Lone Elk Park - St. Louis, Missouri

As I left the World Bird Sanctuary, I saw a sign for Lone Elk Park. The best part is that they neighbor each other, so I took a right instead of a left and drove in.

All around the park are signs that warn of wild bison and elk. The signs mainly explain how to not be an idiot. Stay in your car, do not approach the cute cuddly animals, lest you want a mudhole stomped into your chest.

I drove the one way road slowly, as no one was behind me, and spotted a herd of elk on a nearby hill. There were nearly a dozen and they were all taking a nice nap. I stopped the car and decided that I might not be able to get out of the car, but i could maneuver the car to get a better shot. That's exactly what I did. I was able to get quite a few photos of these majestic animals.



Just as I passed the napping elk was a large gate and another sign for bison. The sign said that if I dared to drive my car in I was at risk of being rammed by a large bison. They have been known to charge vehicles. Here's the stupidity in the sign. By the time you can get close enough to read it you are up at the gate. It's a one way! There is no turning around. The sign should say: "If you ventured to this point, well, you better be able to drive fast in case one of these spring loaded muscles with horns comes after you." Yep, that's how I would word it. Anyway, I got in and saw a small dip in the earth. I figured I would find a couple bison in the wallows or in the shade. Nope. There was a small herd. There were a few in the small ravine, but the rest were on a grassy knoll. The scary part, you ask? The grassy knoll was right next to the road and these bison were only 30-100 yards away. Oh, it gets better. I am in a rental car on a VERY steep grade of a hill. I had to punch it to get it t go. Needless to say, I stopped twice for brief moments to capture these guys feeding and resting. Then I had the good sense to keep it moving!





The rest of the park was forest and paved road. They take great care of it and it was peaceful. Speaking of peaceful, I have one more image from "Emmy" in my last post. I found this budding leaf on a small sapling along the path. The sunlight hit it perfectly and I must have watched it for 2+ minutes before tkaing the photo. It was just God's reminder of how beautiful the little things are. The things that he placed here to help make oxygen, clean the air, give us shade and so on. I felt that this was his way of saying to not take things for granted and to really, truly stop and enjoy everything around us. Enjoy being alive. Don't sweat the small stuff.



Soon I will post the photos from Texas and we have some wonderful sessions in the next month. Be ready for some eye popping imagery!

World Bird Sanctuary - St. Louis, Missouri

It feels like I have fallen off the end of the blogging world. I have finally come around to getting some of my photos posted. Three weeks ago I was in Texas and need to post those images, but today I want to post a few from this past week. Last week I was in St. Louis, Missouri for a couple days and then Kansas City for a couple. In St. Louis I was able to make it out to three 'nature' areas; Emmenegger Park, the World Bird Sanctuary and Lone Elk Park.

"Emmy," as Emmenegger is commonly known in St. Louis, is a small park that has some nice paved trails, a beautiful forest and beautiful wildlife. I mainly wanted to get out and enjoy the 30 degree temps. Note the sarcasm there? Yeah, I wasn't too psyched to be walking in those temperatures, but I wanted to get out and shoot some photos. I was able to capture this photo of a white-throated sparrow (someone please correct me if I am wrong) checking me out.



After my brisk walk I drove over to my true destination of the World Bird Sanctuary. Being a true bird lover, I knew this was going to be fun. They have a wonderful facility and the brids are fantastically beautiful. They were also very vocal. As I walked near the great horned owl's cage, he flew to the ground and started hooting and eyeballing me. It was intense. The bald eagle would schreech at each other, the vultures and me as I got too close. I had never heard that before and it was amazing to hear and to watch. The parrots were not liking me at all. They gave me some serious attitude when I even got near their cage. I would recommend stopping by this facility to any bird lover. They rescue, take care of and rehabilitate birds and give them a permanent home there. I volunteer at an animal shelter, but if I lived in St. Louis you can believe I'd be here volunteering, too.

I have three photos to share. The first is one of the peregrine falcons that was getting some sun. He was very ambitious and really wanted to fly. The second is a beautiful red-tailed hawk who happened to be sitting right next to the falcon. Last, but not least, is the amazing symbol of the U.S.A. - the great bald eagle. This guy was super animated. He was plaing in a pool of water and then getting some sun. Make sure to check that one out. It'll be up on the wall very soon.







I felt bad for all of the birds there. Why? Well, I felt bad because for whatever reason they were there, they could not return to the wild and hunt and be as birds are. Yes, they are given the best of care, and I am thankful to the staff who tends to the birds, but I also feel a sense of emptiness for them as they have to remain in a cage for the rest of their lives. May God bless the staff of the WBS, the volunteers and the many birds who reside there.
_____________________________________________________

Still to come... Photos from Lone Elk Park, Texas and then Kansas City, MO.

Sneak Peek! - Adriana & Victor - Trash The Dress Session!

A big thank you to Adriana and Victor for letting their hair down and having some fun at the beach yesterday. You guys were rockin the sand bar!

Here is just a mere sampling of the images we captured yesterday. More to come!

My wife posted some awesome shots on her blog, too!

Cutest little girl.

Today, Riley was doing some 'tummy'time' and started sucking feverishly sucking on her hand. It was so cute I had to snap a photo of it. She just stared at me and kept busy. What a beautiful little girl we have. I am truly blessed.

El Dorado Bird Safari - Part Three

After making my way through hundreds of photos, I have finished editing the ones I like the best. I know that my fellow birders out there will appreciate these. My dad will love them and I love them! Please, enjoy.

El Dorado Bird Safari - Part Two

I got to sit down for an hour tonight and edit a few more of the photos from when my dad was out here. I am amazed at how I can go a mile down the road and see so many wonderful birds, observe them and photograph them. Makes me want to get that 500mm Sigma. It also gets me excited to head back to Mammoth with Kymberli and Riley this year.

I hope you all enjoy these as much as I do. Ok, I am a bit nutty when it comes to birds. I wish I could explain it, but I am truly fascinated by God's creations and they make me feel happy.

The El Dorado Bird Safari

Here it is the middle of February and I am finally getting around to this lengthy post. Life, as you may have guessed, has been VERY busy. I love it, but having a child does take much restructuring. My wife has been awesome at home. She's taking care of Riley during the day and much of the night. I help out, but I certainly don't feel like I do nearly as much as my wife. Happy Valentine's Day, babe!

Near the end of January, my dad flew out here to California to see his first grandchild and spend some time with us. It was great to have him get to meet Riley and see Kymberli and I. While we spent much time with the two ladies, my dad and I took some time to head down the street to El Dorado Park East. My dad has been really studying up and practicing with his camera and we wanted to get some bird shots. We both love birds and are fascinated with the shape, color and their natural beauty.

On and off for three days we ventured to the park and encountered some wonderful birds. Red-tailed hawks, red-shouldered hawks, great blue herons fighting for dominance, great egrets, snowy egrets, and many others. We focused on the big birds because we love birds-of-prey.

We had our own little safari. We would spot and stalk the birds. We drove around the park multiple times to find a bird we wanted to shoot. My dad even spotted two nesting red-shouldered hawks and they were fascinating! They were so territorial that one of the times we were observing them, a red-tailed hawk swooped in and they attacked. They defended their territory and they are fast! That red-tail took off as fast as it could.

The birds were very skittish at times. We'd walk right up on some and others would see us coming and get just out of range. We pulled up on an Sharp-Shinned Hawk and Dad had to get it's photo from inside the car. It was such a cool looking bird.

Needless to say, we had a wonderful time. I got to spend some time with my dad just enjoying nature. I was brought up on adventures in the woods and this was a nice treat for me. The park and nature center are my 'home away from home' as I like to call it. Being a country boy, the city life can make me crazy sometimes. This is where I can unwind and see the beauty of nature and photograph it.

Dad, thank you for making the trip out here. I had a great time shooting with you. I cannot wait to do it again after we've both had time to try new camera settings and scope out our back yards.

Oh, on a side note. I think this is cool and funny at the same time. My dad bought the National Wildlife Federation book "The Field Guide to Birds of North America" by Edward S. Brinkley when he got back to NY. What's the funny part? I ordered mine and it came yesterday!! Now we can compare our photos from across the country and can flip to a specific page at any time. That gets me even more excited!

Here are some of my favorite bird shots (and a squirrel) from the time my dad was here. Enjoy.