography, bird watching, birding, Birds, desert, Fujifilm Cameras, Joshua Tree National Park, Night Sky, Reptile, sunset, WIldflower, Wildlife
Milky Way Over The Arch at Joshua Tree National Park;
Joshua Tree National Park; MAY 2019;

A Trip to Joshua Tree National Park

On a recent road trip, we spent a day at Joshua Tree National Park near Twentynine Palms, CA. The trip was, in part, motivated by a chance to photograph the Milky Way over the park. It was our first trip to Joshua Tree NP and we really did not know what to expect other than it was a desert landscape with Joshua Trees. It was indeed a desert landscape typical of the American Southwest. It has beautiful eroding, rolling hills covered by talus – piles of rocks eroded from the hillside. There were large, weathered boulders throughout the park that people used for climbing. We learned that it is a very popular rock-climbing location.

The desert was in bloom with ocotillo, cholla, desert senna, Mojave mound cactus and many other plants. But, the signature plant of the park is the Joshua Tree. The Joshua tree is a large tree like plant with hard spiky leaves. Despite looking like both a tree and a cactus, it is neither. It is a plant in the Yucca family (Yucca brevifolia). The oldest one in the park is about 350 years old. Because it is not a tree, it doesn’t have the woody structure to bear all of its weight, so, when branches get to big, they bend and fall to the ground. We missed seeing them in bloom on this trip, but they were developing their seed pods. I like them so much; I’d like to have one in my backyard but they only grow in the Mojave Desert between 4,000 and 5,000 feet in altitude.

Our night sky photo shoot was spectacular. The Milky Way didn’t rise until after midnight. It was a pleasantly warm evening and we had to scramble over some boulders, in the dark, to get to a ledge on another large boulder. That location was picked because The Arch was directly in front of us and our goal was to shoot the Milky Way over The Arch. I hadn’t done a night sky shoot in a very long time, so it was great to knock the rust off my skills. The only disappointment in the shoot was light pollution. When you look at the Milky Way image, you’ll see the sky has a greenish cast along the horizon. That cast is the light rom the Palm Springs and Indio areas of Southern California. Indio is 25 miles from the park.

I want to give a shout out to Casey Kiernan of Joshua Tree Workshops for guiding us in a great night sky workshop and fun time.

Please click on caption to see image at higher resolution.

Joshua Trees (Yucca brevifolia) at Joshua Tree National Park – P2;
Joshua Tree National Park; MAY 2019
Desert Iguana (Dipsosaurus dorsalis);
Joshua Tree National Park; MAY 2019;
Teddybear Cholla Cactus (Cylindropuntia bigelovii) in Bloom;
Joshua Tree National Park; MAY 2019;
Joshua Trees (Yucca brevifolia) at Joshua Tree National Park – P3;
Joshua Tree National Park; MAY 2019
Ash-throated Flycatcher
(Myiarchus cinerascens) on Creosote Bush, (Larrea tridentata)
Joshua Tree National Park; MAY 2019;
Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia) at Joshua Tree National Park – P1;
Joshua Tree National Park; MAY 2019
Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia) with Seed Pods;
Joshua Tree National Park; MAY 2019
Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia) Yucca and Pinion Pine at Joshua Tree National Park – P4; Joshua Tree National Park; MAY 2019

These and other images are available to purchase on my website: www.earthwatcher.us or by contacting larry.klink@earthwatcher.us.

Several Birds

by Earthwatcher, posted in Bird Photography, bird watching, birding, Birds, Fujifilm Cameras, Photography, Wildlife
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)
Effie Yeaw Nature Center, Sacramento, CA; APR 2019

Images of several birds I’ve seen over the past 2 months.

Please click on caption to see images at higher resolution.

Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana)
Effie Yeaw Nature Center, Carmichael, CA; MAR 2019

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Effie Yeaw Nature Center, Carmichael, CA; APR 2019
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)
Effie Yeaw Nature Center, Sacramento, CA; APR 2019
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)
Effie Yeaw Nature Center, Carmichael, CA; MAR 2019
Common or European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Effie Yeaw Nature Center, Carmichael, CA; MAR 2019

These and other images are available to purchase at my website: www.earthwatcher.us or by contacting larry.klink@earthwatcher.us.

Burrowing Owls

by Earthwatcher, posted in Bird Photography, bird watching, birding, Birds, Fujifilm Cameras, Photography, Wildlife
Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia);
Davis, CA; APR 2019

Burrowing Owls are interesting little creatures. Unlike most owls, these 8”-10” owls forage during the day and they live in burrows in the ground that were abandoned by ground squirrels, prairie dogs and the like. They spend most of their time on the ground or on low perches. They eat insects and small animals. I’ve even red that they will carry dung near the burrows to attract insects.  

Please click on caption to see image at higher resolution.

Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia);
Davis, CA; APR 2019

Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia);
Davis, CA; APR 2019

These and other images are available for purchase on my website: www.earthwatcher.us or by contacting larry.klink@earthwatcher.us.

Swallows

by Earthwatcher, posted in American River Parkway, Bird Photography, bird watching, birding, Birds, Fujifilm Cameras, Photography, Wildlife
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor);
American River Parkway, Folsom, CA; MAR 2019

Swallows are those little birds we see with their distinctive back swept, pointed wings and their forked “swallow tail”. They maneuver through the sky at high speed, in a seemingly erratic pattern, catching and eating insects in flight. They will also eat mollusks, spiders and sometimes fruit.

In the spring, along the American River, in the Sacramento area, I commonly see two types of swallows: Tree Swallows and Cliff Swallows. When I am lucky, I’ll see a Bank Swallow. I have been told we also have Violet-green Swallows but I haven’t seen any.

The most common swallow that I see is the Tree Swallow. They are called Tree Swallows because the nest in cavities in trees. It is a beautiful iridescent blue on its head and back, white on its breast and underside and blackish color on wings and tail. These birds live along the gulf coast, southern Mexico and Central America in the winter and move north throughout the US in summer.

The Cliff Swallow is a multi-colored bird with off-white underside, gray-brown wings, blue-gray back and head cap and a brown-red neck. They are quire beautiful. They make nests of mud that appear precariously perched on a cliff face. They also build nest in man-made structures like bridges and buildings. They are very social; many birds build nests near one another and hunt together. They also live along the gulf coast, southern Mexico and Central America in the winter and move north throughout the US in summer.

The bank swallow is a bird with different names in different parts of the world. In Europe, it is the Sand Martin while on the Indian subcontinent it is called the collard sand martin. They make a nest, lined with straw or feathers, in a hole they burrow into sand or gravel. They have mostly white underparts but have a gray back, wings and head. They will sometimes have a prominent grey collar at the base of their neck. They winter across they southern 1/3 of the US in winter then migrate north in the summer.

Here are some images of these beautiful swallows.

Please click on caption to see these images in higher resolution.

Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) , American River Parkway,
Orangevale, CA; APR 2019
Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia). (AKA Sand Martin);
Lake Natomas, Orangevale, CA; APR 2019;
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor);
American River Parkway, Folsom, CA; MAR 2019

Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota);
American River Parkway, Orangevale, CA; APR 2019

Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota);
American River Parkway, Orangevale, CA; APR 2019

These and other images are available for purchase on my website: www.earthwatcher.us or by contacting larry.klink@earthwatcher.us.

The Rookery

by Earthwatcher, posted in Bird Photography, bird watching, birding, Birds, Fujifilm Cameras, Wildlife
Great Blue Heron (Ardea Herodias) in the Rookery
American River Parkway, Folsom, CA; APR 2019

In our area, we have a few rookeries; communal nesting areas for herons, egrets and cormorants. There are other birds that nest in rookeries but I am not aware of any I our area.

Rookeries are interesting. The two I see most often are in a small cluster of tall trees along side of a river. The birds nest high above the ground. Each bird tends to their own nest. But the colonies can contain two dozen or more nests. The herons, egrets and cormorants will even nest in the same tree. Many believe protection drives their desire to nest communally.  More roommates make it easier to spot and chase away predators.

I visited both rookeries last week and it appears to me that the birds are sitting on eggs. If I am right, we should have babies soon.  So, I’ll keep checking back and when I can, post pictures. I can’t get close to the nets; I am about 75 yards away. So, I won’t be able to photograph the chicks until they are big enough to pop their heads above the sides of the nest.

Here are a few rookery images. Take note of the male Double-crested Cormorant. He is displaying his orange patch and the crest of feathers on his head. For me, its rare to see the crests displayed.

Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) on the Nest
American River Parkway, Folsom, CA; APR 2019
Great Egrets (Ardea alba) on the Nest
American River Parkway, Folsom, CA; APR 2019