Here are some photos from Anika and Kyles wedding that we shot this weekend in Crested Butte, CO. It is weddings like this that photographers love to shoot. I hope to get out to CO again soon.
Mt. Baker Glacier Skills Trip with American Alpine Institute /
At the beginning of last week I led a glacier skills trip on Mt. Baker. Despite the bad weather forecast it turned out to be a pretty good trip and we managed to get a lot accomplished. I was a little worried we would not be able to find a crevasse to do crevasse rescue in due to the huge snow year. After a short time of searching for a hole we found an almost perfect spot just outside of our camp. Each person got to fall into a crevasse and each person also got to arrest a real crevasse fall with the weight of a real person. If you spend a lot of time on glaciers and you have not had the chance to do this you should. Its a lot more difficult than "rescuing" a backpack.
Here are some photos of the trip.
Here are some photos of the trip.
This Years Eagle Nest. /
On Friday I headed out to Yakima to do some work for WA Fish and Wildlife. The goal was to put a trail camera near a golden eagles nest. This is the same thing we did last year on a nest of a different set of birds just down the valley. There are some photos from that work here. We did not know if the nest had chicks until we did the long drive on a terrible dirt road to get there. Once there we found two chicks, and just as importantly, a nest that was not too difficult to get a camera mounted on. I shot a couple of photos when I was down at the nest. The female bird was on the nest when we got there, and decided to leave pretty quickly.
The two birds in the nest. There is a piece of food next to them which is what is left of a blue grouse.
Please note that these photos are shot while working directly with the WA Department of Fish and Wildlife under funding from the Woodland Park Zoo. There is no other reason to go to golden eagles nests since they are very easily disturbed.
Please note that these photos are shot while working directly with the WA Department of Fish and Wildlife under funding from the Woodland Park Zoo. There is no other reason to go to golden eagles nests since they are very easily disturbed.
Seattle Backyard Birds and How to Attract Them. /
When I first bought my house here in Seattle the yard was a wasteland of non native plants and invasive species. One of the only saving graces of the yard was a 50ft tall western hemlock. One side of the yard was completely overrun by 20 ft tall skyrocket juniper with English ivy and holly bushes filling in the gaps. The bird species that frequented the yard was pretty much confined to the sparrow, which is also an introduced species.
Our lot is small (50ft x 100ft) and I never really expected I could create much of a sanctuary for birds, but I did not like ivy or holly, and I hated the juniper bushes. Over the last seven years I removed most of the non native species of plants from the yard and replaced them with native ferns and trees in the hope it might help bring some native birds back to the property. I never expected how successful this would be. This spring we have an abundance of birds in and around our yard, and I am sure it is due to the changes in flora that we have made, in addition to the overall changes in flora choices around the neighborhood.
One of the first things we did was remove the skyrocket juniper. These things were overgrown and ugly. There were five of them and at the ground they were as much as 2ft in diameter. Most people choose to cut trees they don't want to the ground, I decided that if we wanted birds we needed food for those birds. I cut several of the stumps at 4 to 5feet above the ground and left them to rot in place. I have also added a few ferns to grow in the stumps.
The next thing was to remove all holly and ivy from the property. These are invasive species. Ivy supports almost no bird life and crowds out other native species. Holly is invading our northwest forests and is very difficult to remove. several birds feed on the berries which unfortunately causes it to spread even faster.
I am an advocate of large native trees on small lots. I planted several western red cedars a couple Douglas fir and several western hemlock. They were all small saplings, which will be removed and replaced as soon as they get too large for the area. I also planted several vine maples and at least 6 varieties of ferns. Other plants I used are devils club, Oregon oxalis, Oregon grape, thimble berry native blackberry varieties, and numerous other random plants. Not everything is native however. I planted a grape vine, and a whole bunch of raspberries. I also have some anemones to add a little color to the yard.
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| Our side yard. |
Each year the plants in the yard become more established and each year we have more birds. So far this year the list of birds in our yard has been amazing considering the size of the lot. What is even more amazing is the number of birds that have chosen to nest in our yard. Here are a few of the birds. All of these photos were shot while standing in my yard in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood of Seattle.
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| Anna's Hummingbird |
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| Song Sparrow |
All of the following photos are of birds that are nesting in our yard. The bushtits are not nesting this year, but did last year.
A chickadee perched in the grape vine. |
| Chickadee |
A Bewick's wren moving in to a nest box. It seems like the Bewick's is more common each year. There is not a place in Phinney Ridge you can go without hearing the call of the Bewick's.
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| Bewick's Wren |
This pair of Stellar's Jays are currently building a nest in our yard.
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| Stellar's Jay |
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| Stellar's Jay |
Although there is no nest this year, we did have a bushtit nest in our hemlock tree last year.
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| Bush tit |
One more note about nesting birds. The first couple of years we had several house sparrows move in to our nest boxes. House sparrows are pretty agressive birds and dont really help gain native species of birds. I removed the eggs from these boxes and then moved them different locations in the yard. Sparrows no longer use the boxes, and chickadees and Bewick's wrens have now moved in.
Other birds in the yard.
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| Savanah Sparrow? |
Mallard pair that returns every year to the puddles in the ally way.
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| A juvenile American Robin |
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| Golden Crowned sparrow with a broken wing. This bird ended up at the PAWS wildlife rehab center in Lynnwood. |
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American Crow. |
A sharp shinned hawk in the neighbors apple tree.
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| Northern Flicker |
I made it my goal to get photos of each of the bird species that I have seen in our yard. This however has not been possible, so here is a list of the other species I have seen in our yard.
Starling (A non native, invasive species)
House Finch (Common)
Pigeon (Sometimes)
Peregrine Falcon (Several times a year)
Ruby Crowned Kinglet (Common)
Dark Eyed Junco (Common)
Other species that I have seen from our yard but not necessarily in the yard.
Coopers Hawk (I see this guy hunting in the neighborhood)
Bald Eagle (Probably the Greenlake pair, fairly common.)
Starling (A non native, invasive species)
House Finch (Common)
Pigeon (Sometimes)
Peregrine Falcon (Several times a year)
Ruby Crowned Kinglet (Common)
Dark Eyed Junco (Common)
Other species that I have seen from our yard but not necessarily in the yard.
Coopers Hawk (I see this guy hunting in the neighborhood)
Bald Eagle (Probably the Greenlake pair, fairly common.)
Mount Baker Easton Glacier Summit Climb with Students from the Bush School /
This week I did a trip to Mt. Baker's Easton Glacier with a group of students from the Bush School in Seattle. The trip started with a questionable weather report, which is never a good thing when you are hoping to summit Mt. Baker. The first issue is that the road to the trail head is still covered with snow for over three miles. This made for a long hike in to our first camp.
After a long day of walking we got to a camp at the base of the Rail Road Grade (a glacial moraine that runs along the west side of the Easton Glacier). We set up camp cooked dinner and went to bed. Unfortunately we awoke the next day to rain. We decided not to move to a higher camp so we could stay dry. After breakfast I went back to bed. The students entertained themselves with cards.
I was surprised to find the rain had turned to snow when I woke from my 4 hour midday nap.
The next morning looked like the weather might get better so we decided to move to a camp that was high enough up the mountain to summit from. The move to Sandy Camp was reasonably strait forward and only took a couple of hours.
As the weather slowly improved we did some glacier skills practice in hopes that we would be able to climb to the summit the next morning.
Morning always comes too early for me. We had a 1am wake up.
Once back at camp we ate some lunch and packed up camp. From there we began the long hike out. The really long hike out. Thanks to the crew from the Bush School in Seattle. This was one of the more fun groups of people I have been out in the mountains with. All in all a very rewarding experience for all, including me!
The complete set of photos can be found at http://alasdairturner.smugmug.com/
After a long day of walking we got to a camp at the base of the Rail Road Grade (a glacial moraine that runs along the west side of the Easton Glacier). We set up camp cooked dinner and went to bed. Unfortunately we awoke the next day to rain. We decided not to move to a higher camp so we could stay dry. After breakfast I went back to bed. The students entertained themselves with cards.
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| Looking down the valley to Baker Lake. |
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| Even the birds were wet. |
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| Ricardo |
I was surprised to find the rain had turned to snow when I woke from my 4 hour midday nap.
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| Snow on the cook tent. |
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| Erica |
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| Is the sun trying to break through? |
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| Jordan |
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| Maggie |
As the weather slowly improved we did some glacier skills practice in hopes that we would be able to climb to the summit the next morning.
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| Checking out a small crevasse. |
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| Rope team travel practice. |
Morning always comes too early for me. We had a 1am wake up.
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| Camp at 1am with the Twin Sisters Range in the background. |
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| Camp at 1am with Mt. Baker's summit in background. |
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| Sunrise |
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| Isabel. |
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| Starting up the Roman Wall. |
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| Mt. Bakers summit. |
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| On the summit. |
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| The second rope team nears the summit. |
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| Th last few steps to the summit. |
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| The summit. |
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| A slight detour heading down to view some seracs. |
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| A panorama of the summit crater. This was seven photos stitched together. |
The complete set of photos can be found at http://alasdairturner.smugmug.com/
Montana and it's Wildlife /
OK I know its not quite in Montana, but the rest of North Dakota was so boring to drive through that this small slice of the western edge should just be given to Montana. I entered Theodor Roosevelt National park in a driving rain/snow storm. The 38 mile loop road is worth the drive, especially when there is not a single other person in the park. I did not see one other car or person between entering the gate and exiting. Thirty-five degrees and raining does not make for the best park experience for many, but for me it was fine.
This mule deer was standing near the road. You can see how crappy the weather was by it water soaked coat.
The driving rain was also causing the park to erode before my eyes. There were rivers of mud flowing across many of the roads, and my attempt at a short walk was ended quickly by ankle deep mud that was next to impossible to stand up in.
The Montana winters are tough.
Natural predators the Montana way. The main reason I have not eaten beef in 15 years.
I spent the night in Lewistown, and woke up to perfect weather the next morning.
Over the last couple of years one of my new favorite things to do on road trips is to stop at random small wildlife refuges along the way. At this one we were treated to several interesting birds.
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| Yellow-headed blackbird |
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| A female/juvenile red winged blackbird? |
Prior to this photo I had never seen one up close and it took me a couple of seconds to figure out that it was a pronghorn antelope and not a deer. I was really struck by the tone of these animals and how stocky and muscular they are. From a distance they have always looked so sleek and thin.
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| Pronghorn Antelope |
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| Medowlark |
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| Juvenile golden eagle |
Aldo Leopolds Cabin in the Woods /
For the last few days I have been driving across the country in a new vehicle that I bought in Detroit. I had never driven through Minnesota, or Wisconsin, so I decided to take the northern route across the country. Most of the time when i travel I do not plan where to stop or what to see, and most of the time this works out. As I drove through western Wisconsin I decided to stop for lunch at a wildlife area that looked like it had some potential. I mostly wanted to see a sand hill crane. I did along with some other birds and an otter(I think). As I left to get on the road again I ran across the Aldo Leopold Center and decided that there was no way I could pass up this opportunity. Aldo Leopold of course wrote the book a Sand County Almanac which was one of the first books I read, and one that had a profound influence on me.
This is the cabin where he wrote his book.
This is the cabin where he wrote his book.
AAI Denali Prep Course. How Much is Too Much Snow? /
I just got back from a Denali Prep trip. These trips are usually a lot of fun and often make for some great photography. This trip however got a bit old. Not really the trip so much as the weather. There is only so much time you can spend in a tent without going crazy. For this trip that number is three days. Of course we were forced to get out of our tents every now and then to dig out snow so we did not get buried.
The hike in consisted of dragging heavy sleds to a camp near the base of Table mountain near the Mt. Baker Ski Area. This is great Denali training since Denali consists of dragging heavy sleds through the snow. Once there we built a camp. Building a camp is a key Denali skill. We created tent platforms and built walls around the camp so wind would not crush our tents. Wind however was not going to be an issue on this trip.
After cooking dinner it was tent time. I was looking forward to this since I have a one month old child at home, and there was nothing that would wake me up here in the mountains... At some point in the middle of the night I woke to the side of the tent pressing against me and realized I was being buried alive by constant snow fall that had been falling since I put the tent up. So much for uninterrupted sleep. I got my boots on and dug the tent out. Perfect Denali training!
Morning came, and it sure seemed a little dark, even for 6am. Once again I am buried. I tunneled my way out of the tent, this time with the camera and shot this.
Due to the very heavy snowfall we decided to not move our camp today and just work on camp mantinence since it looked like it would be an all day job.
I spent most of the day in the tent and the rest of it digging.
The next morning.
Another day of heavy snowfall so we continued to dig camp. The next morning.
We now estimated that we had 3 meters of snow. If the wind picked up we would have no chance of digging out our tents. It was time to leave. That however was easier said than done. Moving in snow that deep is very difficult and very tiring. There was also a real threat of avalanche.
It was still snowing hard as we made out way out and I shot this.
After hours of wading though sometimes chest deep snow we made it to the ski area and were able to move down the groomed run to the car. 45 minutes of digging later, the car moved and we were on our way back to Bellingham to learn the technical skills needed for Denali.
The hike in consisted of dragging heavy sleds to a camp near the base of Table mountain near the Mt. Baker Ski Area. This is great Denali training since Denali consists of dragging heavy sleds through the snow. Once there we built a camp. Building a camp is a key Denali skill. We created tent platforms and built walls around the camp so wind would not crush our tents. Wind however was not going to be an issue on this trip.
After cooking dinner it was tent time. I was looking forward to this since I have a one month old child at home, and there was nothing that would wake me up here in the mountains... At some point in the middle of the night I woke to the side of the tent pressing against me and realized I was being buried alive by constant snow fall that had been falling since I put the tent up. So much for uninterrupted sleep. I got my boots on and dug the tent out. Perfect Denali training!
Morning came, and it sure seemed a little dark, even for 6am. Once again I am buried. I tunneled my way out of the tent, this time with the camera and shot this.
Due to the very heavy snowfall we decided to not move our camp today and just work on camp mantinence since it looked like it would be an all day job.
I spent most of the day in the tent and the rest of it digging.
The next morning.
Another day of heavy snowfall so we continued to dig camp. The next morning.
We now estimated that we had 3 meters of snow. If the wind picked up we would have no chance of digging out our tents. It was time to leave. That however was easier said than done. Moving in snow that deep is very difficult and very tiring. There was also a real threat of avalanche.
It was still snowing hard as we made out way out and I shot this.
After hours of wading though sometimes chest deep snow we made it to the ski area and were able to move down the groomed run to the car. 45 minutes of digging later, the car moved and we were on our way back to Bellingham to learn the technical skills needed for Denali.
A photo of Cullen /
Cullen was born on March 13. He is healthy and well. The dogs already have accepted him into the family, however they are a little confused about why he does not throw the ball for them.
Letey family photo shoot. /
Crow Photo and Some Photos of my Pregnant Wife. /
Went to the zoo today with Susan to shoot a few photos of her new shape before she evicts her tenant. It was an amazing day in the city today and these photos made it even better.
Not my wife, but a nice photo anyway.
Not my wife, but a nice photo anyway.
Mountaineering and Outdoor Photography Course /
I will be teaching a mountaineering and outdoor photography course this summer. The dates are going to be August 19-22nd. The course outline is listed below. I have been wanting to put this course together for several years and it has finally happened. There has been a lot of interest in this course so sign up now to ensure a space.
A stunning photograph on the summit ridge of Denali. Photo: Alasdair Turner
Impress your friends with your phenomenal photographs you took while climbing Mount Baker this summer! Our new course, Mountaineering Photography, has added a day to the Baker Skills and Climb Course to work with a professional outdoor photographer so you can take incredible photographs in the mountains!
We will start with the basics of how to carry and protect your camera, how to deal with cold, wet environments, and what camera is the best choice for you. We will then spend some time preparing our climbing and camera equipment for a trip to Mt. Baker. If you are a beginning climber or photographer, there is no need to worry, we will cover the skills you need to safely summit the mountain and shoot photos.
Photographic creativity is one trick to creating great works of art. Photo: Aidan Loehr
Our camp on the north side of Mount Baker is in a stunningly beautiful place for photography and offers a variety of photographic subjects to practice your skills. Here we can work on shooting the perfect landscape photo or basic climber portraits. A healthy population of alpine creatures, including ptarmigan and marmots, are also very common subjects at this camp.
The contrasting colors of the sky and the tent bring enjoyment to the viewer's eyes. Guide Richard Riquelme on Mt Baker. Photo: Alasdair Turner
Our route, which ascends the classic Coleman-Deming Glacier, makes for progressively more interesting photographic terrain as we start our ascent in the dark and summit sometime just after dawn. From here we enjoy great views of our route, the many alpine peaks surrounding us, and the San Juan Islands. On very clear days, one can also get a view of the Seattle metro area. Groups in this program are kept small (usually three to five climbers with one guide or six to ten climbers with two guides), and throughout the trip you will enjoy a very rich learning and climbing experience.
AAI Team walking off the summit of Mount Baker. Photo: Alasdair Turner
Skills Covered in the Course
Climbing Skills
Rope team crosses crevasse on Coleman Glacier. Photo: Alasdair Turner Program Costs, Inclusions and Exclusions
- Ice axe and crampon techniques
- Roping procedures for glacier travel
- Route finding and hazard evaluation
- Basic crevasse rescue
- Which camera is right for you
- How to carry your camera in a place that is convenient
- How to protect your camera from all types of weather
- How to use the available light
- Fundamentals of photography for the mountains including composition, exposure, and depth of field
Rope team crosses crevasse on Coleman Glacier. Photo: Alasdair Turner
Tuition for the program includes the guide's fee, transportation to the mountains (except on private trips), and all group climbing equipment (ropes and hardware). You will need to provide your own photographic equipment (camera, film, batteries, memory cards, etc.). Personal equipment is not included in the program cost, but it can be rented from our equipment shop. A complete list of recommended and required equipment will be sent to you upon registration.
We also offer a porter program for individuals who require physical assistance. Contact us for more information.
On this course, we bring you talented mountain guides who are also professional photographers. Photo courtesy of Mike Powers
We also offer a porter program for individuals who require physical assistance. Contact us for more information.
On this course, we bring you talented mountain guides who are also professional photographers. Photo courtesy of Mike Powers
One Month in the Life of Golden Eagles in the Nest. /
Last year I worked on a project with Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. Part of this project involved putting up a wildlife camera on a golden eagles nest. I have had the photos (all 7000 of them) on my computer ever since and finally decided to look through them and find some of the better ones. I picked one from each day from when the camera was put up to the day the birds fledged. It turned out to be almost exactly a month. All of these photos are property of Wa Department of Fish and Wildlife and are not mine.
Skiing at Snoqualmie Pass /
Kurt, Forest and I spent the day up at Snoqualmie pass today and were happy to find some nice snow conditions for skiing. Unfortunately the photo conditions were typical of the Pacific Northwest in winter.
A few photos from around Seattle /
I went over to my favorite bird watching site in Seattle the other day. Here are the results. Nothing great, but a few nice shots.
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| Savannah sparrow |
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| Killdeer |
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| Killdeer |
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| Juvenile red tail hawk? Not positive about this, but im not sure what else it could have been. |
My Favorite Photos of 2010. My year in review. /
Figured since I don't have any new content in the last couple of weeks, I would add some of my favorite photos from the year.
The year started with an amazing trip to Southern California for the Rose Bowl. After the game, which was worth forgetting, we headed to Ventura and Channel Islands National Park. Certainly Southern California's little gem.
Back to the Northwest for some amazing winter trips in the mountains.
Bolivia
Golden Eagle work with Fish and Wildlife.
More climbing (or maybe not) in the North Cascades.
Summer in the North Cascades.
Wedding season. My good friends Matt and Jess.
Election season, and a chance to photograph the president.
And an ex President.
The fall in the North Cascades.
My beautiful wife who supports my crazy adventures.
A trip to Galliano Island, BC. Pretty much rained the whole time, but I did manage to take my wife to a swamp to photograph frogs. In retrospect that sounds really bad. Who the hell would put up with that?
Back to the North Cascades for work. I spent almost an hour bothering this guy. He cooperated with this photo, which I love.
Fall is football season. Autzen Stadium night game.
The a trip to Kauai.
An early ski trip to Crystal Mountain. If my dog can learn to fly, then dammit, i'm going to learn to ski in 2011.
The year started with an amazing trip to Southern California for the Rose Bowl. After the game, which was worth forgetting, we headed to Ventura and Channel Islands National Park. Certainly Southern California's little gem.
Back to the Northwest for some amazing winter trips in the mountains.
The Olympics in Vancouver.
Bolivia
Golden Eagle work with Fish and Wildlife.
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| Golden eagle on the back of full size pickup truck. |
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| Close up of golden eagle |
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| Me and the golden eagle |
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| Two golden eagle chicks in the nest. |
More climbing (or maybe not) in the North Cascades.
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| Nearing the summit of Mt. Baker after climbing the North Ridge |
Summer in the North Cascades.
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| A sooty grouse on Mt. Baker |
Election season, and a chance to photograph the president.
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| Barack Obama |
And an ex President.
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| Bill Clinton. |
The fall in the North Cascades.
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| Mt. Baker at sunrise with a lenticular cloud over the summit. |
My beautiful wife who supports my crazy adventures.
A trip to Galliano Island, BC. Pretty much rained the whole time, but I did manage to take my wife to a swamp to photograph frogs. In retrospect that sounds really bad. Who the hell would put up with that?
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| A pacific tree frog. |
Back to the North Cascades for work. I spent almost an hour bothering this guy. He cooperated with this photo, which I love.
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| Hoary Marmot |
Fall is football season. Autzen Stadium night game.
The a trip to Kauai.
An early ski trip to Crystal Mountain. If my dog can learn to fly, then dammit, i'm going to learn to ski in 2011.
Why YOU should go to Bolivia! /
The Bolivia trip I did last year was truly a life changing trip. Its likely I will be going back to Bolivia this year and I wanted to post some photos to show you why Bolivia really is one of the best trips a person who enjoys the outdoors can do.
To start with Bolivia is safe. I travel everywhere with a lot of expensive camera equipment, and Bolivia last year was no exception. The first couple of days I left it all in my room rather than carry it around, because I was worried about having it stolen. On day three I realized that even in Bolivia's biggest city there was a surprisingly small amount of crime. To put it simply, if you use common sense in La Paz you are likely safer than you would be in any major American city. The people are kind warm friendly and honest. No one on our trip had anything stolen or heard of anyone having things stolen. This does not mean we were careless, but I was no more careful here than I would be North America.
Bolivia is cheap. When I say cheap what I mean is once you get there it is really inexpensive to buy things. If you are willing to eat street food then you can get lunch for a lot less than a dollar. A good dinner at a very nice restaurant is likely $10. Hotels are also a good deal and there are plenty of hotels that would meet that standards of North America for cleanliness and comfort.
Bolivia is Beautiful. I don't need to say anything here. Just look at the photos.
Bolivia is fun. The people of Bolivia are some of the happiest people I have met. They add to the enjoyment of what would be a great vacation anyway. La Paz is a big city and the night life is a blast! Great bars, great restaurants and great clubs.
Bolivia has great trekking. Just look at the photos.
Bolivia has great climbing.
So sign up for a Bolivia trip on the AAI website and join me in the country I have fallen in love with.
http://aai.cc/Programs/Location/South-America/
See you there!
To start with Bolivia is safe. I travel everywhere with a lot of expensive camera equipment, and Bolivia last year was no exception. The first couple of days I left it all in my room rather than carry it around, because I was worried about having it stolen. On day three I realized that even in Bolivia's biggest city there was a surprisingly small amount of crime. To put it simply, if you use common sense in La Paz you are likely safer than you would be in any major American city. The people are kind warm friendly and honest. No one on our trip had anything stolen or heard of anyone having things stolen. This does not mean we were careless, but I was no more careful here than I would be North America.
Bolivia is cheap. When I say cheap what I mean is once you get there it is really inexpensive to buy things. If you are willing to eat street food then you can get lunch for a lot less than a dollar. A good dinner at a very nice restaurant is likely $10. Hotels are also a good deal and there are plenty of hotels that would meet that standards of North America for cleanliness and comfort.
Bolivia is Beautiful. I don't need to say anything here. Just look at the photos.
Bolivia is fun. The people of Bolivia are some of the happiest people I have met. They add to the enjoyment of what would be a great vacation anyway. La Paz is a big city and the night life is a blast! Great bars, great restaurants and great clubs.
Bolivia has great trekking. Just look at the photos.
Bolivia has great climbing.
http://aai.cc/Programs/Location/South-America/
See you there!
The rest of the photos from Hawaii. /
Here are the rest of the photos worth looking at from the Hawaii trip. You will probably notice there are not a lot of palm tree/ beach photos. This is because I don't really enjoy being burned to a crisp on a beach. I cant sit on a beach and read a book and find that even slightly enjoyable. I also don't find the typical beach a particularly stimulating place to shoot photos. Ill start with a couple of my pregnant wife.
And another of Susan on the beach.
I did the hike out to Kalulau which was very enjoyable and well worth the trip. It claims to be 11.5 miles one way, but I think its likely a little less than that. I would guess about 10. Either way the trail mile markers are defiantly not accurate. I did the hike out one day and slept next to the beach and hiked out the next day.
The last part of the trail down to the beach.
The coast line here is very rugged. Apparently that does not stop the goats from enjoying the view.
An evening view of the stars from Kalalau beach.
A very pretty morning after a rainy night.
Part of the coastline.
There are plenty of small creeks along the hike.
And a few more birds. The Nene is a native Hawaiian goose. It is endangered, but has been reintroduced to Kauai and is subsequently doing quite well.
This is a Hawaiian coot. Another native species.
The negative tides create great feeding opportunities for birds. This night heron was fishing as we were wading about on the beach 40 yards away. I made for a great set of photos.
My favorite, maybe from the entire trip.
One more bird. The great frigate bird is an incredible bird that can say in the air for a week. They have the highest sing surface area to body weight ratio of any bird which likely allows them to spend a lot of time catching thermal updrafts so they don't have to flap their wings much. Another interesting fact is that they cant take off from a flat surface. If they land in the ocean they can not take off again. They pluck fish from the sea in flight.
And another of Susan on the beach.
I did the hike out to Kalulau which was very enjoyable and well worth the trip. It claims to be 11.5 miles one way, but I think its likely a little less than that. I would guess about 10. Either way the trail mile markers are defiantly not accurate. I did the hike out one day and slept next to the beach and hiked out the next day.
The last part of the trail down to the beach.
The coast line here is very rugged. Apparently that does not stop the goats from enjoying the view.
An evening view of the stars from Kalalau beach.
A very pretty morning after a rainy night.
Part of the coastline.
There are plenty of small creeks along the hike.
And a few more birds. The Nene is a native Hawaiian goose. It is endangered, but has been reintroduced to Kauai and is subsequently doing quite well.
This is a Hawaiian coot. Another native species.
The negative tides create great feeding opportunities for birds. This night heron was fishing as we were wading about on the beach 40 yards away. I made for a great set of photos.
My favorite, maybe from the entire trip.
One more bird. The great frigate bird is an incredible bird that can say in the air for a week. They have the highest sing surface area to body weight ratio of any bird which likely allows them to spend a lot of time catching thermal updrafts so they don't have to flap their wings much. Another interesting fact is that they cant take off from a flat surface. If they land in the ocean they can not take off again. They pluck fish from the sea in flight.
More Hawaiian Birds on Kauai /
Yesterday I finally found the place to see some native Hawaiian birds. The taro fields here in Hanalei are filled with marsh birds and of course plenty of the introduced species, but the five minutes that is was not dumping rain did make for some good photo time.
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| Red crested cardinal |
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| Black capped night heron |
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| Alae 'Ula (Hawaiian Gallinule) |
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| Hawaiian Stilt |
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| Pacific Golden Plover |
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| wedge tailed shearwater |
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| Erckel's Francolin |
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| Wandering Tattler |
Some Birds of Kauai. /
I have spent the last few days shooting photos of birds here on Kauai. Its nice to be able to shoot photos of birds I have never seen before. Keep in mind that most of these birds although pretty are actually introduced species to the Hawaiian Islands, and that over 25% of the native birds on Kauai have become extinct.
I will post more photos to this post as I shoot them.
Lets start with a couple of birds that are natives.
And one in flight.
And a brown booby
The Albatross might be the most awkward bird I have ever seen, they are slow and clumsy.
Then I saw one fly. This bird might be the most graceful bird I have ever seen fly. From the moment this bird took off it never once flapped its wings.
Im not one to disturb nesting birds, but i walked up on this one accidentally. I shot one photo and left.
I am still working on getting a good photo of a great frigate bird, but its not the easiest bird to capture in the lens.
And a non native species. The cattle egret. These are everywhere here.
Female white rumped shama
Male white rumped shama
hwamei, melodious laughingthrush
Red Crested Cardinal.
Ok I have to admit I am having a really hard time finding any native birds in this place. The introduction of many non native species to the Hawaiian islands has decimated many of the natives. The hike i did over the last two days consisted of sightings of Hawaiian wildlife such as the feral cat, feral goat, domesticated chicken, rats and mice. I should admit however, that I am staying in a house in Princeville. Due to a generous friend lodging was free. Unfortunately Princeville is pretty much an environmental catastrophe of a housing development that would be best off washed in to the Pacific Ocean. I was super excited to here that the main resort here went bankrupt which as far as i'm concerned is what goes around comes around. Oh well, I guess I will concentrate on how pretty the non native birds are.
I will post more photos to this post as I shoot them.
Lets start with a couple of birds that are natives.
And one in flight.
And a brown booby
The Albatross might be the most awkward bird I have ever seen, they are slow and clumsy.
Im not one to disturb nesting birds, but i walked up on this one accidentally. I shot one photo and left.
I am still working on getting a good photo of a great frigate bird, but its not the easiest bird to capture in the lens.
And a non native species. The cattle egret. These are everywhere here.
Female white rumped shama
Male white rumped shama
hwamei, melodious laughingthrush
Ok I have to admit I am having a really hard time finding any native birds in this place. The introduction of many non native species to the Hawaiian islands has decimated many of the natives. The hike i did over the last two days consisted of sightings of Hawaiian wildlife such as the feral cat, feral goat, domesticated chicken, rats and mice. I should admit however, that I am staying in a house in Princeville. Due to a generous friend lodging was free. Unfortunately Princeville is pretty much an environmental catastrophe of a housing development that would be best off washed in to the Pacific Ocean. I was super excited to here that the main resort here went bankrupt which as far as i'm concerned is what goes around comes around. Oh well, I guess I will concentrate on how pretty the non native birds are.