Photo of the Week - September 19-25

FOCUS

Like last week, the Photo of the Week comes from a visit I took to the Center for Birds of Prey in Awendaw, South Carolina. The title of his image is "Focus". The bird is a Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapax). This eagle is native to Africa both north and south of the Sahara Desert as well as to parts of southwestern Asia. Tawny eagles feed mostly on carrion as well small live prey including rabbits, and small lizards. It is also known to steal food from other raptors.
This individual was being handled by his trainer and was about to be fed. As such, his food was out of the scene to the right and he was VERY focused on getting that morsel. I particularly like the intensity of his eyes and the detail and texture of his feathers. He seems as though he will accomplish something significant with that look!

Cheers!

John

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Are You My Lunch?

This week's Photo of the Week comes from a visit this past June to the Center for Birds of Prey in Awendaw, South Carolina. The title of  this week's "POTW" is "Are You My Lunch?"

This owl is a South American species called the Spectacled Owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata). Their name obviously comes from the very distinctive eye markings. Interestingly enough, the  juvenile version of this owl has the  same markings just in reverse!

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Photo of the Week September 5-11

This week's Photo of  the Week was taken on the wild west coast of the South Island of New Zealand on my 2009 trip to that fascinating land. The day after visiting the Pancake Rocks at Punakaki, we had a dawn hike up to Truman Beach for shoot over the tide pools and the Tasman Sea. The "beach" at Truman was great as it was a combination of a rocky inter-tidal beach and a more familiar fine grained sand beach. As with most of our trip, we had great weather that morning. We captured a rosy dawn on the horizon and a bright moon higher in the sky. The rich, deep blues of the early light mixes with dawn's rosy fingers and the textures of the Truman shoreline really make for a rather otherworldly setting. I am very happy I was in the right place at the right time to get such a special shot. The credit for getting me to that place & time goes to Phillip Bartlett, my wonderful guide on that trip. As I have stated before, he was a superb guide and anyone wanting to visit and photograph NZ should look him up through his web site at Capture New Zealand Tours . 

Enjoy your short visit to Truman Beach ...........

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In Memorium.....

In memory of those we lost September 11, 2001. May we always remember the destructive power of hate as we also embrace the amazing power of love and kindness present in all of us.

9/11 "In Memorium" Gallery

Photo of the Week for August 29th - September 4th

This week's Photo of the Week comes to us from the waters off of "Seal Island" near Gansbaai, South Africa. I had been here in 2006 and had the thrill of going diving in a cage among the famed great white sharks of this area. To say the least the experience was intoxicating! When I got the chance to return in 2007 I jumped at the chance! This image comes from that 2007 visit which was  on a cold and misty winter morning. Over the three hour trip to the island we encountered 14 great whites ranging in size from 7 feet to over 15 feet! This large male was among the more "assertive" individuals we met that day. Once he had a hold on the bait line he did not want to give up!

Each of the trips that goes out to visit these sharks is staffed with a shark biologist who (by South African law) is charged with keeping a log of all sharks spotted. They then record all identifying aspects of the shark. As such the sharks of this area are among the best studied of any wild population in the world.

While this trip is universally regarded as dangerous by folks I've met, I was not harmed by the sharks during my time in the cage (or on the boat  LOL). However the day after this image was taken, I went whale watching to see the migrating Southern Right Whales in an adjacent bay. As irony would have it , while whale watching  our boat hit a large swell and I was tossed in the air and landed awkwardly so that one of my vertebrae fractured. Thanks to the kind folks on the boat and superb medical care upon my return to shore, my broken back did not cause permanent damage and after 3 days in the hospital in Hermanus , SA I was able to (uncomfortably) fly home and begin a 6 month rehabilitation stint in Dallas. More than three years after that accident, I have no lasting issues with my back.

SHARKBITE!

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SHARKBITE! is available for purchase at the Blue Lion Store on Etsy.