Since these photos are by Stephen Barnard, “wildlife” usually means “birds”. Here we have, in order, a bald eagle, a marsh wren, and a song sparrow:
Readers’ wildlife photos
March 15, 2014 • 10:27 am
Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
Beautiful bald eagle. I see them often here in Northwestern Ontario.
I have collected pictures of bald eagles all my life. But I must confess that this one here is as spectacular as any other I have ever seen.
In my eyes, a true masterpiece.
Practically always it’s the head of the bald eagle with its strikingly threatening eyes that makes the picture of a bald eagle so fascinating.
Here it is not just the usual haunting head that draws the eye, but also the whole black body of the eagle with its visible sharp claws so finely delineated against the sky, and, above all, the great contrast with the beautiful silver-grey bark of the tree with its delicate dark branches that contribute to the power of this superlative picture.
I’m thinking of making a large-scale print of this image.
This isn’t full-res photo. I’d be happy to send you one.
Stephen, this is a very nice gesture.
Perhaps you could post the high-resolution version on this page. Other readers might be interested in getting it as well.
I thought I would find a site for your photography on Google, with a contact info, but no success.
If need be, in case you might wish to post your email address here, I would contact you directly.
I try to avoid making myself publicly vulnerable to the young Christian police and their fanatical harassment.
As a last resort, you might consider sending it to Jerry Coyne, who may be willing to forward it to me.
Thanks again.
I’ll ask Jerry to send you my email address.
Stephen:
No dice. No delivery. The flow of contributions goes only one way. Wie Schade! Peccato! Tant pis!
I’ll do with your photo as posted.
If you should ever open an account with Flickr (which publishes high-res photos), or Instagram, or Pinterest, let me know by posting something to this effect here in one of your postings, which will be a good enough alert.
I’ll go over there and pick up your high-res version.
Thanks again for the generous gesture, and the effort.
Stephen:
Go and see the spectacular photo of two bald eagles fighting in the air, taken in Utah, featured in Pictures of the Day, London Telegraph, March 31, ’14, at
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/picturesoftheday/10733832/Pictures-of-the-day-31-March-2014.html?frame=2867744
Never seen the like of it before.
That’s an amazing capture.
Stephen:
By sheer coincidence, I also share a strong interest in owls, on a par with my passionate interest in bald eagles.
I have thus, similarly, built a huge collection of pictures of owls, including the elegant snow owl.
Looking at your picture of the great horned owl posted on April 14, I must concur with you that it is a grand picture, again worthy of enlargement. Again the detail of feathers, head, and the contrast with the brilliant silver trunk, the dim branches and the obscure background sky, are splendid.
To me, in fact, the spirit of the composition in this full-length portrait is very similar to that of the great bald eagle posted on this page.
Here too, the tree trunk, the branches and background sky provide the color dynamics of the picture. The bald eagle shows his talons in clear view, the only thing missing in the great horned howl picture.
Both are masterpieces, and at some point I must devise a way to get the high resolution originals from you, since this delivery has been proved ineffective through the good offices of this site.
We have to think of a third-party posting site, such as Flickr, which would allow you to post your pictures as galleries available to followers, without you or me obligated to disclose our personal email addresses in public.
Just let me know when you are ready to open such an account at one such site, by making a comment on this site.
I feel the wider world would be delighted to have a chance to appreciate the beauty of your nature shots.
ROO.BOOKAROO April, 14, ’14
Stephen:
Thinking about it, the London Telegraph posts all kinds of high-quality animal pictures taken by independents like you.
Perhaps you could consider presenting your shots to the Telegraph PICTURES-OF-THE-DAY, a superb site which is followed world-wide.
You could ask them if they would be willing to post the high-res pictures as sent by you. They might accept, as they are extremely sensitive to their readership.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/
This would avoid the opening of an account with, say, Flickr.
In both cases, no public divulging of email addresses would be necessary.
You can find the images at https://www.flickr.com/photos/110292855@N05/
Fantastic! And wonderful!
Thanks, appreciatively.
ROO BOOKAROO
However, go and have a look at the superb grizzly bear and 3 cubs shot. That is a beauty too. The legend says that it took the photographer a 4-hour wait to get the shot. Photos like this are authentic works of art.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/picturesoftheday/10764661/Pictures-of-the-day-14-April-2014.html
That’s a great photo.
The second one is the Marsh Wren.
IME one of the harder species to photograph! Loud as heck but constantly flitting around in the reeds/undergrowth.
The eagle looks particularly nice. Right now I’m on day 3 of obsessing over what wide angle lens to get to replace my 10-22 EFS for the 5D & I keep going back & forth between L and not L prime and zoom.
Lots of birds lately. (An observation, not a complaint – beautiful organisms.)
Are these collections a “cooing” of birds?
If you insist on a non-bird, Here’s a m*mm*l I photographed this morning. It’s a muskrat swimming to the underwater entrance of its burrow, with as mouthful of aquatic plant sprouts in its mouth. I think the average bird is more attractive. 🙂
https://www.flickr.com/photos/110292855@N05/13174270454/
I have to agree.
If you’re into muskrats, this is a very interesting picture.
But on pure visual appeal, it offers little to please the eye or even make us feel closer to nature.
I much prefer seagulls screeching over my head while running in the breakwater of a Long Island beach.
Birds make us feel so much more part of nature.
And they elevate our feelings, obliging us to look upward towards the sky, which always makes us dream.
So, yes, birds are far better inspirations than muskrats, visually and psychologically.
Cool shot!
Eagle. WOW!!!
These eagles are the least spooky birds around here. They’ve been protected and cherished for years, and they’ve grown accustomed to farm hands working in the fields in close proximity.
I love that you can get a good look at its light coloured eyes!
Barnard’s a star!
Also a college.
And a picturesque town in Vermont.
A fine collection, Stephen! Not having the “Raptor Disease,” I’m particularly taken with the little brown birds, so I’m in awe of your Marsh Wren, which as Diane G. points out is VERY difficult to see, not to mention photograph, and the Song Sparrow, which looks so different from the pale rusty and gray Song Sparrows down here in the desert.
I called the Song Sparrow and the Marsh Wren out with song recordings on my iPhone. As I wrote to Jerry, it was interesting that none of the songs in the app quite matched those of the SOng Sparrows here, which are all similar if not identical. They have regional dialects, the songs partly innate and partly learned.
True. I started birding in E. Colorado, where the Song Sparrows look much more like your bird, and on moving to Arizona found that the local Song Sparrows here not only look different, but they also have a somewhat different quality to their songs. You can still tell what they are, you understand, but they sound a bit ‘off.’
Lovely stuff Stephen, thanks!