View allAll Photos Tagged natureconservancy
Tom McCall Preserve, on the Old Columbia River Scenic Highway, 11 miles east of Hood River. Managed by a patchwork of ownership includes the Nature Conservancy, Mayer State Park and national forest lands.
This is from a trip a few weeks ago spent down in the mountains of West Virginia. I lived out of my car and camped for nearly 11 days straight bouncing around from location to location, and I felt like I really pushed myself and my photography to new levels. Here, early morning light illuminates the fog-filled valleys eastward of the Bear Rocks overlook up on the Dolly Sods plateau. I made more of an effort to capture these types of intimate scenes, as I find them difficult to pull off well...but when conditions come together, they can be so rewarding! The jaw-dropping grand landscapes are always fun to capture, but I'm becoming more and more drawn to mounting up the telephoto and shooting these little scenes in the landscape.
Nikon D810; 70-200mm lens at 200mm, 0.6 sec at F/22; ISO 100; Sing-Ray ColorCombo CPL
Thanks for looking!
Well at least there is only one young one. Last year we had 3 show up. These skunks were a little wary and the adult left for a couple of minutes. When they came back they only gave me a few photo opportunities before she carried the young one away by the scruff of its neck.
That time of year again, when migrating shorebirds congregate on the shores of the upper Bay of Fundy. These flocks are primarily composed of semipalmated sandpipers. These photos were taken a couple of summers ago at The Nature Conservancy Canada Interpretive Centre, Johnson's Mills, New Brunswick.
Each summer, up to 80% of the world's population of Semipalmated Sandpipers (Calidris pusilla) arrive in the upper Bay of Fundy from their breeding grounds in the Arctic. The extreme tides of the bay expose mudflats which extend for 3 or 4 Km and are the habitat of mud shrimp (Chorophium volutator). These shorebirds feed on mud shrimp at low tide and, in the 10 to 15 days spent here, they double their weight in fat reserves in order to complete a nonstop 72 hour flight to South America. At high tide, they roost at the water's edge. Other shorebird species are also found in these huge flocks.
For a fascinating account of the origin of mud shrimp in the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine, please see the following CBC Radio link:
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/maritime-sea-life-li...
Backyard squirrel that posed for me for a moment. This is near Arcata, California on the Northcoast of Humboldt County.
The sun set over the Washington hills across the Columbia River from Rowena Crest with its lupine and balsamroot.
Rowena Dell lies just beyond the balsamroot.
Wind and rain were part of the experience as I hiked through the tall grass of the Zumwalt Prairie Preserve in a remote corner of northeastern Oregon. The huge preserve, some 300,000 acres, is owned and managed by the Nature Conservancy and consists largely of original, never plowed grassland. I pumped up my ISO ever so slightly to ensure a shutter speed that might capture the movement of the grass in the high winds blowing through the area at the time. Really a beautiful, isolated vastness and remoteness in this place – about what you'd expect from the word "prairie."
Standing outside in the drizzle paid off today! Male and female Scarlet Tanagers, and got pics of the Summer Tanagers, as well. Will upload my other shots to see if any are flickr worthy - ha!
I loved Ramsey Canyon. The Nature Conservancy has done an exemplary job of preserving this precious resource.
The Fall colors were just starting to change when I visited. In the middle of the photo, just across the creek, you can see the ruins of the original James cabin built in 1902 and later replaced by the larger house.
www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-p...
Southeastern Arizona is an ecological crossroads, where the Sierra Madre of Mexico, the Rocky Mountains and the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts all come together. The abrupt rise of mountains like the Huachucas from the surrounding arid grasslands creates “sky islands” that harbor tremendous habitat diversity and form stepping stones to the tropics. This combination of factors gives Ramsey Canyon Preserve its notable variety of plant and animal life, including such southwestern specialties as Apache and Chihuahua pines, ridge-nosed rattlesnake, lesser long-nosed bat, elegant trogon and Rivoli’s and Anna’s hummingbirds.
A spring-fed stream, northeast orientation and high canyon walls provide Ramsey Canyon with a moist, cool environment unusual in the desert Southwest. Water-loving plants such as sycamores, maples and columbines line the banks of Ramsey Creek, often growing within a few feet of cacti, yucca and agaves. Communities ranging from semi-desert grassland to pine-fir forest are found within the vicinity of Ramsey Canyon Preserve.
The preserve serves as a southeastern Arizona program office—a base for TNC’s work with regional partners on large-scale projects such as fire management, stream restoration and protection of rare species. Together, The Nature Conservancy and these partners achieve much greater success than any one entity working independently. Multiple partners also ensure a broader perspective and more enduring conservation solutions.
www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/ramsey-canyon-preserve/...
Haiku thoughts:
In Ramsey Canyon,
Whispers of birds greet the dawn,
Nature's still embrace.
Southern Arizona Adventure 2024
On the North Oxidation Pond at the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary in Humboldt County, California
Verdant grasses, lush lupine and wind worn balsamroot fill the meadow atop Rowena Crest's Tom McCall Nature Preserve.
There's a special kind of stillness that snow seems to provide, a kind of quiet that's quieter that pure silence. We were the first ones to visit Cathedral Beach yesterday morning (after hiking through thigh-deep powder to get there), and I was speechless when we reached the river's edge. This is always a lovely location, but I'd never seen it covered in snow before.
That time of year again, when migrating shorebirds congregate on the shores of the upper Bay of Fundy. These flocks are mostly semipalmated sandpipers. These photos were taken a couple of summers ago at The Nature Conservancy Canada Interpretive Centre, Johnson's Mills, New Brunswick.
Each summer, up to 80% of the world's population of Semipalmated Sandpipers (Calidris pusilla) arrive in the upper Bay of Fundy from their breeding grounds in the Arctic. The extreme tides of the bay expose mudflats which extend for 3 or 4 Km and are the habitat of mud shrimp (Chorophium volutator). These shorebirds feed on mud shrimp at low tide and, in the 10 to 15 days spent here, they double their weight in fat reserves in order to complete a nonstop 72 hour flight to South America. At high tide, they roost at the water's edge. Other shorebird species are also found in these huge flocks.
For a fascinating account of the origin of mud shrimp in the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine, please see the following CBC Radio link:
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/maritime-sea-life-li...