rghurst99

During my time in Alaska, I learned that 99% of the time Coastal Brown Bears are either grazing on grass or sleeping. I assume this changes later in the summer when the salmon spawn begins, but in June, grazing and sleeping are about it. What I learned about Alaskan Bald Eagles is ... they don't much care. They just watch you float by, and that's it ... usually. This short video features two mama bears each with one second-year cub (born in 2022). The first mom-cub duo was on the rocky beach of a protected cove off of Kukak Bay. The second was on a high cliff above the open waters of the bay. We also floated by one Bald Eagle who, as previously stated, didn't much care 🙂 At the end of this video, both mama and cub stretch out on the rocks for a little nap! Sony A1 + Sony 70-200GMII 1/125, f/10, Auto-ISO Shot & Edited at 4k/60P

Colleyville Nature Center Colleyville, Texas 7-12-2023 138-Shot Frame Animation Sony A1 + Sony 600GM 600mm, f/5.6, 1/2000, ISO-640, Handheld

Colleyville Nature Center Colleyville, Texas 7-12-2023 113-Shot Frame Animation Sony A1 + Sony 600GM 600mm, f/5.6, 1/2000, ISO-640, Handheld

Bald Eagle Kukak Bay/Katmai Wilderness Lodge, Alaska 7-4-2023 122-Shot Frame Animation Sony A1 + Sony 200-600G 600mm, f/6.3, 1/2000, ISO-2000, Handheld

Coast Brown Bear Kukak Bay/Katmai National Park 7-7-2023 Sony A1 + Sony 200-600G 485mm, f/6.3, 1/1000, ISO-2000, Handheld

Obviously, I couldn't video myself leaving. This is someone else leaving on July 3rd. But, I am sure it looked about the same when we took off. Sony A1 + Sony 70-200GMII 1/125, f/10, Auto-ISO Shot & Edited 4k/60p

Great Blue Heron Colleyville Nature Center Colleyville, Texas 6-13-2023 89-Shot Frame Animation Sony A1 + Sony 600GM 600mm, f/4, 1/2000, ISO-2000, Handheld

Colleyville Nature Center Colleyville, Texas 6-13-2023 125-Shot Frame Animation Played Twice, Once Wide, Once Tight Sony A1 + Sony 600GM 600mm, f/4, 1/2000, ISO-1600, Handheld

This is a combination of video and frame animation (animating long bursts of stills) Colleyville Nature Center Colleyville, Texas 6-13-2023

Colleyville Nature Center Colleyville, Texas 6-10-2023 60-Shot Frame Animation Sony A1 + Sony 600GM 600mm, f/4, 1/2500, ISO-800, Handheld

This Great Egret passed from sun into shadows as it mostly glides across a Pond. Colleyville Nature Center Colleyville, Texas 6-6-2023 82-Shot Frame Animation Sony A1 + Sony 600GM + Sony 1.4x TC 840mm, f/5.6, 1/2500, ISO-1600, Handheld

This young Red-Shouldered Hawk is beginning to feeling the strength and the wonder of his wings. This frame animation is composed from two long bursts totaling 316 shots. Colleyville Nature Center Colleyville, Texas 6-6-2023 Sony A1 + Sony 600GM + Sony 1.4x TC 840mm, f/5.6, 1/500, ISO-3200, Handheld

This Western Kingbird took a dive into a pond. I assumed it was trying to catch a bug, but if it was, it appeared to be unsuccessful. Colleyville Nature Center Colleyville, Texas 6-6-2023 Sony A1 + Sony 600GM + Sony 1.4x TC 840mm, f/5.6, 1/3200, ISO-1600, Handheld

Mama Red-Shouldered Hawk tending to nest maintenance and keeping an eye on her triplets. This is a 3-1/2-minute excerpt from a longer, 45--minute video ... https://youtu.be/Eq39U-LHp-U Sony A1 + Sony 200-600G + Sony 2.0x TC 1200mm, f/16, 1/250, Auto ISO Shot at 4k/120p, 10-Bit Edited/Rendered at 4k/60p

Mama Red-Shouldered Hawk tending to nest maintenance and keeping an eye on her triplets. There is a short, 3-1/2-minute excerpt from this video here ... https://youtu.be/nmWINmNihqQ Sony A1 + Sony 200-600G + Sony 2.0x TC 1200mm, f/16, 1/250, Auto ISO Shot at 4k/120p, 10-Bit Edited/Rendered at 4k/60p

This video contains two frame animations made from the same 55-shot sequence of stills. I made the first animation in Photoshop ... just a straight series of stills. I made the second in Premiere Pro where I could add a quick crossfade transition between pics. White Rock Lake/Winfrey Point 5-30-2023 Sony A1 + Sony 600GM 600mm, f/4, 1/2500, ISO-2500, Handheld

In this 154-shot frame animation, the Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher heads skyward from the wildflowers. I thought it was unusual that the bird's tail swishes side-to-side in the first 30-or-so frames of the sequence, so I kept the fps slow at the beginning. I also slowed down the fps as the bird approaches and grabs an insect midair. Finally, the bird dives down and skims the wildflowers as it finds a new perch. White Rock Lake/Winfrey Point Dallas, Texas 5-30-2023 Sony A1 + Sony 600GM 600mm, f/6.3, 1/4000, ISO-1000, Handheld

This Yellow-Billed Cuckoo's meal started out as a relatively plump and very hairy caterpillar, but by the time I took this 157-shot sequence, the bird had violently shaken the caterpillar enough to remove most of the hairs and to render it flat and limp. Meal preparation Cuckoo Style. Colleyville Nature Center Colleyville, Texas 5-27-2023 Sony A1 + Sony 600GM + Sony 1.4x TC 840mm, f/5.6, 1/500, ISO-3200, Handheld

This video begins with Papa Red-Shouldered Hawk dropping a Green Anole Lizard into the nest. It's hard to see what's going on down in the nest, but before too long, one of baby hawks has the entire, intact lizard completely down its throat with only the tail hanging out. Unfortunately, the baby isn't big enough to finish swallowing it. Mama bails out baby by pulling out the lizard, and she starts to feed pieces of the lizard to all three babies. But, once again, one of the babies gets the whole lizard (minus a few pieces) down its throat, and once again, Mama pulls it out. There is more feeding by Mama, and finally, at the end you can see one of the babies eat the lizard tail. Colleyville Nature Center Colleyville, Texas 5-25-2023 Sony A1 + Sony 600GM +Sony 1.4x TC 840mm, 1/250, ISO-4000, Auto-Aperture (~f/14) Shot at 4k/120p, 10-Bit Edited/Rendered at 4k/60p

This Cliff Swallow was taking a mouthful of mud to the bridge where a couple of dozen birds were building nests. Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge Sherman, Texas, USA 5-23-2023 Sony A1 + Sony 600GM + Sony 1.4x TC 840mm, f/5.6, 1/3200, ISO-3200, Handheld

A pair of baby Black-Chinned Hummingbirds just a few days away from fledging. It is amazing how fast they grow. Colleyville Nature Center Colleyville, Texas 5-17-2023 Sony A1 + Sony 600GM + Sony 1.4x TC 840mm, f/5.6, 1/500, ISO-2500, Handheld

97-Shot Frame Animation White Rock Lake 5-15-2023 Sony A1 + Sony 600GM 600mm, f/4, 1/5000, ISO-400, Handheld

Watch the chunks fly as the Downy Woodpecker works on a hole. Colleyville Nature Center 5-8-2023 312-Shot Frame Animation (Two Bursts at Different Angles) Sony A1 + Sony 600GM + Sony 1.4x TC 840mm, f/5,6, 1/3200, ISO-2000, Handheld

Colleyville Nature Center 5-8-2023 94-Shot Frame Animation played twice ... wide crop and tight crop. Sony A1 + Sony 600GM + Sony 1.4x TC 840mm, f/5.6, 1/2000, ISO-1600, Handheld

Mama dropped in just to be sure everyone was okay, and then went back to her perch.