Explosion in the fog

I heard the geese in the dark as I drove into Loess Bluffs NWR.  The fog had a calming effect on them allowing me to make several trips from the car to set up two tripods and cameras. Another car coming into the Refuge spooked them and they headed off for the morning. This is a trailer for a one minute video that is in the works.

Bald Eagle Dinner

I spent the the entire afternoon watching a flock of ducks and several bald eagles with no action. Suddenly about 15 minutes before sunset an eagle swooped down and grabbed a mallard. I missed the grab but hit the record button a second later to get this footage. This might be amazing to me but the background sound reminds me that is a normal day in the lives of ducks and eagles.

Technical: slight cropping of birds on ice

Snow Geese Landing

Only 8,000 snow geese were listed in the weekly count but warmer weather held promise for more birds. About a hundred thousand arrived on my first morning giving spectacular opportunities. This year flight shots were taken at a slow shutter speed, less than 1/100 second, in an attempt to convey the atomsphere of thousands of geese in the air. It was also a contrarian statement since geese are usually photographed frozen in space by a high shutter speed.

Change of Plans

I arrived at Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge, Mound City, MO, well before sunrise intent on being in place for flocks of snow geese flying in front of the rising sun. On the way in this cloud drama caught my attention and the geese were forgotten about until their voices became overpowering.  Of course by then the best light had passed for my original plan. So much to photograph and such fleeting light, the bane of photography.

Snow Geese Feeding

Snow Geese Feeding at Squaw Creek NWR from Dale Bohlke on Vimeo.
With hundreds of thousands of snow geese in the middle of the refuge it was nice of this group to be near shore for photographers.  The temperature was 62 degrees, I wonder when we'll have our first 60 degree day. Technical: Splashing water audio added in post production using Foley technique.

Fire and Snow Geese Video

Fire and Snow Geese at Squaw Creek NWR from Dale Bohlke on Vimeo.
Last Thursday I went Squaw Creek to photograph a few hundred thousand snow geese with a blue sky as background. The drama of smoke and fire coupled with birds in the air was much more interesting than the blue sky I was expecting.

The Sentinel

I sat and watched a group of snow geese as they fed in the later afternoon light while this one watched me. It never took its eyes off me except for a quick nibble. Why does a flock suddenly burst into the air, for no apparent reason? Is one the designated guard that alerts the group? Just another one of nature's mysteries. Technical: Would the picture be better without the stick in the neck? Should it cloned out of the shot? What about all the dark spots in the water?  Sometimes nature isn't perfect.

Fire and Snow Geese

My trip to Squaw Creek NWR in Missouri was short but unique.  I arrived Thursday afternoon and found a controlled burn in progress.  The birds were quiet but otherwise unaffected.  Cinders were falling from the air as I was torn between watching the fire and the birds.  The blue sky and 62 degree temperature were a welcome relief to our Minnesota March.