The Fam 2023

 The Family at Christmas. 2023.

Fulvous Whistling-duck

 

You never know what you are going to get when you go out shooting. These four Fulvous Whistling-ducks saw me but didn't know where to go. They just knew they had to go somewhere. Cute, eh? 

Reflection on a Ring-billed Gull

 

Quick trip to LA and Pasadena a week ago and got to take a walk near Pasadena after work meetings. I got to say I am not a fan of the gulls as they are so tricky to identify, but this one is a ring-billed gull and gave me a nice shot while flying over a small reservoir. Gulls are extremely variable in their plumage. They vary over the year and over the first few years of their lives. So, identifying them is tricky. Makes it fun but a pain as well. In breeding season the ring-billed have a clean, white head and yellow bills and legs with a black band around their bills. In non-breeding season, they look like the above shot.  

Nina's Christmas Cookie Party

 

A couple of shots from the cookie party last night. Lots of fun and excellent cookies 

Unbelievably Cute

 

Graham at 2.5 years. Such a cutie and so smart. He has it all going on. 

$8 a week!!!

 

Talk about inflation. This is a whole $8 a week. Weird that it is the "Dallas" Hotel but it is located in Corpus Christie. From a trip back in 2019. 

Supersonic Sandhill

 

One Sandhill Crane was in a hurry and went supersonic!!!

Sandhills heading towards the light

 

Most of my shots last week at Jasper-Pulaski State Park in Indiana were of Sandhill Cranes backlight from the sun or from very far away when they landed. These two, and a few others, were the few who flew toward us and therefore front lit by the sun, giving a better view of the birds. At as Cranes gather from a day of eating leftover seed corn on the ground from the harvest, they gather at night in a marshy area to protect themselves from predators. These two must have been going out for one last snack before dark as the sun is quite low and about to set. In any case, I was thankful to get some shots of the Cranes in flight that were well lit by the setting sun. 

More Cranes

 

More Cranes overhead. When there are around 30,000 cranes overhead, you get lots and lots of flying shots. From Jasper-Pulaski State Park in Indiana, a sandhill crane resting area. 

Sandhills overhead

 

It is only 2 hours from home to Jasper-Pulaski State Park in Indiana but what you get for about a week this time of the year is a view of upwards of 30,000 Sandhill Cranes coming in from a day of feeding in farm fields around the area to a roosting area at night. There are only 105,000 Sandhill Cranes east of the Mississippi and about 1/3 of them were at JP the day that Bill and I visited. We saw several thousand come in for a landing but they were quite spread out and still coming in as it was getting dark. While the roosting area is quite far away, the noise starts to get deafening as the Sandhill Cranes are not shy about calling out to each other. Once you hear their call you will recognize and hear it over the course of the year as they fly over the Chicago area to/from Canada and Florida for their annual summer and winter migrations. This area in the state park is one of the few areas left for the Sandhills to rest and rejuvenate prior to the final leg of their trip south. This 1,000 acres of the 8,000 acre park is critical to a massive number of Sandhill Cranes left in the eastern part of the US. It was a thrill to see this display and I was thankful for the invitation of the Audubon Society to come and see the Cranes.