The Specter Waits Daybreak. The setting is surreal. The woods are hushed. Death is in the air. It arrives on feathered wings. A soundless entry. The specter waits. Ambush is in the offing. ~ Poem and Great Gray Owl capture, The Specter Waits © Jerry L. Ferrara
Circles In Life There truly are circles in life. A point-in-case presented itself the other day from our front porch. This image of a male House Finch reincarnates numerous childhood memories. For instance, there were often large throngs of this striking songbird species that regularly showed up at our family’s vineyard when the fruit was ripening. I remember many morning awakenings accompanied by the tune of the finches’ ebullient song. The end of each bubbly rendition was closed by a long, slurred note. Today, whenever I hear that melody and protracted finishing inflection, I’m keenly reminded of those priceless earlier moments. Even though it’s decades later and many miles away, the memories circle back ~ Anecdote and House Finch capture, Circles In Life © Jerry L. Ferrara
Posing Perfectly There’s a seemingly never-ending show occurring at our home. It’s in full view from our porch. Though appearing perpetual, there are moments of intermission in the performance … yet it continues both day and night. The actors and actresses are of mixed backgrounds, but all deliver their roles quite artfully. ~ Anecdote and White-tailed Deer doe capture, Posing Perfectly © Jerry L. Ferrara
Between Shadow and Light In the early fiery vibrant state of dawn, a Bald Eagle silently awaits a meal. It waited between shadow and light. ~ Anecdote and Bald Eagle capture, Between Shadow and Light © Jerry L. Ferrara
Game Over I reached back to 1983 for today’s presentation of two fighting Desert Tortoises in California’s Mojave Desert. The clash was a brutal struggle until the tortoise on the right successfully hooked its gular horn under its opponent and flipped him. That brief suspended moment, just before the final shove, was caught by the camera. It signalled that it was game over. The capture, by the way, was made on Kodachrome 64 film with a Nikon F2 and a manually focusing zoom 80-200 f4.5 lens. WAY different world back then! ~ Anecdote and Desert Tortoise capture, Game Over © Jerry L. Ferrara
Little Devil The cherries are ripening and we’re getting lots of help with the harvest. This “little devil” was well sated! ~ Anecdote and Raccoon capture, Little Devil © Jerry L. Ferrara
A Shade of Orange It was quite a surprise when it exited the chilled Arctic brine. The Svalbard Polar Bear didn’t wear a milky mantle. Instead, it sported a coat a shade of orange … probably due to minerals in the local waters. ~ Anecdote and Polar Bear capture, A Shade of Orange © Jerry L. Ferrara
Face Off It was past 11:00pm on the Alaskan peninsula and the light was drop-dead gorgeous. The site was a bit inland from remote Hallo Bay. Two Brown Bear were engaged in a “rough and tumble” play fight. Face-to-face and mouth-to-mouth they challenged each other in a mock duel. ~ Anecdote and Brown Bear capture, Face Off © Jerry L. Ferrara
Flamboyant From my backyard, a flamboyant male Pileated Woodpecker takes a quick peek at the camera. The roughly 19-inch-long avian wonder is a component of Canadian and U.S. deciduous-coniferous forests, especially where there are plenty of dead or dying trees … the plucky birds relish carpenter ants. ~ Anecdote and Pileated Woodpecker capture, Flamboyant © Jerry L. Ferrara
The Final Perspective The action was furious and moving like an out-of-control wildfire as the Bald Eagle bore down on the water’s surface. The thought of the final perspective [what this magnificent bird must have seen as it closed in on the salmon] flashed across my mind. After the catch, and when the intensity of the drama had passed, I grabbed a quick peek of the image in the camera monitor and mused at what seemed to me to be a double entendre, if not a bit of dark humor. Perhaps it was not so much what the Bald Eagle saw, but the final perspective certainly must reflect the last thing the fish saw! ~ Anecdote and Bald Eagle capture, The Final Perspective © Jerry L. Ferrara