RTY Photography Blog

Sharon and I ran into a couple of loons this morning on Jordan Pond in Acadia National Park, Maine. The one loon was very interested in me and my kayak and floated by only a few feet away several times. He was calling his mate on the other side of the lake. She responded each time. Such a beautiful haunting call, especially from this close on the water. I also photographed a family with two chicks at Upper Hadlock Pond on the next day. The male and female were constantly diving and feeding vegetation to both chicks.

Sharon on Jordan Pond.

I visited a heron rookery in Ocean City where herons gather to breed. It was quite a spectacular sight to see so many herons flying in and out of the many nests. Mainly yellow-crowned night herons, but also black-crowned and other birds.

Black-crowned Night Heron

Wild sunset through my 500 mm lens.

I may have found where some of my bluebirds went. This is a nest at Cattus Island in Toms River, NJ, just across the Silver Bay from my townhouse. I had hoped to catch the little ones fledging, but the second time I returned they were gone.

Near by Osprey

Crab Dinner

The male Osprey was very busy out at Spizzle Creek on Friday. The male made several trips to bring sticks back to the nest. Each time he returned, he spent several minutes tucking it in and re-arranging it to get it just perfect … then the female moved it. This was amusing to watch over and over again. The egrets also put on quite a show.

Willet

Mockingbird

Some Osprey shots at Island Beach State Park last week.

Mockingbird

Here’s a small sample of birds that visit each day. This is only the small birds. There are also ospreys, herons, egrets, eagles, swans, ducks, and more. It’s such a wonderful world out back.

House Finches

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Female Cardinal

Great Egret

American Goldfinch

Red-winged Blackbird

Male Cardinal

This was our last trip out to the Anza-Borrego Desert. We drove four miles off rode and hiked a short distance to Fonts Point. It’s a pretty incredible location. The hike seems like flat land, but when you get to the end, there is a 1300 foot drop down to the Borrego Badlands. When the crescent moon was up, we could see the rock formations below, but once the moon set, it was just a huge black hole. Except for some great conversation with my good friend, Jack Fusco, there were eight hours of stillness. We were able to catch a few meteors from the tail end of the Lyrid meteor shower. As we packed for the ride home, we heard an owl echo through the canyon. A perfect ending to an awesome adventure.

Looking over the edge to the Badlands below.

This was from the Wind Caves.

Scouting the area just before dark.

My trek out to San Diego to meet up with my good friend Jack Fusco, headed to the Anzo-Borrego Desert to view the Lyrid meteor shower on Tuesday. I had never been in the desert during the day and now I was spending the entire night there. It’s hard to explain the stillness I experienced. Two and a half hours from San Diego, four miles off road, and one mile up the mountain to reach the Wind Caves. It was an absolutely gorgeous night. Around 2 AM, the Milky Way slowly made it’s appearance over the horizon. We were able to capture several meteors from the Lyrid shower. We shot until daylight and then headed back. A second visit out to the desert was planned for Thursday. Those photos will follow.

It was such a beautiful night and the San Diego sea lions were very cooperative.

I headed out to San Diego to visit my good friend and awesome photographer, Jack Fusco. This was the first night at North Beach. The moon and Venus were rising together. We went on some pretty exciting adventures over the next week. Stay tuned for those images.