The Towers A rapturous eye May gaze up to the sky Where The Towers reach high While the heavens comply ~ Poem and The Towers capture, The Towers © Jerry L. Ferrara, Torres del Paine National Park, Chile
A Shade of Dusty Rose As the Belt of Venus infused the evening firmament with a shade of dusty rose, a flock of Red-crowned Cranes sail to roost. ~ Anecdote and Red-crowned Cranes capture, A Shade of Dusty Rose © Jerry L. Ferrara
Fire in the Sky It was an incredible, early-evening Nebraskan sky rich with fury as angry storm clouds occluded the earth’s blazing engine. While the sun unhurriedly progressed toward the horizon, the clouds lit up like a raging inferno and it appeared as though there was fire in the sky. At one critical moment, a flock of Sandhill Cranes graced their way through the tempestuous heavens. ~ Anecdote and Sandhill Cranes capture, Fire in the Sky © Jerry L. Ferrara
Dances With Fish Fleeting, ephemeral and transitory instances in Nature are thrilling to witness. Vision, however, is often challenged. To capture all of the precise aspects of an ephemeral moment with the eye alone is nearly impossible. An example of this is proffered here. A resplendent Bald Eagle is caught in a trice as it is about to seize a Kokanee Salmon. At the same time, the eagle’s watery likeness impersonates the predator’s reality. The bird and its “apparent partner” seem to be dancing around a precise locus, a pivot at a point in the prance where real and reflected are both in rhythmic lockstep, tripping the light fantastic in concert as they perform dances with fish … and the camera captured an elusive part of the deed in a wink of the eye. ~ Anecdote and Bald Eagle capture, Dances With Fish © Jerry L. Ferrara
The Bear, The Light and The Drama Every day for two weeks I walked past a finger of land that projected into a remote Alaskan lake. Sometimes a Brown Bear was on the spit, but the light was terrible for capturing a visually meaningful moment. On other occasions, the presentation painted across the sweep was stunningly gorgeous, but always a bruin was absent from the landscape. I had about given up capturing that point in time where. the bear and the light came together, at least how I envisioned it in my mind’s eye. On the morning before the day the float plane was to retrieve us, I trekked past the small peninsula thinking, most likely, for the final time. The sky was riotous in presentation … and the bear was in perfect position near the point. ~ Anecdote and Brown Bear capture, The Bear, The Light and The Drama © Jerry L. Ferrara
Mr. Cerulean One of the most striking features of the male Mountain Bluebird is its electric, sky-blue feathering. Here, Mr. Cerulean has just caught a spider meal. ~ Anecdote and Mountain Bluebird capture, Mr. Cerulean © Jerry L. Ferrara
Stare Down The female Timber Wolf was so incredibly beautiful as she gracefully loped across the sweep parallel to my position. I stood stock still while clicking off image-after-image, but periodically paused just to watch. It wasn’t long before things changed rapidly and the “lupine being” turned directly into my camera and lens. It was breathtaking! In the blink of an eye she had approached to about 16 feet, the closest I could focus with the lens being used. To my chagrin she wouldn’t look directly at me, but constantly surveyed both her sides and toward her back. Without warning the wolf pointed her nose downward and peered in my direction. The stare down was brief, with neither threat nor aggression implied, simply recognition. She then turned and ambled up and over the snow-mantled ridge and melted into the wild realm, like the spirit she was. ~ Anecdote and Timber Wolf capture, Stare Down © Jerry L. Ferrara
It Tossed Back Its Breakfast They were hidden from view by the dense foliage, yet the flock of Cedar Waxwings’ high-trilling, soft murmurings came from seemingly everywhere in the fruit-laden chokecherry bushes. The gentle prattle amongst the birds were contact calls … the way members of a “bird herd” stay in touch with one another. Vocalizing was only temporarily interrupted for this Cedar Waxwing as it suddenly popped into view. Greedily it tossed back its breakfast. ~ Anecdote and Cedar Waxwing capture, It Tossed Back Its Breakfast © Jerry L. Ferrara
Nature’s Sanitation Corps The Turkey Vulture employs both keen eyesight and a well-developed sense of smell for locating its carrion meals. They are Nature’s sanitation corps. Along a southern Texas shore Death lies on the coastal floor Disease from rot won’t have a chance Nor may we call this happenstance For the vultures’ prowess lies Not just with its acute eyes Detects its meal when odors swell Through its superb sense of smell So what does all this really mean? The vulture keeps the landscape clean ~ Anecdote, poem and Turkey Vulture capture, Nature’s Sanitation Corps © Jerry L. Ferrara
To Loaf on a Post Not far from the Arctic Circle, an Arctic Tern takes a moment to loaf on a post. The Arctic Tern is considered to be one of Nature’s longest-distance travelers, migrating yearly between the Arctic and Antarctic regions. ~ Anecdote and Arctic Tern capture, To Loaf on a Post © Jerry L. Ferrara