Wildlife Photography_ From Snapshots to Great Shots - Laurie Excell [32]
Figure 5.14 Love is in the air in June as Pigeon Gillemots mate on the rocks.
Figure 5.15 Sea otters are shy and not easy to approach, but with the engine turned off we were able to coast to within feet of this guy without causing him to dive for cover.
Figure 5.16 Coastal brown bears eat clams and sedge grasses in the spring. They show a remarkable tolerance of our presence and go on about their business, knowing we are there but paying little attention to us.
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Tip
Being in top physical photographic condition is important when visiting Alaska due to the distances you travel over rough and sometimes slippery terrain, wading through thigh-deep water carrying heavy, expensive camera equipment.
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July is a great time to head back to Florida (if you can stand the heat and drenching humidity) to photograph Skimmers with their chicks at their colonies on the beach. The parents catch fish by skimming the water with their lower mandible in the water, and when they feel a fish, their jaw snaps shut trapping the fish (Figure 5.17). They then bring the fish back to the young to eat (Figure 5.18). It’s a wonder they ever find their own chicks in the confusion.
Figure 5.17 Skimmers working the surf for fish.
Figure 5.18 Adult Skimmers feed their young live fish.
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Tip
A roped-off area on Florida beaches is usually indicative of a nesting bird habitat.
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By midsummer, Spoonbill chicks have also grown to nearly full size, but their coloring is different, more pastel than that of their parents. Spoonbill adults leave the nest to forage for food and then return to feed their young. Chicks grab at their bills (Figure 5.19), causing them to regurgitate the food, which the chicks gobble up. When I see the youngsters grabbing at their parents bill, I have my lens aimed and ready to fire.
Figure 5.19 Hungry young Spoonbill chicks grab at their parent’s bill to be fed.
August is considered by some to be prime time to photograph bears in Alaska when the salmon run. You can photograph bears running up and down the rivers right in front of your lens. I have to agree that it’s quite the adrenalin rush to have an 800-pound grizzly running towards you full out as it chases a salmon (Figure 5.20). The focus at this time of year is primarily on the bears. If the fish are running, we plant ourselves at the river, and if the bears aren’t there right then, we simply sit and wait for them to show (Figure 5.21). The bears wait all spring in anticipation of the salmon run when they can gorge on healthy, high-caloric fish to build fat reserves to sustain them over the upcoming winter.
Figure 5.20 A coastal brown bear charges upriver chasing fish.
Figure 5.21 Sitting back from the water’s edge gives the bear room to pass by as it fishes the river.
Fall
As fall approaches, the rut is at its peak. Bull elk are alert, agitated, and aggressive; they view anything as competition for their harem (Figure 5.22). You can witness posturing, bugling, and fighting, and the winner takes the prize. But he must keep the other bulls away at the risk of losing his harem. On and on it goes all through the fall. The harems gather in open fields where they graze together until it is time to reproduce. The bull will sniff the female and scent the air (Figure 5.23) with his lips to see if she is ready.
Figure 5.22 A bull elk in rut stares down the lens as he decides whether I am competition for his harem.
Figure 5.23 A bull elk curls his lips to scent the female during the rut.
Bighorn sheep are also in prime condition as