View allAll Photos Tagged migration
One has to see the phenomenon called "migration" to believe it. This year round activity that involves wildebeest, zebras and gazelles is so enormous - There are no words that can describe it. One can see herd of animals from miles away because of the dust cloud it generates. When you are surrounded by so many animals and so much action, as a photographer you are unable to decide what to capture.
Wildebeest Migration
Ndutu Plains, Tanzania
There was nothing more intriguing to watch than wildebeest grazing in every direction, then all of a sudden one will decide to run. The rest don't want to be left behind so they all start running. At first you think it is because there is a pretator near that they are running from. But nope, it is just their instinct to keep moving along the migration. Then, just as sudden as they would start, they would stop, and settle. Nature is pretty amazing!
It is Autumn migration time now, and this 4 inch bird will travel alone to southern Mexico to northern Panama...They beat their wings about 50 times/second and can travel the entire Gulf of Mexico in a night (about 500 miles). I took this shortly before she left...Safe journey, and hope to see you next year!
What a thrill to see a migration in Serengeti! Thousands of wildebeast and zebra crossing the river at the same time, the sounds and site was magnificent!
EF100-400, f11, ISO500, 1/200
I was standing high on a hill over looking the Copper River, when the spring migration was taking place. The caribou gingerly picked their way across the swiftly flowing river, swimming through the deepest parts when needed, and following in the steps of their leader. Some needed a little encouragement, but eventually overcame their fear and followed along. Since few travelers get to see the migrations - I thought I'd share this photo.
I can count on one hand how many times I have seen this in my life. It was well worth the short trip to Mitchell's Bay today!
Pleased to see this Harris's Sparrow today, a lifer for me! And thanks to the experienced birder there that helped with the ID! Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge
One more shot of our unexpected migration guest this spring who kept us smiling for the duration of its visit....... The first day of its stay, every time another bird would enter its "space," the sparrow's boldly striped crest would pop up and along and with the "evil eye stare," cause the approacher to quickly retreat! I think the regular backyard birds were as surprised by its presence as we were. They eventually reached a truce and somewhat tolerated sharing the backyard for the rest of its short stay.
This Sparrow has stopped here on its yearly migration back to the Northern tundra. I had never seen one before and had to look it up in the Audubon birds of North America book. (also known as the Winter Sparrow)
After hours of nervous anticipation, a few hundred Wildebeest and Zebra cross the Mara River for greener pastures, all while trying to avoid the Nile Crocodiles and lions that lurked in the shallows.
As if crossing the wild Mara river wasn't enough of a challenge, as the herd collected on the opposite shore they were stopped in their tracks by a lone Hyena. The look on their faces as they stood frozen without any idea what to do next really grabbed me.
Nosedive by a Humpback Whale near Perth, Western Australia during their annual migration.
Humpbacks have a wide geographic range and are found in all the world’s oceans. During summer months, populations in the southern hemisphere spend their time in Antarctica feeding. In late autumn they begin an annual migratory route to their winter breeding and calving grounds in the warmer tropical waters of the Pacific. They return south in spring.
Humpback whales migrate around 5000 km on average, one of the longest migratory journeys of any mammal on Earth.
For those of you who think migration is over, it isn't. We're in the driveway waving goodbye, but the car is still in sight.
I was at the Copper River Shorebird Festival and had been out to Hartney Bay, but there the birds stayed far far away, which I believe was in part because young children were allowed to run around on the mud flats to play and because everybody else walked out there as well. Of course the birds were going to avoid the people there.
The next morning I walked down to the harbor and managed to climb down below the levy next to Odiak Slough and I was by myself. The tide was still out and I could see the large flocks of Western Sandpipers feeding further away from me, so I crouched down and stayed motionless to see what they would do. To my delight they started to swirl towards me and land and feed, each time getting closer and closer until I had birds less than twenty feet from me. I continued to shoot them as they came closer and started to focus on solitary birds in the flock as they looked for food. The birds continued to come ever closer and finally were running and flying past me to find food behind me. They flew so close I could swear they were brushing against my jacket.
And as they continued to move in mass past me I could smell them and they smelled like rotten fish - probably bad breath from eating all those small crustaceans! After they had completely passed I managed to stand but my legs were stiff from having crouched down all that while. But no one else had been there to scare the birds away! What an experience!
Taken 6 May 2018 near Odiak Slough, Cordova, Alaska.