White-faced Ibis

Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Idaho is home to about 5000 white-faced ibis in the spring.  The birds breed in colonies in the bulrushes, and the refuge has one of the largest nesting colonies.

Just outside the refuge I came across lots of birds flying in and landing in the deep grass of a hay field.  They eat aquatic insects, earthworms, larvae, and so on, and often find food in damp soil.  I’m not sure why they were gathering in this field.

It was fun watching them glide in and disappear after they landed.  They just kept coming, and every once in awhile a few would poke their heads up to see what I was doing.

I have no idea how many were hiding there, but they tend to congregate in huge colonies.  I was lucky to be able to watch these interesting birds.

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Canada Goose Goslings

Spring has finally come to the Bear Lake Valley in Idaho.  There still aren't many leaves on the trees since we live at nearly 6000' elevation, but the Canada Geese have been here for awhile, and now their babies are starting to appear.  Linda and I drove out to Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge today, and while we saw hundreds of adult pairs, we only saw three with goslings.

It might be awhile before we see more goose families.  The parents are very protective of their babies and swim with them in a tight group.  After a minute or so, they swam into the bulrushes and the babies nearly disappeared as they blended in to the surroundings.

Who can resist these little balls of yellow fluff?  They will stay with their parents for up to a year.

161 bird species have been counted here at Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge.  Hay fields in the area are cut to provide feeding sites for the birds, and alfalfa, wheat, and barley are grown around the edge of the marsh to provide food for wildlife.  We are lucky to have this resource so close to home.

Please note that my photos are copyrighted and should not be used without permission.

Oregon Coast Panorama

Linda and I need to see salt water and taste fresh seafood once in a while, so we drove to the Oregon coast last month. We rented a condo on Siletz Bay in Lincoln City and ate plenty of seafood, but photography was tough because of terrible weather. After reviewing my photos, I noticed that a lot of them looked better cropped to near-panoramic proportions.

Photography was difficult in the fog and occasionally heavy rain, so some of our photos attempted to capture the stormy mood.  There was little of interest in the foreground sand and blank sky of the beachcomber photo, so cropping to emphasize the center of the photo seemed to be the answer.

When we finally got some sunshine, the storm had churned up huge waves, and the wind was blowing the tops off. Faint rainbows appeared in some of the spray on these waves at Boiler Bay.  Cropping helped the viewer's eye go to the center of interest.

Sunset didn't have much color, so cropping this photo of Siletz Bay was a good way to de-emphasize the sky and create a peaceful mood.  The photo was taken from the balcony of our rented condo.

This flock of birds was also photographed from our balcony, when it was pretty dark, using a fairly long exposure to create a feeling of movement.
When reviewing your photos it is important to realize that the proportions of the image created by your camera might not be the best proportions for every photo you take.  Don't be afraid to crop out unwanted elements to make a panorama, a square, or a photo with some other proportions.