This polar bear came down off of the rocks at a distance and kept walking directly towards us. Our guide warned us that when he reached a certain point in the trail, a branch, that we would have to get into the van. The bear apparently heard her as he stopped just short of the branch and sat down in front of us.
It still blows my mind about being able to be on the ground taking photos of adult polar bears at eye level.
Cross Fox – Churchill
While taking photos of polar bears on the rocks, this cross fox showed up and was running around. She kept marking her territory all around us, so I probably belong to her now. The foxes at Churchill this time of year are very beautiful. They can be very curious and will get very close.
1/640 sec @ F8, ISO 10,000, 420mm (R3 + 100-500 + 1.4X), mounted on tripod
Got home on Sunday after 2 amazing weeks in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. It was epic including several polar bear moms with 1st and 2nd year cubs, nursing cubs, bears climbing in the rocks and sparing bears. The other wildlife didn’t disappoint either, including silver/cross/red foxes with one amazing encounter with a cross-fox mating with a silver fox. Plus, to top it off was a wolverine on a frozen lake with a silver fox trying to play with it and raven telling him who was the boss.
Here is a lone polar bear walking by at 700mm (R3 + 100-500 + 1.4X) handheld, uncropped.
Reddish egret from yesterday about 10 minutes before sunrise. The pre-dawn colors are gorgeous, which helps to justify getting up at 3:30 a.m. Not much light so had to crank up the ISO to 12,800. He was all puffed up when another reddish egret was in the vicinity, which made for a great silhouette.
1/125 @ F10, ISO 12800, evaluative metering, + 2/3 exposure compensation, 700mm (R3 + 100-500 + 1.4X), Skimmer ground pod
Blue crab taken on my last trip to Bolivar Flats on the Texas gulf coast on July 1. This was my first time seeing a live blue crab so had to get a few photos. The birds weren’t very cooperative that day so was very happy to get a chance to photograph this crab.
Shows how even at F10, you can see the depth of field with blurring out the background and foreground when lying down.
1/800 @ F10, ISO 2500, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation, 700mm (R3 + 100-500 + 1.4X), Skimmer ground pod
I’m honored to have won “Honorable Mention” in Audubon’s 2024 contest. I’ve been taking lots of slow-motion videos over the past couple of years and it’s starting to pay off.
This video of avocets was taken this year at Bolivar Flats Audubon Shorebird Sanctuary on the Texas gulf coast.
Made another trip to the local mudflats yesterday and the third time was the charm for last week. On my last trip, missed a spectacular sunrise that was already up by the time that I drove onto the beach. This time, decided to get up at 3:00 a.m. to make it onto the 5:00 a.m. ferry, which turned out to be a very good move.
Found a reddish egret in the same location as previous visits, along with the mud being exposed at low tide. Went down on my knees in the mud to confirm the best spot to lay down. There were some wade fishermen walking behind me on the beach that reacted when I laid down in the mud.
Before the sun came up, this white morph reddish egret landed right in front of me. He ended up walking to my left near where the sun was going to rise.
Once the sun started to pop, had to shift my position to the right to get the sun directly behind the egret, which was easier said than done. Didn’t want to get up as it could spook the bird, so did a shuffle with my elbows and knees.
Ended up being an amazing time with lots of great photo ops with this egret, some of which might be contest worthy.
Had to take a couple of cell phone shots of my mud bogging experience. It’s a dirty job but somebody has to do it.
Tricolored heron in silhouette taken with my ground pod from the mud bath at Bolivar Flats in Texas. He kept going back and forth catching small fish right in front of me, which was amazing. Don’t often see them offshore in this location.
The mud was deep so had to take a selfie to show that it was a great day in the mudflats. One of the first times that the mud was so deep that it came over the top of my ground pod. Had to wade out in the gulf to wash off the mud from my boots before throwing them into a garbage bag for clean-up when I got home. Clean-up is a major pain but well worth the effort to get low level photos.
1/1600 sec @ F10, ISO 640, manual exposure, 700mm (R3 + 100-500 + 1.4X), Skimmer ground pod
Spent 5 days last week leading field trips for Galveston’s FeatherFest. It was my 13th year doing it and had a blast. The light didn’t cooperate with cloudy skies most days with just a sliver of sun peeking out a couple of times. Made trips to Bolivar Flats Audubon Shorebird Sanctuary on Wed/Thurs/Sat/Sun and East Beach on Galveston Island on Friday.
Here are some cell phone photos of the groups at Bolivar Flats, where they got the full ground pod treatment, including lying in some water, sand and mud. I always like to take photos of the groups at the end of the session to prove that they were active participants with getting down and dirty.
Thanks to everyone that came out to play in the mud with me. Looking forward to doing it again next year.
Had beautiful weather this weekend along the Texas gulf coast. Needed to add to my shorebird portfolio for Audubon’s photo contest so made a trip back to Bolivar Flats Audubon Shorebird Sanctuary. Will see out there next time Sheldon.
Tide was going out and fairly low when I got there before sunrise. It was one of those rare days with no wind and flat surf on the Gulf of Mexico.
The surprise of the morning was seeing a fin coming out of the water behind a small flock of avocets, just offshore near the parking area. It was a dolphin hunting for fish, which was only the second time that I’ve seen a dolphin out there in the past 15 years. Took some video of him but missed the money shot when he jumped out of the water with a fish just off of his nose.
After that excitement, settled into getting some avocet photos and videos. Here is one of my favorites with back-lit feathers on some incoming birds. My happy place for sure.
1/3200 sec @ F10, ISO 800, evaluative metering, 700mm (R3 + 100-500 + 1.4X), Skimmer ground pod
Tim Timmis Photography 