Atlantic Puffins

At Bull's Bay, we checked in at Mullowney's Puffin and Whale Tours.  We were the only ones there for the next cruise, but they agreed to take us!  Since our time in Newfoundland was limited, it was such a blessing to get to do the puffin tour without having to come back the next day.

I've been fascinated with puffins since I saw tufted puffins along the Oregon coast.

Off the Newfoundland coast on rocky islands, Atlantic puffins nest in small burrows surrounded by grass.  One parent stands guard.

Puffins nest as far south as Maine and on islands across the North Atlantic from Iceland to Ireland and from northern France to Norway.

Excellent fishers, they float in the water until our boat startles them.  Puffins are fast flyers.  If I could go back, I would use a faster shutterspeed - 1/250 sec wasn't fast enough! They are challenging to photograph because you must lock on for focus before they startle into flight. 

Puffins can carry as many as 30 small fish to bring back to the nest, but usually only carry up to 10.

Atlantic Puffins can live to be 30 years old. They choose their life mate when 3 to 5 years old.  They only come to land to breed and raise their chicks, surviving well far out into the ocean.  Strong swimmers they can dive to 200 feet. In flight they can fly up to 55 miles per hour.

Their greatest enemies are the great black-backed gull which can capture a puffin in flight or on the ground and herring gulls who steal the fish and pull chicks and eggs from the nests.

Burlington, Iowa

I love towns on the Mississippi River.  They are historic, have interesting bridges, and stories to tell.  

The Great River Bridge connects Burlington, Iowa with Gulfport, Illinois.  It is a unique, asymmetric single tower cable stay bridge that is so much fun to photograph. Finished in 1993, it has been part of a successful plan transform the river area into a waterfront district that is a pleasant place to walk, pause to appreciate the river, and shop.

Burlington has a fascinating downtown with historic buildings from various time periods, lovely bed and breakfast homes, and a wonderful bookstore: Burlington by the Book  owned by Christopher Murphy.  Situated downtown a few blocks from the river, you will find interesting books and gifts, with author book signings as well and special events as well. 

Burlington is the hometown of Aldo Leopold, writer of "A Sand County Almanac," a book ahead of its time for conservation and a must read for all naturalists.  He graduated from Yale's Forestry School and had a long career in the Forest Service and became a professor of game management at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  After purchasing 80 acres in Wisconsin, he put his theories into practice to restore the land.  You can still visit this property, part of the Aldo Leopold Foundation.

Central Texas Fires

I'm a little shell shocked tonight. The images I've seen online from the Bastrop Fire are apocalyptical. Flames so high they make the cars look tiny. It is hard to grasp a fire that has burned 16 miles long and at least 4 miles wide, and leaped the Colorado River.

I've spent a lot of time over the years at Bastrop State Park. 2,000-3000 acres out of 6500 have burned. I took my Master Naturalist training at the Lost Pines Chapter. I have friends and family in the Bastrop area. One I've touched base with told me the fire was 2 miles from their home and they were packed and ready to go. I know that people I know are losing their homes tonight. While I grieve over the loses at Bastrop State Park and the potential loss of the historic CCC buildings there, that pales with the thought that early in the evening over 300 homes had burned. Homes with treasures, memorablia, family pictures, heirlooms, memories . . .

I also have friends in the Steiner Ranch area. I'm hoping their home is far enough to the east that their home will be spared. But tonight cannot be an easy night for them, not knowing what is happening to their home.

I have other friends that live in Spicewood, another area that has fires tonight.

I am grieving for what is lost, but praying that the winds are not as bad as forecast tomorrow and that God protects the firefighters as they battle through the night, that they are able to get these fires under control and . . . that God comfort and strengthen all those who have lost everything in these fires.

Tomorrow I'll try to post links to some of the more amazing footage and still photos that I've seen tonight.

Cape Pine Light

Cape Pine Light is at the southern most point of Newfoundland.  Located along the scenic Irish Loop, it is a 5 mile gravel road drive off the main road to get there, but we were rewarded by seeing the only caribou on this trip.  With gray cloudy skies, shooting for High Dynamic Range (HDR) was a must.  I shot multiple exposures and hoped that post processing would give me a useable image.  I used Photoshop to merge the images and then Photomatix to do the tone mapping.  I then used Topaz products to brighten the reds and make it a more vibrant image.

Cape Pine, built in 1851, is still a working lighthouse.  It flashes white every 5 seconds and is visible for 16 nautical miles.  Michigan Tech has been using it as a pollution research station with funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation.

Just north of Cape Pine Line, we spent the night in Trepassey at a lovely hotel, the Trepassey Motel and Restaurant,  that included a dining room with views of the sea.  With friendly owners, good food and comfortable rooms, this would be a good place to spend several days and spend more time along this lovely coastline.

Ferryland Light

One of my favorite memories from my Newfoundland trip was my hike up to the Ferryland Lighthouse. While it was an uphill hike of 2 kilometers, it was pleasant.

But the views at the top were amazing. I had to walk alone because Henry's knee was not up to the 25 minute walk. When I got to the top, there were so many people who were taking advantage of the picnic lunches. It was hard to get a photo of the lighthouse without people in the frame. There were couples and families scattered on the green carpet of grass eating what looked to be wonderful picnic lunches. There were kids romping and exploring. A minke whale even surfaced near the shore close enough to hear the blow.

Ferryland Light was built in 1870 and manned until it was automated in 1970. After being abandoned for about 20 years, Lighthouse Picnics began serving picnic lunches and also began restoring the lighthouse. Today, the menu boasts food made fresh each day - molasses oatmeal bread, fresh made scones, orzo and fresh mint salad, and freshly squeezed lemonade. Coffee and specialty teas add to the charm. They use local and organic products as much as possible. The cold water shrimp, salmon and crab are harvested from Newfoundland waters.

The town of Ferryland is also interesting to visit. The Colony of Avalon was founded in 1621 by George Calvert who later became Lord Baltimore. The settlement ruins were undisturbed for centuries, but are now being excavated. Archaeologists have found over a million artifacts. An Interpretation Center and a walking tour give you a sense of what life in the 1600's was like.

Ferryland is about an hour's drive south of St. John.

August 2011 Weather in Central Texas

A week ago tonight I had been watching the weather radar and knew we had storms in the area.  When I finally started hearing thunder at my house, I knew I should get out and try for some storm photos.  Henry joined me and began using his phone to track where the storm was. I was driving, heading in the direction I could see the flashes.  While the radar indicated storms between Taylor and Hutto, I saw no flashes so I kept heading east and south.

Just north of Elgin, I was seeing clear enough flashes that I found a place on a country road where I could set up my camera with my window mount and be at the right angle to attempt lightning photography from the safety of my car. 

Texas Bridge Bats

I've been fascinated with bats for a long time.  I've gone down to Town Lake to see the bats emerge from the Congress Avenue Bridge. I've been to the Old Tunnel Wildlife Management Area and seen the bats emerge a number of times.

If I'm on I-35 in Pflugerville or Round Rock at dusk, I've seen bats emerge from the Wells Branch Bridge, the Howard Lane Bridge, and the McNeil Bridge.

I've gone out a couple of times to try to get some good bat photos. The first time I tried, I couldn't get the right angle for the shot I visualized - the silhouettes of the bats against a colorful sunset sky.  I've been helping with the bat interpretation at the McNeil Bridge, but if I'm talking to people, I'm unlikely to be taking time to photograph.

But Friday night things came together, the clouds in the eastern sky took on a pinkish hue, the bats were a little later than normal coming out, and another picture that I had visualized looked promising.  When the bats emerge from the bridge, they fly to the east to forage over the agricultural fields and pastures in eastern Williamson County.  They make beautiful patterns in the sky as they disperse.  I wanted to capture those beautiful and actually mathematical patterns.

It takes over several hour for the 1.8 million bats to leave their roosts.   But it is an amazing spectacle.

It is amazing to me how the flow of bats weaves itself across the sky, at times almost moving as though there is a common intelligence guiding the patterns. 

 

Late summer is a good time to view the bats because this year's pups have joined the flow.  

My article about the free-tailed bats is in this week's Hutto News.

Henry has a new app for his phone, Radarscope.  He came into my office near sunset asking what time the bats come out.  It turns out that you can see the images on the radar from this app that show the density of the bats emerging from a number of places around us in Central Texas.  Check out his blog and see the video he made of the radar images this evening.