Tony's Takes Photography

Wildlife, landscape and weather photography

“Brave” bison calf hides behind mama

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A bison calf keeps watch from behind its mother. (Tony's Takes)
A bison calf keeps watch from behind its mother. (Tony’s Takes)

As I mentioned in a recent post, I haven’t had much luck getting pics of spring babies. Thankfully I appear to be putting that behind me, in part due to this cute one.

This bison calf was moving along with the herd as they relocated from one area to one more public. It wanted to be a bit shy, staying behind mom while watching me watching it.

Native Americans call bison Tatanka, a Lakota word that translated means “bull buffalo.” In May 2016 the bison became the official mammal of the United States, a fitting and long overdue honor.

Snowy egret symmetry

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A snowy egret makes a landing that is reflected on the pond. (Tony's Takes)
A snowy egret makes a landing that is reflected on the pond. (Tony’s Takes)

Well, this was kind of a fun – and lucky – capture.

I was taking pictures of the egrets and herons at a pond recently. It wasn’t an ideal situation as I was shooting into the early morning sun which creates a variety of challenges for photography, particularly with fast moving subjects. Nevertheless, I was clicking away, hoping to get something worthwhile and ended up with this shot.

The snowy egret was flying right at me and I captured the image as it flared its wings and touched the water’s surface. The reflection of the bird on the water was a nice add-on.

Video: Bopping burrowing owl owlet

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I always say that burrowing owls have the most personality of just about any animal I have ever seen. Here is some evidence. This little burrowing owl owlet was the first to emerge from the nest on a recent morning and provided some great entertainment. Its head bobbing as it checks out the morning scene is hillarious. 

Waning gibbous moon in “HD”

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The waning gibbous moon as seen from Adams County, Colorado. (Tony's Takes)
The waning gibbous moon as seen from Adams County, Colorado. (Tony’s Takes)

Okay, not really HD but the processing of the picture allowed me to create one of the most detailed moon pics I have ever taken.

This is in fact six separate moon shots taken one right after the other. They are then “stacked” using some specialized software to bring out crazy awesome detail, far more than I have ever gotten with a single shot.

I’ll definitely be playing with this technique more, throwing in even more images and seeing if it improves even further.

“I’m telling you, Joe. The fish are over there!”

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An American white pelican points the way to the fish. (Tony's Takes)
An American white pelican points the way to the fish. (Tony’s Takes)

An American white pelican tries to steer the rest of the pod toward where the best fishing is. 😉

The one photo subject my wife always indulges me on is pelicans as she loves them. On this morning we spent some time photographing a bunch of them that were hanging out on the lake shore. As always, they proved quite entertaining.

Taken at North Sterling State Park.

Bambi strikes a pose

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A mule deer fawn strikes a pose in Colorado. (Tony's Takes)
A mule deer fawn strikes a pose in Colorado. (Tony’s Takes)

How about this little one? It was an absolute cutie and clearly it knew it too the way it was showing off. 😉

I haven’t done so well with getting pics of baby mammals this spring and summer as they have proven elusive to me. This past weekend though I finally had some luck getting this mule deer fawn so let’s call this #FawnFriday.

It and mom were grazing in a field and most of the time, it hid behind its mother as they seem to inherently know to do to protect themselves. Apparently its youthful curiosity got the best of it though and it walked out to check me out.

Burrowing owl owlet defends his home turf

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A burrowing owl owlet puffs up to warn off a prairie dog. (Tony's Takes)
A burrowing owl owlet puffs up to warn off a prairie dog. (Tony’s Takes)

“Back off, dog!”

Normally burrowing owls and prairie dogs live harmoniously in the same community. It is a symbiotic relationship with the owls nesting in abandoned prairie dog burrows and the two species sharing watch duty for threats. However, sometimes the neighbors can get a bit too close for comfort.

This past weekend I spent a morning watching a burrowing owl family with five owlets. One of the little ones did not appreciate the neighbors one bit and he did his best to appear big and mean to scare the prairie dogs off when they wandered too close.

It was so darned funny to watch the little dude (or dudette) act tough. The hunkering down and raising wings like this is a common thing that owls do in the face of a threat. It is a way to make themselves bigger and ideally ward off any bad guys.

A burrowing owl owlet puffs up to warn off a prairie dog. (Tony's Takes)
A burrowing owl owlet puffs up to warn off a prairie dog. (Tony’s Takes)
A burrowing owl owlet puffs up to warn off a prairie dog. (Tony's Takes)
A burrowing owl owlet puffs up to warn off a prairie dog. (Tony’s Takes)

Comet NEOWISE take two

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Comet NEOWISE is seen in the sky with its reflection on the pond below. (Tony's Takes)
Comet NEOWISE is seen in the sky with its reflection on the pond below. (Tony’s Takes)

I simply could not resist another opportunity to take pictures of this fantastic vision in the sky. So, I got up a bit earlier than normal and made a stop on my way to work.

This time, I used a local open space as the terrestrial part of the shot. It worked out awesome I think. The trees provide some added interest as does the pond’s water – which even shows the comets reflection!

I definitely will keep trying to ways to get pics of the comet as it is such a unique and rare phenomena. I was very happy with the performance of my Canon 5D Mark IV mated to the Tamron Lenses USA SP 70-200mm F/2.8 Di VC.

Turkey vulture stages a flyby

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A turkey vulture performs a flyby on the plains of Colorado. (© Tony's Takes)
A turkey vulture performs a flyby on the plains of Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Maybe not pretty in the face but still a way cool bird! I have kind of a strange fascination with these guys so when I get to photograph them, I get kind of excited.

When camped on Colorado’s northeastern plains last week, I had an absolutely prime opportunity. More than 20 of them had staked out a spot by a lake as their early morning roost, one which thanks to having access to a boat I could easily get to.

Two mornings I spent a good bit of time photographing them taking 400+ photos of them each day. They put on a nice show for me with tons of flybys, many at close range, including this one.

They are amazing flyers, able to soar without flapping their wings for the longest time and that six-foot wingspan is simply impressive. They feed on carrion, usually rabbits and prairie dogs, and are said to be able to smell the dead animals up to a mile away.

At this spot, they were taking advantage of a die off of carp, dining on the carcasses on the shore. Their role as Mother Nature’s garbage man prevents the spread of disease from the carcasses.

Comet NEOWISE makes an appearance in the early morning sky

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Closeup of Comet NEOWISE in the skies over Adams County, Colorado. (Tony's Takes)
Closeup of Comet NEOWISE in the skies over Adams County, Colorado. (Tony’s Takes)

Well, now this is way cool and the first time I have photographed a comet!

I heard about this visitor from interstellar space recently and knew I had to try to get pics. Best of all, it is visible right when I am heading to work so the timing was convenient.

I found a spot on high and began scanning the northeastern sky. To the naked eye, the comet is pretty dim and I struggled to see it initially but, once found, it became kind of obvious.

Discovered on March 27th by the NEOWISE space telescope, the comet has continued to increase in brightness, becoming visible to the naked eye from Earth last week.

If you want to check it out, you can see it in the pre-dawn hours for the next couple of days. It will then disappear below the horizon and reappear in the evening sky mid-month. You likely will want binoculars or a camera with a zoom lens to really get a good look.

Comet NEOWISE over Thornton, Colorado. (Tony's Takes)
Comet NEOWISE over Thornton, Colorado. (Tony’s Takes)