Mark’s journal of photographic projects, thoughts, and commentary.
It’s been said that timing is everything and that certainly holds true for eagle photographs. Some of my favorite images come from eagles on ice…fishing as the water opens up and the ice melts away. Backwaters and marinas are particularly good places for this kind of thing. Perfect timing is when the water is just … Read more
A research project spanning more than three decades showed that free-ranging Bison provided significant benefits to tall grass prairies, including greater plant diversity and resilience to drought. From lead researcher, Zak Ratajczak: “Bison were an integral part of North American grasslands before they were abruptly removed from over 99% of the Great Plains. Our results suggest … Read more
When the winter weather gets bad and the frigid winds start howling out of the North, many birds will seek shelter in various ways. Woodpeckers and Flickers will get on the downwind side of a tree trunk and just hunker into it. It’s still cold of course…but the windchill is buffered a bit…and every little … Read more
Experience counts for a lot on the big river. When a Bald Eagle earns its white head and tail…you know it’s learned a thing or two about survival. Unlike the brown juvenile birds, the adults don’t tend to waste energy…especially during bad weather. They hunt and fish with purpose, and use their knowledge of the … Read more
Out well before dawn, looking for eagles on the quickly thawing ice…but the baldies were uncooperative. Instead, I spent breakfast with a couple of Kingfishers. The light and the photographs were not very good, but the experience was grand. This male caught six fish in a row, diving not too far out in front of … Read more
Most people know that eagles need open water for fishing…which is why we see some large congregations around here in the winter months. But almost as much as open water, eagles love the ice. They have no problem sitting on it for hours…and in truth, their main interest isn’t the ice itself, but what it … Read more