Category Archives: nature

December 25, 2020 · 6:44 am

Merry Christmas, Everybody!

Nature does a fine job at making her own Christmas tree, don’t you think? I photographed this lovely, snow-frosted evergreen along the side of the road in Mount Rainier National Park.

And, since it’s Fun Fact Friday as well as Christmas Day, here’s a little bit of Mount Rainier tree trivia for you:
The trees in this park extend all the way up to over 6,000 feet along the mountain flanks (over 1,800 meters, more or less). Forests cover approximately 58% of this national park. And most of the trees here are evergreen conifers, meaning they have needles and they keep their needles on their branches year-round.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

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Filed under Christmas, holiday, Mount Rainier National Park, National Parks, nature, Photography, Sony Alpha a7r IV, trees, winter

Tagged as Christmas tree, December, mirrorless, Mount Rainier, Mount Rainier National Park, National Park, nature, photography, snow, Sony Alpha, tree, where the trails take you, winter

November 26, 2020 · 6:17 am

Happy Thanksgiving

Whew! Is the coast all clear? Can I safely do my turkey trot? Yup, you and your rafter (aka flock) of wild turkey friends in Zion National Park have made it to Thanksgiving Day intact. (I’m keeping mum about the not-so-lucky turkeys).

However you celebrate Thanksgiving – if you even mark it at all – please have a safe day and think about all the things for which you are thankful. I’m thankful for my family, a roof over our heads, food to eat, my cameras (of course), and that we all continue to be healthy within this pandemic (hope I haven’t jinxed anything).

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Tagged as bird, holiday, photography, Thanksgiving, turkey, where the trails take you, wild turkey

November 25, 2020 · 7:00 am

Looking Past Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving

*A Wild Turkey In Zion National Park (Utah)*

On my next-to-last day in Zion National Park, I happened upon a flock (actually, it’s called a “rafter”) of wild turkeys. I first encountered them along the road through the park and thought that was pretty cool and I was tickled to have seen them then. Then, during a hike where I was crossing the bridge from Sand Bench Trail toward the Court of Patriarchs, I found a flock – er – rafter – of them hanging out around a park maintenance building. I had the best time walking along with them, photographing them. They weren’t the least bit afraid of me and that’s where I learned they can actually fly – enough to get up into a tree, at least. Wild turkeys, for all their grizzled faces, are pretty cool birds to watch, and their feathers are beautiful.

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Filed under 1DX, birds, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, holiday, National Parks, Photography, Thanksgiving, Zion National Park

Tagged as bird, Canon, holiday, National Park, photography, Rebecca Latson Photography, Thanksgiving, travel, turkey, where the trails take you, wild turkey, winter, Zion National Park

November 24, 2020 · 6:41 am

Birdy, Birdy In The Sky

*Brown Pelicans Flying Over Padre Island National Seashore, in Texas*

The birds you see in national parks and other protected lands are part and parcel of these places, fleshing out the story of your visit. You don’t need to stake out a site for your tripod and use a mega-telephoto lens to capture great images of the birds.

This month’s photo column in the National Parks Traveler is all about bird photography with whatever camera/lens you happen to have on you during your hike or stop at a park overlook.

To read my article, click on the image above.

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Filed under birds, National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Photography

Tagged as bird, birds, National Park, national parks, National Parks Traveler, photography, travel

November 8, 2020 · 8:13 am

The Bald Eagle

After a presidential election, what better photo to post than the symbol of American democracy, the bald eagle. As I post this image, I am listening to National Parks Traveler podcast episode #91, about bald eagles in Chesapeake Bay and how populations in the national parks around the Bay have a bit of a better chance of survival. It’s a good podcast, if you feel like listening. It’s about 41 minutes long, and you can download it to listen to later.

To listen to the podcast, click on the image above.

This image was of a bald eagle taking off from a snag in the Brooks River in Katmai National Park, in Alaska was captured with my Canon 1DX and rented 500mm lens.

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Filed under 1DX, birds, Canon, Canon 500mm f/4L IS II, Canon Lens, Katmai National Park, National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Photography, Podcast

Tagged as 1DX, 500mm, Alaska, American democracy, bald eagle, bird, Canon, eagle, Katmai National Park and Preserve, National Park, national parks, National Parks Traveler, photography, Podcast

October 27, 2020 · 6:17 am

Redwoods Were Made For Verticals

*The road into the redwoods – Howland Hill Road, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park*

My monthly photo column is now published in the National Parks Traveler. In it, I talk about how Redwood National and State Parks are the perfect places to capture plenty of vertical shots, with the occasional horizontal thrown in for good measure.

To read the article, click on the photo above.

The image above is of Howland Hill Road, a dirt and gravel road through Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, which takes the driver to the parking area of Stout Grove. This road was my first introduction to redwoods, and I actually almost got lost trying to find the road. You see, the road runs for about 7 miles and you can enter it either just outside of Crescent City, CA, or a mile or two east of the Haiouchi Visitor Center along CA Highway 199. I opted for the Crescent City approach only to discover that road was closed less than a mile in, for construction work. I was hemmed in by huge construction tractors and had to gingerly make my way back down the hill and onto the highway to get to Howland Hill Road via the Hwy 199 route. The drive was worth it, though, as Stout Grove is a perfect introduction to coastal redwoods.

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Filed under California, forest, National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Photography, Redwood National and State Parks, Travel

Tagged as autumn, California, coastal redwood, forest, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, National Park, National Parks Traveler, October, photography, Photography In The National Parks, Redwood National and State Parks, redwood tree, trees

October 15, 2020 · 6:26 am

Three Days in Redwood National and State Parks

*Looking up at some very tall trees in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park*

If you only have a short time to spend in Redwood National and State Parks, in northern California, then you should read my latest article published in the National Parks Traveler, about what you can do and see in just three days in this collaboration of national and state parks.

To read the article, click on the image above.

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Tagged as California, forest, National Park, National Parks Traveler, photography, redwood, redwoods, Redwoods National and State Parks, travel, trees, where the trails take you

June 26, 2020 · 9:16 am

It’s Fun Fact Friday, 6-26-2020

It’s Fun Fact Friday, folks! The image above is of a plant called devil’s club. It’s quite striking among the other greenery growing in the forest interior at Mount Rainier National Park. And, as you can see, it’s got little stickers on it. But, there’s more to this plant than what you think.

In addition to using devil’s club for an arthritis remedy, fishhooks and deodorant, Alaska Natives have also used this plant for coughs, colds and fever, skin disorders, and digestive ailments.

This plant was one of the quiz questions for National Parks Quiz and Trivia #8.

So, the next time you wander the forests of the Pacific Northwest and see this plant, you’ll know more about the forest and this plant than you did before.

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Filed under Fun Fact Friday, Mount Rainier National Park, Mt. Rainier National Park, National Parks, nature, Nikon, Photography, plant

Tagged as Fun Fact Friday, Mount Rainier, Mt. Rainier, National Park, Nikon, photogaphy, plant, telephoto, where the trails take you

March 6, 2020 · 9:08 am

It’s Fun Fact Friday 3-6-2020!

The scissor-tail flycatcher, aka Texas bird-of-paradise, can hover with its tail spread and make abrupt turns in midair. It’s numbers have declined by about 31% between 1966 and 2014.

I found this flycatcher in October, sitting pretty on the barb-wire fence at the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge back in 2013.

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Filed under 1DX, birds, Brazoria NWR, Canon, Fun Fact Friday, nature, Photography, Texas, Wildlife Refuge

Tagged as 1DX, bird, birding, Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, Canon, flycatcher, Fun Fact Friday, national wildlife refuge, NWR, October, photography, scissor-tail, Texas, where the trails take you

February 1, 2020 · 9:25 am

Solitude And Tranquility

It’s the weekend, folks. Where will the trail take you? Perhaps to a quiet little pond for some solitude and thouthfulness? That’s what this image from Lake Clark National Park and Preserve brings to mind for me. It was a morning with no bears around to photograph, so we concentrated on other things during our hike out of a forest and into this misty meadow.

That’s a good lesson for you photographers out there. Often, we have high expectations of what we will see during a trip to a national park (or anywhere, for that matter). When it doesn’t pan out according to your expectations, then change those expectations and start observing what you see around you. On that morning, sans bears, I photographed a field filled with spiderwebs bejeweled with dewdrops. a downed nurselog housing a clump of tiny mushrooms, an orb weaver spider spinning a web, and this pond with it’s feathered swimmers within a golden meadow surrounded by mountains and a forest obscured by mist. It was lovely.

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Filed under Alaska, Canon, Lake Clark National Park, National Parks, nature, Photography, Travel

Tagged as Alaska, Canon, ducks, expectations, forest, Lake Clark, Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, life, meadow, mist, mountains, National Park, photography, pond, travel, where the trails take you