An Silhouette appears...

A good silhouette is often easily produced. However, from my experiences they are seldom produced with forethought or intent. I personally have produced a few that I like. This is one of them. After a long day at my regular work I took off a little early in search of that ever-elusive award winning nature photo. Well, as usual things started off a little slow then tapered off. I was cold and ready to go home...I prayed, I waited and I watched. After a few hours in the field with little or no action I wandered upon this Great Blue Heron standing in top of a palm tree. Now, Great Blues are truly beautiful, but for some reason they don't seem to get the attention they deserve. I am guilty as well. Rarely do I even bother shooting them. My assumption is that they are just so common. As I stood there with my finger in my ear I realized that night was fast approaching. It then dawned on me, this bird would be leaving soon, it wasn't on a nest and it certainly wasn't going to spend the night standing in an exposed palm tree. So I waited, and I waited, and I waited some more-with my camera focused on him. Sure enough, when he launched, I was ready and I took four shots. All were good, and all showed action. This one however, spoke to me the most. About now, you are probably asking yourself what the point of all this is. Well, it concerns a number of issues. Number one, Never give up, never stop praying, and BE READY. A few months back I had two baby black bears ramble right up close to me... They were back lit, frolicking, and unafraid-I HAD NO CAMERA. I will never forgive myself for this. So, be ready, be patient, and be reverent. ©

Eagle, Hawk, Vulture?

I am guilty and more than likely you are too. I have often had people exclaim..."Look an eagle!" I then have to ever so quietly and kindly tell them that it is not an eagle but a vulture or hawk. So how does one distinguish between the different larger birds of prey? There are many ways, the most subtle and often overlooked are often the simplest, such as time of year, proximity to water, forest community type, and behavior. The most relied upon and accurate means however is to identify the silhouette, size, wing configuration, etc. Vultures soar with their wings in a "V" shape, eagles wings are flat and hawks are as well... An eagles wing span can be 7-8 feet across. A hawks span is typically around 4 feet. If you can get close enough, a mature bald eagle is easy to identify. The large white tail feathers and white head are prominent, and the legs are very yellow. If you are looking for them on a body of water, search for a soft-ball sized patch of white in the upper part of a tree-line. Of course there are many other birds of prey-and depending on where you are you might find some really interesting or unusual species. Kites, merlins, falcons, owls, and ospreys are interesting and fun to watch. Many areas have full-time resident eagle populations while other areas of the country have limited or migratory groups. To learn more check with your local wildlife management agencies. Keep on Birding. © listen to songs of this species

Did they not know or just not care?

They probably never thought they would destroy almost all of it. Did they know? Did they not care? Surely the vast bottomland forests seemed almost infinite. They stretched all over the south. What now remains is only a tiny fraction of what was. The remaining fragments are impressive for us...But we never saw the original tracts of ancient trees. HUGE TREES by what we know today. There are still small remnants here and there...Some were not worth cutting, some were fairly inaccessible and some, so it seems were looked over, and others were fought for by people with foresight. If you have never seen an old growth Cypress swamp then you are missing out on a truly magnificent community. So, when you are wondering what your next adventure might be, take the time to research the bottomland forests of the southern U.S. Try the Cache river in Arkansas, Dagmar WMA for example will leave your head spinning. Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina and Mississippi all have good chunks to check out...If your thinking that I'm a tree huggin' hippy, I guess your right. But who wouldnt be? While most of it is long gone, some of what remains was here and viable when Christ was born. Wanna see a 2000 year old tree? How about a 3000 year old tree? Check out the "Senator" in central Florida...3500 years and still kickin it...

"Old growth style"

[note: The tree pictured is not the senator-it was shot in Mississippi] ©