Bald Eagle Alaska
Twisting and turning in mid-air. Spinning and cartwheeling, wing over wing all while its head remains level and focused on the target. Total acrobatics like these are all set against a beautiful blue sky. This is what was going on during my recent photo tour to Alaska to capture images of Bald Eagles. The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is one of our largest birds of prey in North America. It is found across Alaska, Canada and all of the contiguous United States and into northern Mexico. Its main source of food is fish so Bald Eagles are never far from water, both fresh and saltwater. They do not have bald heads as their names implies. The name “Bald” comes from the Middle English balled, which means shinning white. By the way, the word “eagle” comes from French aigle, which comes from the Latin aquila, meaning an eagle. The Bald Eagle builds the largest nest of all North American birds. In fact, they construct the largest nests in trees ever recorded. There are many record size nests, each around 13-15 feet deep and upwards of 8 to 10 feet wide and weighing several tons. I came to Alaska with my photo group for a couple reasons. Alaska has the largest population of Bald Eagles with an estimated 30 to 50 thousand birds. That is more than all the lower 48 states have combined. In order to capture the images that everyone dreams of, I charter a boat and we head out into the Kachemak Bay in the Gulf of Alaska. This is perfect Bald Eagle habitat. Lots of tree covered islands and open water filled with fish. The birds are fishing, and we take advantage of this activity to capture images of the birds in flight or pulling fish from the ocean. The trick is to position ourselves with the wind and sun to our backs. When the birds are flying into the wind they twist and turn in mid-air to spin around or cartwheel and come back to the ocean’s surface to snatch a fish. Using fast shutter speeds and relatively long lenses, approximately 500 mm, we hope to capture the eagle as it turns in mid-air with its feet extended out, wings spread wide and its head level with the horizon line. Since our cameras take 30 to 40 pictures per second, we need to follow the eagle as it is flying and fishing to capture just the right moment when everything comes together. Each pass of the eagle we would take hundreds of images hoping that one will be the perfect shot. In this part of Alaska, fish make up most of their diet. They use their incredible eyesight to spot fish, then using their amazing flying skills they approach the fish traveling at a high rate of speed. At the last second, they swing their incredibly large and strong feet forward and snatch the fish out of the water. Their toes are long and tipped with 2-inch-long talons. Each talon is sharp and easily penetrates the prey to help hold onto it. At the end of the four-day trip we had taken tens of thousands of images of these remarkable raptors. Each image represents a unique moment in time and an incredible bird behavior. If you are a photographer who would be interested in and experience like this check out www.naturesmart.com Stan Tekiela is an author, naturalist, and wildlife photographer who travels extensively to study and photograph wildlife. He can be followed on Instagram and Facebook. He can be contacted via his website at naturesmart.com.
Sea Otter
For whatever reason, some wild animals are near and dear to people’s hearts. They have a universal appeal, resulting in admiration across the masses of people. For example, many are obsessed with owls. Any kind of owl. Big ones, small ones, it really doesn’t matter. The same can be said for other wild critters, such as otters. For whatever reason, everyone seems to love otters. This was on full display last week while I was leading a photographic tour of Bald Eagles and Sea Otters in Alaska. For 5 days my small group of photographers spent 6 hours a day photographing Bald Eagles and Sea Otters. There are 13 species of otter in the world ranging in size from the Small-clawed Otter, which is less than 3 feet long, to the Giant Otter which stretches six feet long. All otters are semiaquatic or marine mammals in the weasel family. They can be found on every continent except for Antarctica and Australia. The Sea Otter (Enhyrda lutri) is the heaviest of the otter species. Males can weigh upwards of 100 pounds. Females are noticeably smaller. This makes Sea Otters the heaviest of the weasel family but also makes them one of the smallest of all the marine mammals. When you get up close to a Sea Otter you notice right away that they are very large animals, reaching 4-5 feet long including their short tail. They live in cold ocean environments and their primary form of insulation from the cold water is not fat but rather fur. They have an exceptionally thick coat of fur, the densest in the animal kingdom. They have up to one million hairs per square inch covering their body. The density of the fur prevents water from reaching the body. Otters have two layers of fur, a dense underfur for insulation and longer guard hair that helps keep water off the underfur. Sea Otters lack blubber, a fatty layer which is common in other marine mammals. Pups are born with a buoyant coat of fur that helps them to float. However, it was the very fur that almost killed off the Sea Otter. Starting in the mid 1700’s Sea Otters were killed for their fur. By the mid 1900’s populations were down to only 1,000 to 1,500 total animals alive. It was believed that the Sea Otter would become extinct due to uncontrolled trapping. Recovery has been slow and now there are small populations in 13 regions around the world, from Japan to Russia, British Columbia, California and Alaska. To maintain their warmth and life in the ocean, Sea Otters consume at least 20 percent of their body weight in marine invertebrates such as sea urchins, sea cucumbers, mollusks, clams and mussels. Surprisingly, unlike River Otters, fish are not a big part of their diet, although they occasionally eat birds such as loons and grebes. Like others in the mustelid family, Sea Otters reproduce at any time of year. This means that young otters are born even in the middle of winter. We spent many days on a boat looking for the Sea Otters, and we found several mothers with babies which made for some adorable images. When we approached in the boat, the mother otters seemed to be more curious than cautious. They hold their babies with their two front paws to their chest and float around on their backs. Using a very long lens we were able to capture some intimate moments between the mother otter and pup. Until next time… Stan Tekiela is an author, naturalist, and wildlife photographer who travels extensively to study and photograph wildlife. He can be followed on Instagram and Facebook. He can be contacted via his website at naturesmart.com.
Roadrunner AKD
Often when we look at nature, I think we assume that everything in a critter’s life is smooth and easy. No major challenges, risks or health issues. Just a clean natural way of life devoid of all the health and stressors that we humans relate to in our lives. Once again, I think we may miss the mark when we make such assumptions. I was thinking about this the other day while editing some images from my recent photo tour in New Mexico. On one cold and sunny morning, we spotted a Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) which was actively hunting along a small stream. It would run a short distance then stop and cock its head to look around for any prey. These birds often hunt small reptiles such as lizards, but it was too cold for any lizards to be running around. I got our small group of photographers to move up and get closer to the Roadrunner. When we got closer, we were able to capture some decent images of this adult bird but right away I could see something wasn’t right. Its upper bill had grown too long and was curved and starting to hook downward. Its lower bill appeared to be ok. This Roadrunner most likely had Avian Keratin Disorder (AKD) which is a disease that causes the beak to overgrow and deform. A Roadrunner uses its speed to overtake prey such as snakes, lizards and larger insects. But once it catches up to the prey it needs to grab them with its long-pointed beak. But if the top and bottom of the birds’ bill doesn’t match up, it makes grabbing and holding prey nearly impossible. AKD was first documented in southern Alaska in the late 1990’s in Black-capped Chickadees. Since that time, it has been seen all over the United States. The unchecked growth of the bill is caused by a virus in the Picornaviridae family. AKD is a debilitating and usually deadly disease for the bird that contracts it. The over-grown bill makes it difficult to obtain food and prohibits it from preening and feather care. A bird’s beak is made up mostly of bone. The upper and lower jawbone are modified to project outwards forming the base of the bill. The outer portion of the bill is covered in a sheath of keratin. This keratin is the same protein material that makes up our hair and fingernails. Just like your hair and nails, a bird’s bill continually grows starting at the base moving towards the tip. A bird’s bill doesn’t grow very fast, but when it does, it needs to be worn or filed down to prevent it from growing too large. Everyday activities in a healthy bird’s life work to keep the bill growth in check. Don’t get me wrong, there are other factors that can cause beak deformities in birds. It is thought that environmental contaminants such as toxic chemicals, in addition, nutritional deficiencies, trauma to the bill and or genetics can all lead to bill deformity. I am talking about AKD, a disease that was first reported in the 1990’s and in 2016 the virus was identified that is believed to cause this infection. Since this is considered a “newly” identified virus, studies are still underway and there is much to learn. How the virus is spread from bird to bird is yet to be understood. At least 30 species of birds are known to be affected by AKD. As of now, it is unknown whether a bird can recover from AKD, but it is assumed that they cannot, so the outcome is not good. What is known is that birds with beak deformities, no matter the cause, have a much higher rate of mortality. Having AKD makes it difficult to eat, thus a decrease in caloric intake. The decrease in food consumption causes the bird to become weaker. In addition, the deformed beak also prevents the bird from preening and cleaning its feathers resulting in feathers that are less effective in keeping them warm and dry, which also increases the weakness, and it just spirals downward. One thing for sure is that a bird’s life isn’t smooth, easy or tranquil. Every day is a series of challenges of survival. They need to find food and also not become food for another critter. I guess the bottom line is, nothing is easy in a bird’s life. Until next time… Stan Tekiela is an author, naturalist, and wildlife photographer who travels extensively to study and photograph wildlife. He can be followed on Instagram and Facebook. He can be contacted via his website at naturesmart.com.
Long-tailed Weasel
I really am fascinated by the “uncommon” or different kinds of critters. I really like the kind of critter that are not like other animals and stand out with a specific feature or uniqueness. Which brings me to several encounters I had with a very cool and different kind of animal on my recent photo tours in Yellowstone National Park this winter. The Long-tailed Weasel (Neogale frenata) is one of those incredibly interesting critters that you hear about but rarely see or get a chance to interact. This animal is also known as the Masked Ermine or just Ermine. It is often mistakenly called Stoat. The Stoat is the Short-tailed Weasel (Mustele erminea) and is very similar but smaller and has a shorter tail. The Long-tailed Weasel in summer is brown with a whitish belly. The tail is also brown and has a distinct black tip. But one of the things that makes this critter so cool, is they turn all white, except for the tip of the tail which remains black, during winter. To add to this coolness, the Long-tails in southern regions don’t turn white in winter and the ones in the transition zone only turn partially white. This is an example of extreme adaptation to their environment. This adaptation is called erminism. The process of changing colors is triggered by the amount of available daylight. As the days get shorter in fall, the weasel produces a hormone called melatonin, which suppresses melanin production and causes the new growing fur to not have its normal coloring and as a result is white. In spring the hormone process reverses, and the newly growing fur is brown. The Long-tailed Weasel is a predator, make no mistake about that. They are an aggressive hunter, constantly moving around looking for its next meal. It hunts mostly small mammals such as mice and voles but will also hunt animals up to the size of a rabbit. They are technically called an obligate carnivore which means they don’t scavenge from dead animals. They are true hunters. Occasionally they will hunt small birds, especially ground nesting species, but it’s not unheard of for these weasels to climb trees. In fact, they often climb trees when they are being pursued by larger predators such as fox, coyote and bobcats. And yes, some small predators are hunted by larger predators. The Long-tailed Weasel dens in underground burrows, inside rock piles, under tree stumps but mostly in burrows made by other animals. They do not dig their own burrows. They also don’t use a burrow for very long. They have a nomadic lifestyle that is dependent upon their prey. One of their favorite burrows are that of chipmunks. They fit right inside and often use the fur of their prey to line the nesting chamber within. They are a member of the weasel family which means they have a well-developed scent gland, which produces a very strong and musky odor that is similar to skunks. Unlike skunks, weasels can’t spray their musk but rather it rubs its scent glands over surfaces like rocks and logs, which leaves the strong odor behind. During my photo tour of Yellowstone this winter, I found 3 Long-tailed Weasels over a 3-week period. Just a side note, seeing just one is amazing. Nearly all encounters with Long-tailed Weasels are usually super quick. Often, you see one running and jumping and then it’s gone, within a matter of seconds. The first two encounters were just like that. Saw them for a split second and then disappeared. But the third encounter was slightly different. The weasel was running across the road and dove into a snowbank. And just like that it was gone, but then it popped up out of the snow and took off across the road again. This time it jumped over the snowbank at the road’s edge and ran to the base of a fallen branch where it paused for just enough time to capture a few images. As funny as it might sound, this brief but exciting encounter with the Long-tailed Weasel was one of the highlights of this year’s winter trip to Yellowstone even though we had many encounters with wolves. Until next time… Stan Tekiela is an author, naturalist, and wildlife photographer who travels extensively to study and photograph wildlife. He can be followed on Instagram and Facebook. He can be contacted via his website at naturesmart.com.