Getting Close – Salmon Jump

My fourth trip to try and photograph salmon jumping up a waterfall. Finally got a shot, but I think I can do better. Looks like a Coho, although this is the tale end of that run. Steelhead should be moving up the Lewis River soon.




Watching the fish I came up with an idea for submerging a digital camera into the rough water with a video feed. I would use the video feed to see where the camera is pointed and trigger it with a remote when I find something cool. It could be an interesting image, or a clever way to destroy an expensive camera. I am working like a mad professor in my workshop. More later.

Snake and Rat (Cat and Mouse)

I am still trying to catch up on all of the images I created this last summer and fall, and just yesterday I was working on images of ord's kangaroo rats that I photographed in the Painted Hills Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. This is a spectacular place to visit, and I really enjoyed my little hike into the desert to photograph these kangaroo rats (they aren't really rats, but that is a story for another day).

I actually need to get better images of these little guys, but I do find this image interesting since it is a good example of their bi-pedal method of locomotion.



One evening, after I had just finished setting up for the kangaroo rats, Just a few yards away I ran into this patient rattlesnake, apparently just waiting for evening to fall and the hunt to begin.



Kangaroo rats are charismatic and generally easy going members of the rodent family. I occasionally forget that, for them, death could be just around the next shrub.

Results For Skunk-O-Matic

A few posts ago I reported about the remote camera that I had set up on a skunk burrow that is under a chicken coop on Sauvie Island. It turns out this little fellow was craftier than I gave him credit for, and we had an epic battle of wits. First he was curious about my gear, and actually reset the focus on my primary lens. Then my master flash failed, and for several nights he busily tripped the camera in the dead of night resulting in many dozens of black frames. Finally, after I reset the focus and recharged the flash – the skunk, in a tactical master stroke, decided to exit the burrow ass first.

However he underestimated my determination, and he finally decided to cooperate and let me get a few shots.

Camera 1


Camera 2

Scared But Ready

A young hawk sits in a kennel carrier waiting to be released into a pasture near Joseph. Just hours before some well intentioned motorists had caught up the bird and delivered it to the ODFW office believing that it had been injured. In fact, it was a juvenile fresh from the nest and had yet to master the art of flying. The bird was also stuffed full of food which can make flight challenging even for more experienced raptors. Like many birds, red-tailed hawk parents tend to keep presenting food to their young, even several days after they have bailed from the nest.

So after a traumatic capture, and then a physical inspection, it was released back where it was found. I never saw it fly away however I didn't stick around very long. The owners of the property went to check on it later, and it had vanished. The field is full of belding ground squirrel burrows, so it probably is doing well.

Beautiful, Terrible Killer

These photos might be considered gruesome by some, but I worked hard to these images of a wild cougar with its kill.

One thing I have seen over and over again are images from Africa of a cute little impala in the jaws of a cheetah, or a young zebra in the clutches of a lion. I find it fascinating that the same kind of drama happens right here in the forests of the Northwest. But it takes place out of sight deep in the woods, and mostly undercover of darkness.

When elk cows begin to birth their calves, they seek solitude and cover. Once born the calves are helpless for around 36-48 hours, and even after they gain their legs they won't be able to run very fast until a week or two later. Their instinct when their mother leaves is to curl up and hide. Cougar and bear know when calving season arrives, and they will systematically search the calving grounds for the hiding spots of the helpless calves. It is an easy meal in a landscape that is usually not very forgiving.

Wild cougars are rarely photographed (All of those cougar calendars, and books are created using trained cougars) by professional photographers. I used a remote camera system with a motion sensor, and I worked with biologists from ODFW to get these images. The are actually two different cats. The top image is the cat returning and uncovering the calf that it buried earlier. The second image was taken on a high ridge, during a cracking thunderstorm and in a driving rain. The elk calf was in a deep tree well that was mostly sheltered, and the cat is just beginning to feed. All of these were taken at night, typically around 1AM.

Damn Cute

6806MDF1 copy, originally uploaded by Oregon Wild.

There is a bit of a story behind this cute little fawn...

On an early morning trip near Troy Oregon, I was driving on a dirt track that was being used by logging trucks, and coming around a sharp corner what do I see? A mule deer doe and her newborn fawn - on the road. I slow to a quick stop and the doe runs off, while the fawn drops in the middle of the road and "hides" in plain sight.

I have worked around animals and biologists most of my adult life, and from experience I knew the fawn could be handled, and moved, without ill consequence if I worked quickly. Normally, I just leave wild animals alone, but I had to move the fawn off the road so it wouldn't be squashed by the next log truck.

I carefully picked up the little fellow and moved it about 30 yards into the woods, snapped a few shots with my camera, and left the scene.

The mother will call the fawn out of hiding when she perceives the coast is clear.

Cicada Killer

Despite its frightening appearance, and 'Killer' name, this exotic and colorful wasp will generally not use its stinger on people – unless you are really asking for it.

The female will seek out some poor, hapless cicada in its burrow and paralyze it with her stinger. Then she will lay eggs around the victim. The cicada remains there alive, and unable to move until weeks or months later when the eggs hatch. The wasp young will then devour the paralyzed insect.

I photograhed this one at OMSI's Hancock Field Station near Clarno in July. I spent a fair bit of time yesterday trying to figure out the wasp species. This is often very challenging with many creatures, but insects present a special challenge when it come to finding a precise i.d.. Sometimes it is impossible, but this time I found good references. I love the bold patterns and vibrant colors.

Curlleaf Fetish

I have a thing for a shrub. There is something about the mountain mahogany tree (also known as curlleaf mahogany, or Cercocarpus ledifolius) that I find irresistable. These trees always seem like sensuous sculptures to me. I have seen them in various places, never in any great numbers, around Oregon - and they always draw my attention with their graceful curves.

These two images I photographed at The Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge near Plush.







This last Spring, while working on a cougar project, I camped on a high ridge on Eden Bench near Troy. There was a little gallery of mountain mahogany, and I ended up staying up until 1AM photographing the trees while experimenting with lights. It was great fun, although i missed the sleep later.




As the evening progressed into morning I broke out my gel filters, and started playing with color on the lights. I have been told these are a bit over the top, but I am still fond of them. If you have a strong opinion, one way or another, feel free to let me know in comments. I need the feedback.

Skunk-O-Matic

A friend who owns a farm let me know that she has a skunk that recently took up residence under her chicken coop. The skunk is hot to get to her chickens, and she has spent a fair amount of time shoring up the pen to keep the skunk from going on a homicidal rampage.

I am always looking for opportunities like this, where an animal has a den where I can use motion-sensing cameras. I have been using these types of cameras for years, and have managed to get some pretty interesting images of secretive and nocturnal creatures (I'll share some of these in future posts).

I set up a camera on the entrance to the creature's lair, and it will wait there for days (or weeks) until it recieves a signal from a motion sensor to snap a photo.



The whole set-up is rather complicated and time-consuming to get operational, but the results can be fascinating. Below you can see some of the equipment surrounding the den entrance. Everything is weatherized in acrylic and plastic, so it can be hard to recognize specific pieces of equipment. I'll be checking the camera in a few days to see if I have any photos.



From past experience I have found that skunks tend to completely ignore my equipment, even at close range. In fact, I had a foraging skunk go under a fence and brush past my legs while I was photographing bats. I didn't see him coming, and when I realized what was going on I froze like a statue so as not to startle the little darling, and he passed without incident.

Below is an image of a skunk that I made near Joseph with a motion-sensing camera.



If you know of any cool places I could set-up a remote camera, feel free to email me at oregonwild@gmail.com.

Splash Dynamics

It seems to me that failure has been a constant teacher in my life, and with recent tight deadlines finally met, I decided to set out once again and try to photograph salmon - this time along the Lewis River in Washington.

You will notice that there are no photographs of salmon in this post. I came close this time, they were actually jumping up a large waterfall. In order to get a good image however, it is necessary to have the fish jumping with some regularity and on this occasion one would jump, and perhaps ten minutes later, another would pop out of the frothy water. After ten minutes, my attention would diminsh, and my reflexes would be too slow. Timing is everything, and so far mine has been not so good.

So what are the images below? A fun little study in water dynamics. It took quite a while to figure out how to pull this off and get the timing of the rock and splash just so. I like the results however, and I find it interesting how the rock pulls air down into the vortex created by its impact.

Ocean Spray

The weather lately has, of course, been mostly terrible. It has been even worse at the beach, and as luck would have it, my family and I had to travel to the coast over Friday and Saturday. My daughter brought a friend along to alleviate the boredom of having to hang out with adults. We were trapped in doors for most of our visit, but on Saturday there was a glorious reprieve which the kids made the most of.

After having been trapped inside for such a long spell, the kid energy just erupted onto the beach and they had relentless fun. It was contagious fun too. Just being around them, camera in hand, I felt like a kid. Wind was whipping up a luscious whipped foam that looked just like the clouds in the sky. And turbulent weather added a bit of extra visual appeal.

This may not have much to do with wild Oregon, but my agents love these kind of images, as do kids magazines, and I try to get them whenever fun happens. It just happens to be blast for me as well. Lucky me!

Chinese Mantid

In my earlier post, I wrote about the rain and how I had been waiting for the salmon runs to begin, especially on the Smith River. But now the rain has flooded most of the coastal rivers, and I have been staying warm and dry in my office. Editing.

Current image folder: Chinese Mantid, or praying mantis. These can be found in Oregon every year, but they are not native. They were imported from China around 1896, and have flourished in the eastern part of the US. Many gardeners in the Northwest order chiniese mantids to control garden pests.

They grow quite large – five inches long. Some mantids can fly, others cannot. Chinese mantids can burst into flight which can be quite surprising, since when their wings are folded away, it is hard to see that they have wings at all.

Dancing Bluet

Current folder of Images I am editing: Damselflies. These are such delicate little insects, and so colorful. I usually spot them hovering close to the ground in close vicinity to water. Just a little strip of blue zipping around in the sun. (Actually, they come in a variety of shapes and colors, but blue is the most common). I photographed these close to Camp Creek on the Nature Conservancy's Zumwalt Prairie Preserve in July.

There are hundreds of species in the U.S., dozens in the Pacific Northwest, and many look alike. However, I narrowed down these two individuals to Argia vivida, or Vivid Dancer. The male is blue, the female is pale.

Photographed with a high-speed camera. You can see a little more about the process here: http://www.oregonwild.com/High-Speed1.V.html

Into The Misty Mountains

I've been waiting for the rain.

I was hoping that the first flush of rain water flowing down the coastal mountains would inspire the coho salmon to migrate up the Smith River. I left Portland early, had a long drive in poor visibility, and arrived at the river much later than I wanted. I waited for hours, and nothing happened. No fish. I had directions to a little waterfall that the salmon must jump up and clear to get up river. Good photo opportunity, however the timing is always tricky. And this spot was actually a little tricky to find (In fact, I'm not 100% sure I was at the right falls).

To pass the time I wandered around with the camera and made some scenics. It is something I enjoy doing, despite the fact that it is not really something I do very often, or very well.

My only results for the day...

Yellowjacket Frost

I spotted a yellowjacket in my backyard the other day. It is unusual to see them so late in the year, but this mild fall has kept them going. However, with the recent frost and cool temperature we have probably seen the last of them till next summer.

This is also the time of year when I am editing like a mad man in my office, going through image after image and preparing them for the catalog and my agents. I just opened a folder of images I had nearly forgotten about - yellowjackets.

I find yellowjackets just as annoying as anyone, but one of the cool things about this work is that I have a chance to discover new things about an endless list of fascinating creatures. I think yellowjackets are actually pretty cool looking insects, although it is hard to appreciate this when they are ruining a backyard BBQ. However, it might interest you to know that the common yellowjackets harrasing your picnic are probably german invaders. We have several species of yellowjackets that are native to the Northwest, and they can be aggressive also (none more so that the white-headed wasp).

The photos below were taken near Ochoco Pass. The yellowjackets I encountered there were strangely uninterested in my lunch, and in fact, were nectaring on flowers. They had large, stout bodies, and seemed considerably bigger than the yellowjackets I see in the valley. It gave me a chance to appreciate their bold coloring and sharp design.

By the way, this image was made with a custom high-speed camera and taken at 1/45,000 of a second. No photoshop manipulation was applied.

Camp Bonneville Bears

The Columbian recently ran a story about the clean up of the old army training grounds at Camp Bonneville in Washington. I was glad to read that a good portion would become a wildlife preserve. A couple years ago I recieved special permission from the army to set up remote cameras on the property and got some pretty cool shots of bears. One is a brown phase black bear taken in the dead of night (good thing too, the black ones don't show up so well in the dark).

The place is littered with un-exploded ordinance, some from the 1940's. I had to sign a waiver agreeing that I would not hold the US Army responsible for death or injury....

Not So Scary

Halloween has arrived, and in honor of the occasion, I am posting a few photos of one of my favorite bats from Oregon - the townsend's big-eared bat. I think the big ears make this bat especially charming. I made these images in a cave complex near Fort Rock.

Glow Little Glowworm, Glimmer, Glimmer

This is the time of year when a curious little glowworm begins to appear in the mountains along the Oregon Coast. This photo is actually about three years old, but it came up the other day when I recieved an email from a television producer looking to do a story about interesting nocturnal insects of Oregon. Before I took this image, I had no idea that bioluminescent insects could actually be found along the west coast, not to mention Oregon.

I took this photo in the region west of Corvallis, and it was not easy. These are actually female beetles (still in a larval stage) advertising their presence to their male counterparts, who fly about the night forest looking for the glow of the female. They are not easy to spot either. To find them I had to hike around the forest on an inky black night, without any lights, and in a cold rain. Their glow is somewhat faint, so even moonlight sparkling in dew can be enough to make them difficult to spot.

They have interesting hunting behavior as well. Their bodies are designed to crawl into the spiral of a snail shell and devour the occupant. Yum!

Check out these slippery dudes

Slender-toed salamanderPacific Giant Salamander (terrestrial)
Pacific Giant Salamander (neotenic adult = aquatic)
Rough-skinned newtNorthwest Salamander



Got a request from an editor yesterday for salamanders. I had to dig into the film archive and do a little scanning – It reminded me how many images I have in the old film file. Since I started the digital catalog over two years ago, I have had my hands full editing and cataloging the many new images I take, and I have had little time to even think about transferring the entire film collection into digital. I have taken the time to scan some of my previous best sellers, but i know that many images will simply be left behind in the dark drawers of the file cabinet.