View allAll Photos Tagged migration
At High Park, Toronto, there were masses of monarch butterflies gathering for the trip to Mexico. It was windy and the plants were wildly swaying and the butterflies were constantly opening and closing their wings. This was the best of the many shots I tried to take and didn't have as many butterflies as some of the blurry shots.
**If anyone knows what this bush is.. I'd love to get some for my garden!
The spring migration continues abiet very slowly given the deep snowpack. Last winter provided almost 2.5 times as much moisture than average and the below temps have delayed the melting.
This pair of swans were nice enough to come close enough for some photos.
This blue grosbeak was with a larger flock of them feeding near Battery Worth at Ft. Pickens/Gulf Islands National Seashore. On closer inspection, it was eating a sand spur! I was not aware of this habit, but upon Googling it, found a couple of references of grosbeaks (and other seed eaters) that are know to eat sand spurs!
The great migration of the gnu herds in Kenya and Tanzania, also called "Great Migration", is an impressive natural phenomenon. More than a million wildebeest, accompanied by hundreds of thousands of Thomson gazelles and zebras, make an annual trip to the Serengeti and the Masai Mara. Predators such as lions, cheetahs and hyenas are found near the herds. Crocodiles are waiting for the rivers, making a rich prey in a "river crossing".
Perfect warm night with rain so Stace and I went down to the Skaneateles Conservation Area to see if any Spotted Salamanders were crossing the roads on their annual migration to their breeding ponds. Sure enough the area was full of them. We helped over 15 salamanders and countless frogs across the road, hopefully ensuring the next generation of these amazing creatures. Happy Friday!
MTM's annual migration move from Jackson Street to Osceola throttles up after waiting for lights further west at Midway. Powering the train this year is MNTX SDP40 325 in GN paint, and MNTX SD9 6234 in BN paint
Hula Valley, Israel
Huleh Valley is an agricultural region in northern Israel with abundant fresh water. It is a major stopover for birds migrating along the Syrian-African Rift Valley between Africa, Europe, and Asia. The marshland around Lake Hula, a breeding ground for mosquitoes carrying malaria, was drained in the 1950s. A small section of the valley was later reflooded in an attempt to revive a nearly extinct ecosystem. An estimated 500 million migrating birds now pass through the Hula Lake Park every year.
a striking migratory waterbird found in Romania’s wetlands, especially the Danube Delta, where it breeds and passes through during seasonal migrations.
The black-necked grebe, also known as the eared grebe, thrives in shallow freshwater habitats such as marshes, lakes, and reed-fringed ponds. In Romania, its presence is most notable in the Danube Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage site renowned for its biodiversity. These birds prefer areas with dense aquatic vegetation, which provides both nesting cover and abundant food sources like insects, crustaceans, and small fish. During the breeding season, they display dramatic plumage: a black head and neck with golden fan-like tufts behind their eyes, chestnut flanks, and a white abdomen. Romania serves as both a breeding ground and a migratory waypoint for this species. While the black-necked grebe is widespread across Europe and parts of Asia, its Romanian populations are particularly important due to the country's extensive wetland systems. The species is classified as Least Concern globally, but its reliance on specific wetland habitats makes it vulnerable to habitat degradation.
This morning I visited both ends of the Matsqui Trail Park which borders the Fraser River. In both areas I found many Ruby-crowned Kinglets feeding and singing and moving up river.
Four birds arrived back on their breeding site just a day or so ago. This one was hawking up and down the river
Shot with Nikon FM2 on Kodak Gold 200 film.
Digitized with Epson V500 Scanner.
Mondorf-Les-Bains, Luxembourg
We were at the Masai mara just after the start of the annual migration.
Unfortunately we didn't get to see any trying to cross the river mara.
When it really gets going there are millions of these wildebeast passing through.
A couple of whoopers were seen at Lake Thunderbird yesterday, so I took a drive out and dipped. Saw a raft of mostly Bonaparte's Gulls I estimated at 8-10 thousand. Taking flight here and headed south. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
Second in my Snowy Owl series, this image shows the car roof that the owl chose as its perch. It is preening here and if you look closely, you can see several tiny bits of white feathers in the air surrounding the bird! I can see eight, actually. I usually clone out little 'blemishes' like that, but here I think it adds to the story. The subsequent images will not include the car...
The story behind this shot:
I always have my camera and wildlife lens in my car, and just before my lunch hour at 11am on October 21st, someone alerted me to the fact that a Snowy owl was sitting on a small car out in the parking lot across the street. Hoping it had not flown away, I grabbed my gear at the beginning of my half hour lunch, hurried across the street and there, preening and sitting calmly, was this gorgeous bird!
I aligned myself so there were trees in the background, fired off over 50 shots, then left the bird in peace and headed back to grab a bite to eat before returning to work.
Doing a bit of research, I found that more than 30 Snowies have arrived in this area in the last two weeks alone, signalling a larger-than-normal migration from the Arctic this season. The somewhat bizarre behavior of this owl being perched on a parked car, was explained by an area conservation biologist:
1-- they have just arrived exhausted by a migration of thousands of miles and, once landed, they need to rest and are reluctant to move
2-- they see no/few people in the Arctic, so they have little fear of humans
3-- they tend to hunt at night and rest in the daytime, therefore move very little in the day
This was not the only owl spotted in a city parking lot that day, so the situation was not as bizarre as it seemed.
Hopefully, this means we will be seeing many of these stunning birds this winter. This photographer will be ready!!
Three-shot composite of the best frames I could muster after spending at least two hours in the 90 degree heat chasing these dragonflies out on the shores of lake Erie. These Green darners, along with the Monarch butterflies are migrating and there are so many dragonflies that they are showing-up on the weather radar. They move so quickly and erratically (and never seem to hover or land) that the only way I was able to get a somewhat clear shot was to manually focus on a spot about 10 feet away and track them as they came into range, firing away in burst mode. Taken in Avon Lake, Ohio.
First base with the river on six regular baseplates (32 x 32) for the event MOC. Two more to go on both sides to make it an eighteen regular baseplate (32 x 32) footprint.
It's officially Fall, so I thought this was appropriate subject matter. Taken a couple of years ago in Virginia.