Category: Wildlife

On the Hunt

by Michael

Recently I was asked, or rather challenged, by a friend at a local wildlife refuge to try and get a photo of a new critter that they suspect has been hanging out there.  So I agree and take a day off my “real job” to sit in the weeds and stare at dirt.  It’s not as bad as it sounds.  A day out in nature will almost always beat a day stuck in a cube.

I headed out early on Friday morning, parked my vehicle, and began the mile hike to my spot.  It is early November, but did I get a nice cool day?  No!  As with the rest of the weather the past couple of years, we are pushing a record high for this day in November in North Texas.  I believe it got up to 89 degrees, and the sun was in my face all day.  On the other hand, I got a nice tan on my face as I was seated facing south from sun up to sun down.  I headed back out for a second try on Saturday and was able to stay until after sundown in hopes that the critter would come out then, but again no luck.  But does that mean I shot no pictures?  Of course not.

I caught this Great Egret on Friday morning while sitting there enjoying the early morning sun.  It flew past me over the marsh with the sun highlighting the wings and illuminating the feathers from behind.  A beautiful sight to see.

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Several time that day I could hear and see a kingfisher flying over the marsh looking for a meal.  It was great watching it hover over the water and then diving down to catch a small fish.  Hard to catch it doing that with a big lens though.  That little thing is fast!  I was finally able to catch a shot of this Belted Kingfisher when it landed and tossed the fish into the air to swallow it whole!

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And as I was leaving the area, I shared the trail with an armadillo.  It was walking right towards me.  Of course, they are mostly blind and rely on their sense of smell to warn them of other creatures.  I guess I didn’t have much of an odor because it walked almost right up to me.  I was able to lower myself to get a decent shot as it raised up on its hind legs as if to scare me away.  I remained calm and it went on its way without incident.

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So, even if I wasn’t able to get a shot of the new critter, there will be other days.  New trails are being built now and I can’t wait to get out there and see what kind of critters I can spot!

Back to LLELA

by Michael

Continuing on my quest to find and photograph a Painted Bunting, I returned to my local wildlife center, the Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area.  I knew these guys were there because I could hear them singing in the tree tops most of the time I was there hiking around the woods.  They were very stealthy though and I never actually got to see one.

So I arrive early, close to 7am and begin the hunt.  Again, I can hear them, but I see nothing.  Hiking down the Cottonwood Trail, I catch a glimpse of a hummingbird, but it is gone before I can get my lens on it.  Then I come across something a bit slower that I can warm up with.

This “garden spider” was about the size of my hand, but it was just hanging out on the side of the trail waiting for some insect to come along.  It didn’t bother me so I just made a photograph and continued on, hunting the elusive bunting.

Continuing on, I came to the beaver pond where I saw several herons and egrets.  I’ve got lots of pictures of them, but I did notice this young Great Blue Heron flying by and took the opportunity to practice my bird-in-flight photography.  Pretty happy with how this one turned out.

I completed the trail with nary a Painted Bunting to be seen.  I heard them, but they remained out of my sight.  Then, as I was checking out some scissor-tailed flycatchers on the power lines, a LLELA worker stopped and talked with me.  I told her what I was looking for and she suggested I try the Bittern Marsh trail.  I thanked her and headed that way.

Now, if you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, perhaps you remember that this is the trail where I ran into (almost stepped on) Mr Cottonmouth.  This is someone I do NOT wish to run into again.  But the call of the Painted Bunting is strong so I push my fears aside and head down the trail.

I get no farther than a couple hundred yards down the trail when I see a “stick” across the path up ahead of me, except this stick is pretty smoothly curved.  I stop!  Then I look through my telephoto lens and see this.

Okay, I know enough now to realize this is not a cottonmouth, but a “harmless” variety of snake.  Still I wait, then approach very slowly.  Finally, it notices me and slithers back into the grass.  Sorry I disturbed its sunbathing, but not sorry it’s now off the path.  I continue.

I come to the beginning of the marsh area and see a Great Egret “fishing” in the water.  Thanks to some local Eagle Scouts, there are now benches on the boardwalk, so I sit and observe for a while.  It’s now over 100 degrees, but in the shade and near the water, it actually isn’t that bad.  Still, I’m glad I packed water with me.  I watch the egret and make several photographs.  I enjoy the white bird and its reflection against the green water.

I’m not saying that I was scared or anything, but I just wasn’t ready to go to the part of the trail where the “incident” occurred.  I head back on the trail the way I came.

Then, about a hundred yards from the trail-head, I hear the song of the Painted Bunting.  Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I see a bright red flash!  I stop and stand very still.  I scan the trees, and then, just to my right, I see a Painted Bunting sitting on a branch, just watching me!  Of course, before I can turn the camera, it is back into the trees.  I have just made my first personal sighting of this bird and I’m not ready to give up.

I wait.  I even use my Android to play the bird’s song in hopes to lure it out of the trees.  I’m waiting.  I have my camera ready and aimed to where I think it will come down.  Nothing.  I wait some more.  Nothing.  Now it’s starting to get hot.  I turn around to check my surroundings (I’m not far from where I spotted the snake earlier).  Then, I see it.  BEHIND ME!  It’s just sitting there on a low branch, watching me.  Slowly, I turn the tripod around, aim, and FIRE!  I was able to get about 6 shots before it flew away back into the trees.  Then I notice that my flash had somehow gotten bumped to a higher power than it should have been.  Luckily, with the help of Lightroom and the fact that I shoot the RAW format, all was not lost and I was able to recover most of the photo to a decent degree.  So, after about five months and hunting and watching for a Painted Bunting, and five hours of this day in the heat, I present to you, my first!

Not a perfect shot, but for now, I’ll take it!

Now for the next challenge: the Bobcat!

Photos created with the Canon 7D and Canon 600mm f/4IS lens

A Day at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center

by Michael

On a hot summer day, Karen and I took a trip to the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center located in Glen Rose, TX.  Now mind you, when this trip was planned, we had no idea that this was going to be the hottest day of the year to date!  And as the day grew closer, we were faced with a grim weather forecast and a decision to go or not to go.  We both decided we could use the break from our routine and we went.

Now the first think you need to know is that we are what I have begun calling “urban locked”.  From where we live, we can’t go anywhere without driving through very populated areas.  And depending on the day and time of day, traffic that would make Henry Ford regret making his machine.  Add to this the fact that a freakish storm rolled through the area on the Friday afternoon when we were leaving and we ended up a couple of hours later than we had planned just getting out of the DFW metroplex.

But that aside, we made it to our destination with plenty of time to get a good night’s rest and were up and at ‘em in time to get to Fossil Rim as they were opening.  Knowing it was going to be a hot day, we wanted and early start.

One of the first things you notice about this area is that you are no longer in the “flatland” of the DFW metroplex.  While not exactly mountains, the rolling hills and green foliage is a great break and stress reliever from being surrounded by concrete and traffic 24/7.

One of the animals that is in abundance at Fossil Rim is the Blackbuck.  Blackbuck antelope are native to the Indian subcontinent and are classified as endangered in the wild.  They stand out from the other animals here by the dark over white contrasting coat and the long spiral horns that are very prominent on the males.  The older males are also much darker on their upper coat than the females and young.

The Gemsbok is native to Africa and both the male and female sport long straight horns.  It is said that the markings on their face have been the pattern for many tribal masks in some African tribes.  As you can see, they do have very unique markings.  I commented to Karen that it was so hot that one of this guy’s horns melted!

Another Indian animal here is the Axis Deer.  These are easily recognizable by their spots and the black dorsal stripe.  The males have a simple set of antlers, usually with three points.  While not a large deer, they are very pretty and enjoyable to watch.  Do you see the baby hiding in the grass behind mom?

The baby Axis Deer is cute in its own right.  If you go the right time of year, you’ll see the little ones hiding in the tall grass, usually not far from both parents as you saw in the previous photograph.  Unlike some other animals, their young are protected by both the male and female.

The Aoudad is a very intelligent looking creature, at least to me.  It is actually a species of sheep that is native to North Africa and is considered to be in a threatened state in the wild.  The long fringe on their throat and curved horns make them stand out amongst the other animals here.  You’ll have no trouble identifying the Aoudad when you visit.

The Giraffe is always a favorite here.  They really are the gentle giants of the park.  There is nothing quite like having them look down at you through the sunroof as you drive by.  If you’re lucky, they will even reach down and let you feed them.  Just be ready for the tongue!  They have an extraordinarily long tongue which they use for wrapping around tree branches to strip off the leaves.  So don’t be surprised when it slithers out to take the food you are offering!

After once through the park, it was already past noon and getting hot.  Karen and I decided to head into town and grab lunch and then return later in the afternoon with hopes that the temperature would recede a bit.  We returned about 4pm, but the outside temperature gauge in the vehicle was still registering 106 degrees!  But since this was the reason we came here, we headed back into the park again, knowing that the animals would be trying to stay cool.

And as luck would have it, we were able to catch a few of them in their various ways of remaining cool.  Most were simply lounging in the shade.  But remember that I said how intelligent looking the Aoudad was?  Now you see it in action.  Looks like he found one of the coolest places in the center; directly in the water!

Aside from the stable of “exotic” animals that live at Fossil Rim, there are a few more familiar local breeds here as well.  One is the White-tailed Deer.  Even knowing that they are one of the most abundant deer in North America, they are still very handsome creatures.  I couldn’t help but take its picture when this one stopped and stared me down.

Another “common” creature here in Texas, but yet a treat for me, is the Greater Roadrunner.  One fact that I was unaware of is that the diet of the Roadrunner consists mostly of smaller animals and even scorpions, spiders, and rattlesnakes!  As providence would have it, we spotted one near the side of the road.  It sat there for a while preening itself and posing before finally doing some sort of ritualistic puffing up and running away.  This is only the second time I’ve been able to get my lens on one of these birds, and the first time I was able to get a decent shot!  It never said “beep beep” either, which was somewhat of a disappointment.  🙂

Perhaps you have seen pictures of massive herds of Wildebeests migrating across the plains of Africa.  I’m sure that would be a spectacular scene to behold in person.  And while the Wildebeests are present at Fossil Rim, their numbers are far fewer that what you may see in the wild.  Here you see a dramatic show of a few Wildebeests grazing across the horizon as the sun begins to lower in the sky.

Which brings us back to the Blackbuck.  I don’t do a lot of post-processing on images as my goal is mostly to share what I saw, not what I wish I had seen.  That said, once in a while I do like to play around.  So I thought it fitting to end this post with a silhouetted blackbuck in black and white as the sun was going down.  Those identifiable horns really stand out and leave no question as to the animal present.

The Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, TX should be on your list of places to visit, especially if you live anywhere near the DFW metroplex.  This destination makes for a good day trip, or even a weekend get-away like ours.  There is plenty to see here, and they even have a Children’s Animal Center where the kids (or kids at heart) can get up close and personal with some of the more domesticated animals.  This is really a great place for the whole family and everyone can come away having learned something about nature and the animals we share this planet with.  Put this on your short list of places to visit.

Shots taken with the following equipment: Canon 5D mark II, Canon 7D, Canon T1i, Canon 100-400L, Canon 600L, Canon 10-22, Tamron 18-270