Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Cardinal (Males) - Fort Kearny, Nebraska & East Campus, Nebraska - 3.13.2010 & 01.2010
This little guy flitted around us for quite awhile near the Platte River bridge attached to Fort Kearny Recreation Area. I think his crest is gorgeous.
These two photos are from East Campus in January. They are some of the first photos I got using the tripod which arrived in the mail that day. I liked them less after getting the one above, but I thought I'd include them to contrast his crest with the Cardinal above.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Sunset over the Platte - Rowe Sanctuary Blind, Nebraska - 3.15.2010
It was cloudy the entire time we were in Kearney for the Sandhill Crane Migration this year. However, as we stood in the blind at the Rowe Sanctuary waiting for the Cranes to land in the Platte, there was a little bit of clear sky at the horizon. As the sun set, we caught a glimpse of it. I can only imagine how red the river would have looked with a fully-visible sunset. This was just an added bonus to a great Crane-viewing experience. This is the original RAW photo.
Killdeer - Platte River from Rowe Sanctuary Blind, Nebraska - 3.15.2010
This Killdeer was an extra surprise as we waited in a Rowe Sanctuary blind for the Sandhill Cranes to fly in for the night.
Baird's Sandpiper - Rowe Sanctuary Blind, Nebraska - 3.15.2010
I was delighted to be the first to spot this Baird's Sandpiper from the Rowe Sanctuary Blind as we waited for the Cranes to come in for the night.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Rocket Fizz - Lincoln, NE - 3.10.2010
The above is my attempt to make the picture below look more 50s. What do you think?
Brown Creeper - near Cairo, NE - 3.14.2010
It was so delightful to watch this little guy which Dad Higgins spotted in a wooded area we explored after searching for Prairie Chickens. He moved so quickly that I was exhausted after tracking him for awhile. I think it made him that much more fun to photograph. I thought it was cool that this photo caught him with a spider in his beak.
Red-Breasted Woodpecker (Female) - East Campus, Nebraska & near Cairo, NE - 01.2010 & 3.14.2010
This one I found on East Campus one day in January.
This is one of at least 4 Red-breasted Woodpeckers Jesse heard in a little wooded area while we were looking for Prairie Chickens with Dad Higgins. What beautiful birds! I was proud that I identified them by call before they even appeared.
White-breasted Nuthatch - near Cairo, NE - 3.14.2010
I was out birding with Jesse and Dad Higgins looking for Prairie Chickens when we came upon a lovely wooded area. Jesse heard a woodpecker in the background so we went searching for him. While waiting for the woodpecker to come in, this little guy caught Jesse's attention. I'm lucky to have Jesse to spot things for me!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Sandhill Cranes - near Kearney, Nebraska - 3.13-15.2010
I can't quite decide how to do this post. Normally I only include one to three pictures of a particular bird in a post, but after spending 3 full days observing the Sandhill Cranes (not to mention the 3 or 4 days we spent last year camping near them), I have gained a special love for them.
It is amazing to watch their habits and realize that they have been flying through the same area for at least thousands, if not millions, of years. Ninety percent of the world's Sandhill Cranes fly through about a 50 mile stretch of the Platte River in Central Nebraska between Valentine's Day and Tax Day each year, an estimated 450,000 birds annually. They come from the South including New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico, and stop here for about 4 weeks to eat up and gain energy to fly on to Canada and even over the North Pole into Siberia where they nest.
Nebraska provides a safe-haven for them as the only state where they are not hunted. The Cranes, however, are still wary of humans since they have just come from areas where they are hunted. Thus, they stay far from roads and they will take off if you leave your car. If, however, you stay in the car and they aren't too close to the road before you stop they usually stay in place. There is an amazing love between these birds and Nebraskans, as well as people from all over the country who come to experience this miraculous event.
They spend their days eating the plentiful left-over corn and grain in the fields on each side of the Platte, and their nights on the Platte where they roost, drink water, and supplement their corn-fed diet with crustaceans.
Last year Jesse and I camped within a hundred or so feet from them as they ate in the fields, but we didn't get to see them on the river. We were using a broken point-and-shoot camera at the time as well, so I was anxious to get some shots of them where I could actually see what was in the picture when I was done.
For all of these reasons, I am including many of my favorite pictures. I took over 1500 pictures in 3 days, so this really is a select few. I used 2 lenses for all of the Crane shots; a 500 for all of the field shots, and a 300 with a 1.4x teleconverter for the water shots, just to give you an idea how close we got.
On Saturday, March 13, Jesse drove Dad Higgins and I around while we balanced our cameras on the window and took pictures of the cranes in the field. The lighting was poor, but we got some decent shots.
On Sunday night, we went down to the Platte hoping to see them on the river. We were near a public-viewing deck, and while it was an amazing spectacle to watch all of the Cranes come into the river for the night, none landed within sight. As we drove away after dark, we saw them on another branch of the Platte, I hurriedly set up a tripod, and took this photo. We could barely make out their silhouettes with binoculars in the darkness, so it really is a miracle that this picture turned out as well as it did. This was about an hour after sunset. Thank heaven for a tripod! I was very pleased.
We got up early the next morning and returned to the same place, but they had moved upriver during the night. We witnessed an amazing spectacle as they all lifted off the river and broke into song at the same moment just as the first light appeared through the thick clouds that surrounded us our entire trip. It is an indescribable experience to see tens of thousands of birds wakening and taking flight in this way.
We then drove around and took some more pictures of them in the fields due to slightly better lighting. I really like how these pictures turned out.
They look very much like Mary Poppins holding her umbrella as they land. They put their "flaps" down, drop their landing gear (legs) straight down, and if there is little wind, they just slowing drift straight down. I love watching it!
We had planned to leave for Lincoln that morning, but after the experiences of the previous night and that morning, we signed up spots in a blind right on the Platte River through Rowe Santuary, just a couple of miles west from where we had tried viewing them. This was the most amazing experience of the whole trip. So, Monday evening we arrived at the Sanctuary about an hour before sunset and were escorted to the blind (obviously - no flash is allowed which explains why the pictures of Jesse and Dad Higgins are not great - but I still wanted to document what the blind was like).
A mating pair of Cranes landed on the sandbar early on providing some great picture-taking opportunities.
While I thoroughly enjoyed photographing this spectacle from so close, my favorite moment was when the largest group of birds all came and landed on the water at the same moment. It was a purely spiritual experience. No other Cranes landed that close, but two large groups landed to the east and west of us.
The next morning, we went back to our first viewing location and just sat back and watched again as the Cranes all took flight in a single moment. If you ever get a chance to view this miracle, I highly recommend it!
Jim {Cowboy Model} {Cattle Wrangler} {Fascinating Person} - Nebraska - 3.13.2010
We met Jim at the Gibbon, NE American Legion lunch near the Rowe Sanctuary. They provided a lunch of pulled pork sandwiches, vegetable soup, cookies, chips, and beverages. The whole meal even came with a free Gibbon American Legion insulated mug.
The best part of the whole thing, other than the great homemade food, was our chat with Jim. He told us he is part Cree, Seminole, and I forget what 3rd tribe. He talked about his family history. He has driven truck to 49 states and Canada, and is currently a cattle wrangler. We even got to see a whole field of calves he assisted in the births of over the last year. He has a handshake grip like you wouldn't believe, and was absolutely delightful. Best of all, he told us he is a cowboy model who has been photographed for National Geographic and several other magazines. Once I heard that, I had to give him the opportunity to be photographed for my blog, and he said I made his day. Well, Jim, you made my day too!
Dad Higgins & Someone Else - near Cairo, NE
Dad was kind enough to pose for me in front of this picturesque country road. I thought this was a great picture of him. This to me is the essence of Nebraska (minus the Yankees hat, which is the essence of Dad). Since I love both Nebraska and Dad, I really like this picture.
We were originally out looking for prairie chickens, but came upon a little wooded area just north of where this picture was taken where we found Red-breasted Woodpeckers, a White-breasted Nuthatch, and a Brown Creeper. In fact, Jesse heard the woodpeckers while I took this picture which is why we went to explore the woods. It was a great morning!
We also stopped down the road to try to get some Cardinal pictures, and we spotted this guy. Think in your mind who this reminds you of. Got it? Well, please keep it to yourself; I don't want this blog to be flagged. Creepy? Yes. Anyway, when Jesse got these sunglasses I thought they were a bit aviator - but as soon as he wore a hoody with them, he gave off a completely different image. Yikes. The weirdest part? One night while we were in the hotel we turned the tv on and there as an hour-long National Geographic special about that very person.
American Kestrel - Platte River near Gibbon, NE - 3.14.2010
This guy flew by just before sunset as we waited to watch the Sandhill Cranes land on the Platte River for the night. Although the Cranes decided not to land near us that night, I was glad to catch a quick shot of this Kestrel. The lighting was poor, but I thought I'd document it anyway since it's my first Kestrel photo.
Bufflehead Ducks - Male & Female Pair - Kearney, NE - 3.14.2010
These two were hanging out in a pond just off I-80 in Kearney. I took this picture from very far away, and then crossed the fence to get a closer look. Unlike your usual duck pond ducks, they took one look at me and they were out of there. I thought they'd land again, but they flew far far away. So, not a perfectly clear picture, but I've never seen them before so I thought I'd document them here anyway.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Sunset - 3.4.10 - Nebraska
The first two are the original, RAW, unchanged pictures. The ONLY thing I did to these pictures was resize them to fit in on the blog and add my name. That line in the upper right corner was actually part of the cloud formation. It was all SO beautiful. Our sunsets are almost all this amazing when it isn't cloudy. I LOVE NEBRASKA!
The others I played around with a little bit.
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