Bird of the Week – Sharp-shinned Hawk
Alaska has two Accipters, the genus of smaller hawks with rounded wings and long tails. This is the smaller of the two, the Sharp-shinned Hawk. This is a juvenile, still counting on mom and dad for meals. In fact, he caught WC’s attention by his incessant squawking, begging for food. WC would guess that he’s pretty near his last delivered meal, that his parents were gong to leave him on his own pretty soon. If he kept that noise going all night he would have wound up a snack for a Great-horned Owl. The Sharp-shined Hawk feeds almost exclusively on smaller…
Around the Lens – Episode 20
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/126783/Around%20the%20Lens%20-%20Episode%2019.mp3 This week we had panelists David Burnett and Doug Strickland. We discussed the importance of newspapers, which podcasts we liked and a new way to stabilize your camera. Our picks this week included the announcement of Alexia judging, April’s Fools Day pranks, Cuba and it’s changes and the death of Bob Adelman. Please support the show and sign up for Dropbox.com through our referral code. Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes or YouTube, or via our direct feed, follow us on Twitter and and like us on Facebook. To see our bonus topic support us on Patreon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LflW0I8WhI
Bird of the Week – Golden Eagle
Raptors get all the publicity. Let’s look at some raptors, then. The Golden Eagle, much less common than the Bald Eagle, is one of North America’s largest raptors. At least in Alaska, Golden Eagles tend to return to the same nest year after year, nesting there from about age 4 to age 20 or older. Each year the breeding pair adds more sticks to the nest, and the cumulative effect can be very impressive, as you can see here. Alaska’s Golden Eagles migrate to South America for the winter. One of the world’s experts on Golden Eagles lives in Fairbanks….
Around the Lens – Episode 18
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/126783/Around%20the%20Lens%20-%20Episode%2018.mp3 This week we featured panelists David Bergman and Tess Freeman. We discussed the importance of publishing imagery from the Brussels bombings, the photo rights of a monkey and the best means to take notes while photographing. Our picks this week included new imagery from the Nikon D5 showing the low light capability, amazing underwater imagery, the image deconstructed and free Nik software. Please support the show and sign up for Dropbox.com through our referral code. Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes or YouTube, or via our direct feed, follow us on Twitter and and like us on Facebook. To see our bonus topic support us…
Bird of the Week – Barn Swallow
Barn Swallows are uncommon in Interior and Southcentral Alaska, but pretty easy to find in Southeastern. WC got this photo near the Yakutat Airport. For many years, WC chased steelhead trout along the Situk River, outside of Yakutat. For obvious reasons, WC carried only a pocket camera while fishing, so image quality isn’t great here. The Barn Swallow is the most widely distributed and abundant swallow in the world. It breeds throughout most of North America, Europe, and Asia and winters in Central and South America, southern Spain, Morocco, Egypt, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, India, Indochina, Malaysia, and Australia….
Photos: TheMudflats at the Right Wing CPAC Conference
It’s been an odd couple of months for me. Usually I’m covering the fringes of politics – from OWS to Ferguson protests to civil rights marches. Maybe a third party candidate or an environmental struggle that no one will care about for another couple years. But so far this past year, I’ve covered Presidential Candidates, Koch Brothers conferences (Americans for Prosperity), NRA conventions and now CPAC. CPAC, if you don’t know the initials, it stands for the Conservative Political Action Conference. It’s an annual conference where all of the biggest names in conservative politics get together and conspire for good or evil…
Blackfish Wins and more Visual News – Around the Lens Podcast Episode 17
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/126783/Around%20the%20Lens%20-%20Episode%2017%20-%20Jose%20Alvarado.mp3 This week’s episode featured panelist Jose Alvarado. We discussed Sea World and their changes recently in response to the documentary Black Fish, social media in the age of visual journalism and a cool device from Syrp that allows for timelapse that rotate over time. For our picks of the week we chose fun St. Patrick’s day photos, velcro and the pressure of Sierra Mardre. We also talked about a few documentaries to include Supersize Me, Chasing Ice and the Cove. Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes or YouTube, or via our direct feed, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook. Watch…
Bird of the Week – Bank Swallow
Yep, another swallow. This one more correctly named, because uniquely among Alaska swallows, it excavates a nesting cavity in a dirt bank. The Bank Swallow’s scientific name – Riparia riparia – neatly describes its preference for nesting in the lakeside and streamside (riparian) banks and bluffs of lakes, rivers and streams. This is a highly social land-bird with a Holarctic (Eastern and Western Hemispheres) breeding distribution. It nests in colonies ranging from 10 to almost 2,000 active nests. One of only a few passerines with an almost cosmopolitan distribution, it is one of the most widely distributed swallows in the world. In the Old World,…
Bird of the Week – Tree Swallow
Another seriously mis-named species, WC regrets to report. Despite the name, the Tree Swallow has little to do with trees and everything to do with open fields, meadows and swamps. Like its fellow Swallows, it’s an insectivore, a bug eater. Specifically flying bugs. And in Alaska, that means gnats and mosquitoes. Like Cliff Swallows, these birds are living mosquito magnets. A long term Tree Swallow study is underway at Creamer’s Refuge in Fairbanks. Conducted by school children under the supervision of ornithologists, they study the reproductive success of the species. Some of the kids who have worked on this project…
Around the Lens Podcast – Violence in the Primaries
This week’s show featured photographer Dane Iwata and NPPA Director Mark E. Johnson. We spoke about the University of Missouri Professor Melissa Click finally getting fired and Time Magazine’s Christopher Morris getting body slammed by the secret service at a Donald Trump rally. During our Gear Talk segment we discussed the new 15mm macro lens from Venus Optics Laowa. Then we took a trip down memory lane discussing lenses and gear that we had to let go with advice from a Petapixel article. Picks of the Week: Mark promoted a elk hide camera strap from Wapiti Straps. Dane promoted the his favorite…