Ferrara Wildlife Photography

Eastern Kingbird – Intrepid Traveler

Intrepid Traveler The Eastern Kingbird has been a regular visitor to our North Idaho environs ever since I can remember, yet only in spring and summer. Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology indicates this intrepid traveler spends its winters in South America journeying from as far north as Canada’s Northwest Territories. That’s quite a range! I caught this one staging to catch insects from a wire fence next to a pasture close to my home last summer. ~ Anecdote and Eastern Kingbird capture, Intrepid Traveler © Jerry L. Ferrara

Questions The Chestnut-eared Aracari is a strikingly colorful South American bird that is a notable member of the Toucan [think cereal] family. Their gaudily imprinted and outrageously large bills are hallmarks of this rowdy species. Why do they wear these impressive “badges”? There are questions and then there are questions. Oh Chestnut-eared Aracari, why do you seem to be wary? For one might just ask, “Why wear a mask that makes you look so darn scary”. Now let us all look at your beak. To say it is gross would be weak. Its size a surprise, why so large we surmise. The reasons all seem quite oblique. Is your bill used in courtship and breeding? Or primarily is it for feeding? No answers return, about this concern. We are left with a puzzle that’s needing. What are the selective pressures that have given rise to the unusual traits of the myriad creatures inhabiting our planet? Many questions still remain. ~ Poem and Chestnut-eared Aracari capture, Questions © Jerry L. Ferrara. Mato Grosso Brazil

Against a Torrid Sky Late in the day a lone Osprey sits at its nest silhouetted against a torrid sky. ~ Anecdote and Osprey capture, Against a Torrid Sky © Jerry L. Ferrara

Gaping In a Texas swamp, with its mouth wide open, an American Alligator cools down. The process is called gaping. ~ Anecdote and American Alligator capture, Gaping © Jerry L. Ferrara

The Wind Dancer Every time I see a Black Tern in flight I think, “There goes the wind dancer.” Handsome and elegant little creatures of freshwater marshes, their distinctive “kek-kek-kek” call is a harbinger of spring. They arrive, breed, rear their young and just as suddenly as they appear, they vanish. Their journey takes them back to the wetlands of Mexico and Central America for the winter. My first attempts at photographing Black Terns in flight proved a daunting task. Their aerial patterns are anything but linear and predictable. Erratic is more the rule, or maybe an unchoreographed, free-style dance would be a better description. I caught this one in mid-ethereal flight as it danced across the wind. ~ Anecdote and Black Tern capture, The Wind Dancer © Jerry L. Ferrara

A Life Lived So often it is the “pretty” picture and near-perfect capture of the “ideal-looking” subject that is highly adulated. There are, though, other visual presentations. They are the images that tell stories…stories of life. Here, an aging and battle-scarred Jaguar pauses intently while on the hunt. Its face is a living narrative of battles won and battles lost…a face that reflects a life lived. As survivors age they bear, the battle scars of life. All encounters leave a mark, a memory of each strife. ~ Anecdote, poem and Jaguar capture, A Life Lived © Jerry L. Ferrara

Its Prey Had Arrived The cat rested serenely on a steep hillside outcrop. Though its view was stunningly commanding, the Puma periodically closed its feline orbs and “cat-napped”. Then, without any provocation, it all at once rose up and steadily stared into the deep distance. Its prey had arrived … hell was about to break loose. ~ Anecdote and Puma capture, Its Prey Had Arrived © Jerry L. Ferrara

Below A Silent Crescent Moon The icy morning temperature loitered near twenty degrees Fahrenheit as soft calls and gentle murmurings from the Snow Geese drifted languidly across the marsh. Waiting patiently to depart their evening roost, the geese idly “talked” … and then came their cue. Light, from the eastern horizon, brightened as our nearest star began to paint the pre-dawn sky. A pregnant pause in “goose speak” stilled the air waves. The silence, however, was short-lived. What ensued was a spectacular tumult as a storm of wings-by-the-thousands thrashed the air amidst the keyed up cries of the departing geese. As rafts of boisterous birds blew up from the wetland, they passed below a silent crescent moon. ~ Anecdote and Light Geese capture, Below A Silent Crescent Moon © Jerry L. Ferrara

Dignity and Grace They stride across the painted marsh with dignity and grace when eve’s dark vigil passes, and morning takes its place The calls and cries of “feathered kind”trumpet through the air as cranes and all the waterfowl chant bliss without a care. ~ Poem and Sandhill Crane capture, Dignity and Grace © Jerry L. Ferrara

To Gorge The elk’s moment of mortality had arrived and death hovered close by. Time and age had worked their unrelenting influences on flesh and blood and bone and muscle. Worn was the noble beast. Each step taken by the arthritis-riddled cervid was a painful endeavor. It could no longer maintain pace with the herd and so the crippled creature lagged behind, its fate sealed by senescence. Down by the river it lingered alone waiting for quietus and that final moment of release. For sure the elk would struggle, but the effort would be futile … and so it was. When the wolves arrived they mercilessly assailed the wapiti with vicious, rending fangs. Relentlessly they targeted haunch, throat and mouth. Tissue tore and crimson fluid spewed the air. The brutal deed was committed with a ferocious savagery, yet the act maintained a sense of pure poetic beauty. The elk’s spirit slipped away. In so doing it left behind a gift in the form of sustenance. What remained were days worth of fare, on which to gorge. ~ Anecdote and Gray Wolf image To Gorge © Jerry L. Ferrara

SHOT FROM THE FILE

Eastern Kingbird – Intrepid Traveler

Chestnut-eared Aracari – Questions

Osprey – Against a Torrid Sky

American Alligator – Gaping

Black Tern – The Wind Dancer

Jaguar – A Life Lived

Puma – Its Prey Had Arrived

Light Geese – Below A Silent Crescent Moon

Sandhill Cranes – Dignity and Grace

Gray Wolf – To Gorge