Some birds are the jewels of the animal world. Others are the grungy members of the animal garage band. Auke Bay provides a sample, ranging from hummingbirds to crows.
A notable absence this year: kingfishers. There were only a few, and no close, kingfishers about when a camera was at hand, and no good images resulted. Maybe next year. They are nervy and doughty and fun to watch.
The iridescent jewels of the Alaska bird world:
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Steller's jays are striking for their rich blues. They tend to scold. Same bird, hopping, in a sequential composition:
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Blue on blue:
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A little brown bird, perching on pushki:
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A heron lands and then takes off, gracefully, always gracefully. The Audrey Hepburn of the bird world.
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Arctic terns were around infrequently. Fierce.
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Cornell's Merlin program wasn't identifying this bird. Many suddenly showed up at low tide.
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Glaucous gulls are border-line grungy, because they never look stylish. 131A1900
Crows seem to have the ultimate bird social life. Here, two solos show the subtlety of their flight controls.
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Coming attractions: Eagles
After a lifetime of mainly expressing myself with words, my postings here will mainly rely on images. They will speak for themselves to some extent, but I'll usually add a few comments of explanation. I've taken photographs for decades, since the 1950's, inspired in part by my father's photographic skill. Four years of photo assignments and quality darkroom time eventually gave way to decades of casual and family picture-taking. I re-immersed myself when I left film and turned to digital.