If I had a photography motto it might be “follow the crows.” As sentries of the canopy, crows know what’s going on. So I pay attention. If it mattered at all to crows, they could tell me who shattered my car window last month and who stole our Christmas tree (with decorations) back in 1995….
Studies in Godwit
Every so often, I get a request for ‘derivative works’ permission — usually from a wildlife artist who wants to use a photo as the foundation for a painting or print. I particularly love it when the work is used to benefit an animal cause … like this painting of a Brown Pelican I photographed…
Bird Rescue, Fishing Gear & Existential Inquiries
This post is (or will be) a rambling confluence of a few different stories. Back in June, I posted about a Brown Pelican I saw flying over Bolsa Chica at dusk. I photographed the bird in silhouette as it trailed a triple-hook fishing lure from its pouch. I obviously have no way of knowing what…
The Deafening Sound of Man
My title here derives from a quote in this article about Dr. Bernie Krause: “A great silence is spreading over the natural world even as the sound of man is becoming deafening. Little by little the vast orchestra of life, the chorus of the natural world, is in the process of being quietened. There has…
What We Are …
The post title derives from a Flickr friend who wrote this comment below my photo: “A sobering reminder of what we are . . .” I will add that what we are doesn’t necessarily foretell what we become. 🙂 Against a scrim of Northwestern mist, the barge SeaLink Rigger chugs toward a scrap metal yard…
The Hook-and-Plastic Club for Birds
Edited on 6/12/12 to add a few links and resources. This was my last shot of the night. Under a California sky, I saw my favorite silhouettes on approach … those pterodactyl forms, Brown Pelicans, gliding past the fallen sun. Knowing I would get just the barest outline of a pelican, I raised my lens…
Sky Lanterns … and Tangential Links to Wildlife
If you stretch it, there’s a wildlife tie-in with just about every human contrivance. But in this case, I was actually avoiding wildlife connections — taking a break from the stress of nestlings, fledglings, entanglements and predation. My goal was moonrise over the Space Needle … a moonrise scheduled for 11pm. As luck would have…
Derelict Nets & Entangled Birds
Note: All gulls pictured in this post, and other trapped birds were freed from the netting. Follow Up on 10/21/11: I phoned today and learned that an official went out to this net, confirmed what we saw in terms of bird entanglement, and holes in the net have apparently been fixed as a temporary measure,…
If Orcas Could Buy Sofas …
Orcas can’t, of course, pick out sofas. But if they could, they would tell you that their survival may depend on the product and furniture choices we make — and the industries we support in the process. The orcas of the Salish Sea, who regularly cross the international boundary between Washington State and British Columbia,…
The One I Couldn’t Help
It was one of those precious sunny days in the midst of Seattle downpours. A Flickr friend of mine told me about a tugboat race on Elliott Bay, so I thought I’d walk the Terminal 91 bike path to the water. The “path” is an industrial slog — a cement slough leading to Puget Sound,…
