My 2024 Wish List continues with a Black Tern from last summer. I would welcome any tern species; last week, up at Reed Lake, I didn't see any. Common Terns are often present there, but bizarre "weather events" - including the recent tornadoes in the U.S. midwest - may have disrupted and disoriented a lot of migratory birds this spring.
The Black Tern breeds in my area. Like all terns, their fly fast, swooping and making quick cuts in the air, making flight shots like this a challenge. I can't tell you how many out of focus photos I have shot of them over the years. Occasionally I get lucky!
Coming next: rarities.
Photographed over a large, shallow pond near Orkney, Saskatchewan (Canada).
Tags: Black Tern Chlidonias niger wildlife bird flying flight breeding adult BIF wild prairie Orkney SK Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2023
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There will be more Aurora borealis photos in the near future, after I start culling and processing the 1,700 frames I shot over the past few days. For now, I'm returning to my 2024 Wish List.
The Long-billed Curlew is one of my favourite shorebirds, and it breeds in Grasslands Park. How convenient! Last June while hiking a stretch of upland prairie, several of them circled around me, vocalizing loudly, warning me that their babies were nearby and I should not even consider trying to eat one. I really didn't want to step on a hidden nest or scatter the young brood - if indeed they were hiding in the grass - so I left the area, but stopped multiple times to shoot bursts as the agitated parents zoomed past. Most of my shots were out of focus, but miraculously, this wasn't. It is barely cropped from the original RAW file.
One more BIF to come in this image set - another fast flying species that left me with mostly out of focus attempts, but a couple of hits. It doesn't matter how many bad frames we shoot; they can be dumped. The whole point is to get a good one. The light wasn't great by mid-morning - in late June, the sun gets really high really fast, it seems - but we have to work with what's offered. And a Long-billed Curlew is always a good offering!
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2023 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus wildlife bird shorebird flight BIF agitated wild prairie Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2023
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We interrupt the 2024 Wish List (an image set of the sort of pics I am hoping for this spring) to offer my take on the very special event that happened two nights ago. A great many Flickr members got out to shoot the Northern Lights, including yours truly. And it was simply amazing. I've never seen anything like it. The aurora danced overhead and around the horizon for the full 360°... once in a lifetime, "they" say... and I believe it!
I was very tired, having been up early that morning on minimal sleep, but how could I not go out and look... and the reward speaks for itself. Stunning display. I'll sleep when I'm dead.
Photographed not far from Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: Aurora borealis Northern Lights sky night display colourful colorful amazing Wow! prairie Val Marie SK Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2024
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My 2024 Wish List continues with a Black-necked Stilt from one year ago. I'm back from a whirlwind trip to photograph birds at Reed Lake, and the dust has not yet settled from that. An evening shoot and then up at 3:30 the next morning to catch the first light. Then a grocery run, the drive home, unpacking, a nap, making supper, watching a hockey game (NHL playoffs - I'm a Canadian, eh?), and after that rushing out for the midnight Aurora borealis show. Best Northern Lights I have ever seen.
Some people my age are alone and abandoned, destitute, with broken teeth, sitting in some cheap rented room, the kind with yellowish walls and a sagging cot and a bare lightbulb in the ceiling, dirty string hanging down from it, and for their evening entertainment they can pull the string to turn their light on, then pull it again to turn the light off. I am so lucky. I get to do what I want. In relative comfort.
But I digress. Just stopping to count my blessings. I didn't see any Black-necked Stilts during my little trip, but there were some good moments, and it will take me a while to cull out the bad ones - lots of those - and process the keepers. And I need to do some work in the garden today, too. Everything happens at once in Saskatchewan, in the spring.
Photographed at Pakowki Lake, Alberta (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2023 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus wildlife bird shorebird water lake low POV morning light stillness beauty Wow! wild prairie Pakowki Lake Alberta Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2023 Explored
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The Grey Ghost is looking more than a little irritated! This image would be so easy to fake, but I swear it's a single shot of three different birds harassing the raptor... half an hour later the hawk started dive bombing me, the poor innocent observer :-) Oh, well. That was exciting, too.
Although I never did locate its nest - and didn't try all that hard - I had some peak moments with this harrier last June and July. It would seek me out if I happened to be in the area, and express its displeasure. It wasn't afraid of me at all. I get most of my raptor shots from the rolling red Toyota blind, but all my images of this harrier were made on foot. The encounters were so thrilling that placing this species on my 2024 Wish List was a no brainer.
I expect to be taking a day off from Flickr tomorrow, as I'm off to search for shorebirds and have a motel room booked for tonight. The rain has finally stopped; the sun is shining. I should be able to get in an evening shoot tonight and then an early morning shoot tomorrow before coming home. More "Wish List" photos to come; wishes are free so why not? These days my life consists of looking for returning migratory birds, getting my garden prepped and planted, and watching NHL hockey playoffs. Life is good.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2023 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: Northern Harrier Circus hudsonius Marsh Hawk wildlife bird raptor bird of prey Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus mobbing sky blue vertical wild prairie Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2023
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