Colorado Wildlife — Migrating Tundra Swans and Big Horn Sheep.
I drove to Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge near Walden Colorado. It is a long drive, but the pass through Rocky Mountain National Park was still open. I knew it was late in the year and didn’t expect to see many migrating birds, but hoped to see some Pronghorn Elk or Moose. While driving through the refuge on the Auto Tour route, I saw eight large white birds across one of the lakes. I took some images, first with a 80-400 mm VR lens, and then with 200-400 f/4 VR lens. It was rather windy, so used the car to block the wind to minimize motion with the big lenses. Even on a tripod this was hard. It looks like these are Tundra Swans which the bird list for the wildlife refuge list as being rare (once every 2-5 years). I guess I was lucky. I also didn’t see anyone else while visiting the reserve.
Tundra Swans. Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D2XS and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 200 mm, f/8, 1/1600 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Photoshop CS5, Nik Define, Nik Color Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)Tundra Swans. Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D2XS and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/8, 1/2000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Photoshop CS5, Nik Define, Nik Color Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)Tundra Swans. Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D2XS and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Photoshop CS5, Nik Define, Nik Color Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)Tundra Swans. Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D2XS and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens + TCE-II 20 teleconverter (ISO 400, 800 mm, f/8, 1/640 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Photoshop CS5, Nik Define, Nik Color Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)
While returning from the reserve I came upon several Big Horn Sheep along Colorado Highway 14.
Big Horn Ram Huddle. Along Colorado 14 near Sheridan in Roosevelt National Forest. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 200-400 mm lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Gone to See American 2008 Road Trip. Driving from Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument to Bryce National Park.
Double Rainbow in Utah. While driving between Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument and Bryce National Park on Utah Highway 12 I saw a rainbow in my rear view mirror. I quickly pulled over just outside of Cannonville Utah and started taking some images. Before the rainbow was gone, many other cars pulled over to admire the view.
Double Rainbow in Utah. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 17 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Topaz Define (Color Jump), Topaz DeNoise, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Gone to See California: Point Reyes National Seashore.
I drove out to Point Reyes National Seashore to photograph the Lighthouse. I’ve tried to photograph this lighthouse on several previous occasions, but it was always shrouded in fog. I got there early in the morning, and this time it was very clear. In one image, the moon is above the lighthouse. Remembering my mentor Winston Hall telling us to always look behind you for a better picture, I turned around and saw this buck on a ridge in the early morning sunlight.
Moon over Point Reyes Lighthouse. Point Reyes National Seashore. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 24 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/11, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)Morning Light at Point Reyes Lighthouse. Point Reyes National Seashore. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)Early Morning Buck on a Ridge at Point Reyes National Seashore. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/2.8, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)
I found this Tree Fungus/Mushroom on a fallen Birch tree while walking through my backyard. This was one of the trees that came down when the power company cleared the lines following a wind storm in March 2010 that is slowly decomposing. Not surprising the decomposition has accelerated with all of the rain we have had recently.
Tree Mushroom/Fungus on Fallen Birch Tree. Image taken with a Nikon D700 camera and 28-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 56 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec) and SB-900 flash. (David J Mathre)
Gone to See North America Road Trip. Day 17: Denali National Park, Alaska. (Day 3: Nikonians ANPAT 9).
View of Mount Denali on a clear day from the Stony Hill Overlook (mile 62). This is on the only road into Denali National Park. Private vehicles are restricted to the first 15 miles into the park. To go beyond that point you either need to walk or take the (hop-on, hop-off) buses provided by the National Park Service.
Road to Denali. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 45 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec). (David J. Mathre)
