About 2 weeks ago, we made a trip to Jekyll Island, a barrier island off the coast of Georgi in the USA. We took our granddaughter on a Dolphin Tour. This tour turned out to be remarkable. We floated among a pod of 13 Bottlenose Dolphins for about an hour watching them in various activities. It was a fascinating experience.
One of the activities we observed was mating. I learned that a female dolphin chooses a nanny to assist her to prepare and birth the baby. During the mating procedure the mother-to-be inverts herself, the nanny holds up her head so she can breathe and the male completes his task.
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If anyone would like a copy of almost any picture in my library, for educational or research use, please contact me and I will happily share a digital copy with you.
It’s breeding time so, birds are starting to show-off their finery. I’ve had the opportunity to photograph some male and female Yellow-rumped Warblers in their breeding plumage. Her, in the Atlanta area, we have the Myrtle subgroup while. In the Sacramento area, we had the Audubon sub-group. So, I included one of my pictures of a male from the Audubon sub-group for contrast.
If anyone would like a copy of almost any picture in my library, for educational or research use, please contact me and I will happily share a digital copy with you.
If anyone would like a copy of almost any picture in my library, for educational or research use, please contact me and I will happily share a digital copy with you.
If anyone would like a copy of almost any picture in my library, for educational or research use, please contact me and I will happily share a digital copy with you.
This week, I’m sharing a few more backyard birds from our new home. I’ve learned few some things. The tufted Titmouse behaves like the Oak Titmouse we had in California. It comes to the feeder takes one seed then flies away. The Carolina chickadee’s pig out; those tiny birds are always at the feeder. Â
If anyone would like a copy of almost any picture in my library, for educational or research use, please contact me and I will happily share a digital copy with you.
Scottsbluff National Monument is a small butte, with a small surrounding grassland, in Gering, Nebraska; next door to the town of Scottsbluff. The monument is one of many buttes in a broad valley. The valley eroded away leaving the buttes standing. The North Platte River runs through the valley and next to the monument.
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If anyone would like a copy of almost any picture in my library, for educational or research use, please contact me and I will happily share a digital copy with you.
Sieur de Monts was a wonderful, unexpected part of Acadia National Park in Maine. There is botanical garden and a lovely forest with trails. We walked the trails a little while after sunrise; after the sun had some time to filter and highlight parts of the forest. It was quiet and peaceful as a forest should be.
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If anyone would like a copy of almost any picture in my library, for educational or research use, please contact me and I will happily share a digital copy with you.
We recently visited Acadia National Park. Overall, I liked the park, but the area had more of the feel of a beach resort than a national park. It is served by Bar Harbor ME, a typical tourist resort town.
The Park Loop Road is a beautiful ride but much of the coastline is obscured by forest. There are several trails and if I ever go again, I need to explore those because I think I missed some scenic views. The weather wasn’t cooperative.
Cadillac Mountain is the go-to place for sunrise; the first place where the sun shines on the United States in the morning. I didn’t prepare well enough. I learned, several weeks ahead of time that reservations are required for any time of day to drive onto Cadillac Mountain. For sunrise, they open 20% of the 3:30AM slots several weeks ahead then open the remaining slots 48 hours in advance. I had a reservation in my sights but didn’t press pay fast enough so I lost it. I took all of 15 seconds but was too slow. I settled for sunset. It was quite nice but not spectacular, again the overcast skies. I did my sunrise on the Park Loop road.
Acadia has 4 units, Northeast which contains the Park Loop Road and Cadillac Mountain, the Southwest Unit which contains the lighthouse, Schoodic Peninsula which provides a drive along the coastline and Isle Au Haute which is available by ferry. Our trip was a good survey trip. We allowed 2 ½ days which wasn’t enough.
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If anyone would like a copy of almost any picture in my library, for educational or research use, please contact me and I will happily share a digital copy with you.
One of the interesting sites at Badlands National Park were the Bighorn sheep. It was especially fun to watch because they had babies.
Bighorn sheep are not native to Badlands National Park. Twenty-two were introduced in 1964 from the Pike’s Peak area in Colorado. The population is now estimated to be over 250. There are no natural predators to the Bighorn at Badlands National Park.
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If anyone would like a copy of almost any picture in my library, for educational or research use, please contact me and I will happily share a digital copy with you.
Please visit my website, www.earthwatcher.us to see my collection of landscapes and wildlife.
We just returned home from a very long road trip; a trip that took us from California to Maine and back. One of the places we visited was Devils Tower National Monument. I wanted to visit because it is an iconic feature and I hoped to capture a sunrise and night sky shots. Like most of our trip we were in big sky country where the skies are not cloudy all day. That was unfortunate because high clouds would have set the sky ablaze with color at sunrise and sunset. So, I did my best with that I had.
Devils Tower is a small park. The visitors center sits at the end of the only road, and it is a short ride. There is a trail around the monument from the visitor’s center, but it was closed for construction.
Devils Tower is not a solid wall cliff face. It is a beautiful example of columnar joining; something that is typical of volcanic magma that has cooled slowly. In the case of Devils Tower, geologists believe it is an intrusion; i.e. magma pushed up and intruded between other rock. It cooled underground and formed the beautiful columns that make up its rock face. At the bottom of the tower is a boulder field made up of broken pieces from the columns above.
As we explored, we found the dirt road to the Joyner Ridge Trailhead and followed it. There we took a short hike up a knoll and sat on a bench to watch the sun set. I can’t begin to describe the feeling of calm and spirituality I felt up there. I am always awed by the beauty of nature but this was different and more. I often find peace hiking on trails but, again, this was more. Many Native American tribal groups hold Devils Tower as a sacred place for prayer and communing with the spirits. It was a blessing to be there.
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If anyone would like a copy of almost any picture in my library, for educational or research use, please contact me and I will happily share a digital copy with you.
Please visit my website, www.earthwatcher.us to see my collection of landscapes and wildlife.
Earthwatcher 