Northern Lights

The northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, happens when charged particles from the Sun get captured in Earth’s magnetic fields, and move towards the poles. They interact with Earth’s atmosphere, releasing energy that produces these lights that can appear to shimmer.

Thanks to a friend who let me know about an aurora website for NY and her inviting me to meet at a location, I was able to capture these. This event was even visible this past Thursday for about 20-30 minutes with the naked eye.

Northern Lights

My camera is not good for night images, they recommend other camera models for that. These are better than I expected for my camera. Others arrived at the same location and showed me their phone photos, which were much better.

Northern Lights

The colours changed. It started in one area then appeared in another. The sky seemed filled with colours on the northern half.

Northern Lights

It was so powerful that people saw them from a busy shopping street and many posted images of buildings and bridges that were lit up and the aurora was in the background.

Northern Lights
Northern Lights

Hopefully I will get more chances to see this closer to sunset or sunrise on the weekends. I know, am I asking too much? Word is we may be able to see this from time to time through March.

Northern Lights

In one direction a deep purplish colour was visible for a time, then seemed to switch to a reddish colour.

Northern Lights

Several times we saw green closer to the horizon. Small aircraft were buzzing back and forth. I would like to see the pictures they got from up there.

Northern Lights

I remember my father pointing out the northern lights when I was a child. It was a thrill to be able to see them again with the naked eye. Were you able to see the aurora/ northern lights in your area?

Glossy Ibis

This was another first for me. Owls occupy most of my birding. I saw the glossy ibis at a large wildlife refuge in Central New York during a long weekend vacation trip.

Glossy Ibis Central New York

All of these are quite far away taken with a zoom lens and heavily cropped. The first day I was there they mainly stuck to hiding amongst the plants. They were farther away the first day and luckily someone at the refuge with a powerful spotting scope located and let me view them.

Glossy Ibis

They seemed to stick to the island like areas in the wetlands and occasionally on the second day went in the water. They came closer the second day and these images are from then.

Glossy Ibis – Two

There were two of them. Sometimes they were close together and other times they were near to each other, but not that close.

These images are not that great, but I was happy to see them regardless. Maybe sometime in the future I can witness them up closer. Have a great week.

Sand Hill Cranes

These are the first birds I photographed at a large wildlife refuge in Central New York. After I climbed a viewing tower they flew towards me then passed by. I only had a chance to get off one shot.

Sand Hill Cranes

They appear to be Sand Hill Cranes. There were three flying together. The next shot is an even closer cropped image of the first shot. This is the first time I photographed this bird. As you can tell I am far from an expert.

My understanding is it is the only crane that nests in New York. There are reports in the Adirondacks of nesting sights as well as other areas. It does appear to be not so common to see one in New York.

Sand Hill Cranes

When visiting a wildlife refuge be prepared to take shots as soon as you arrive. Otherwise you might miss out.

Pied Billed Grebe

I had a long weekend, so I made the trek out to central New York to visit a wildlife refuge. I saw this small water bird that was swimming not too far out from the wildlife drive. It seemed to spend more time underwater then above water, so it was hard to capture.

Water Bird at a Wildlife Refuge
Water Bird at a Wildlife Refuge – Is it a Pied Billed Grebe?

To me it is very cute. Can anyone confirm what kind of water bird this is? Is it a pied billed grebe? Have a great week!

The Duke of Sussex Pub Sign

I had seen some information online that at least at some point one side of this sign was this person and the other side was Prince Harry and Megan. I was in this area of London for something else so I checked it out. Both sides were the same, so at some point they took down Harry.

The Duke of Sussex Pub Sign – Waterloo, London

I did not see the sign inside either. It was an off time and it looked like they were not serving food, otherwise I would have stayed. I have found many pubs only serve lunch and dinner at certain times. No other Harry related things were visible.

I have heard they are pubs who want their name changed to Queen Elizabeth have to get approval and have an appropriate reason to name it after her. It is said her name will be closely protected. Not sure if it is a good idea for a living person to have their likeness on a pub. I have seen another pub with a living member of the royal family’s likeness on it. What do you think?

Osprey with Fish

While kayaking a lake that is mostly shallow, I saw this osprey hanging out there. I think it flies between another body of water and this one. It seemed to come back to the same area of the lake when it caught the fish.

Osprey with Fish

I did see it splash into the water on the other side of the lake before it flew back in circles with a fish. Lucky for me that it landed nearby.

Osprey with Fish

Look at those talons speared into the fish. I am assuming the fish is already dead.

Osprey with Fish

He seemingly holds on with one foot. This was a cloudy day and very windy. Sitting in my kayak to try to take shots was far from steady. I’m still okay with these. Here’s hoping to see one dive in close by in the future. Have a great weekend.

Kingfisher Stuck in Fishing Line

Kingfishers in New York , known as belted kingfishers, are less colourful than the kingfishers in England (common kingfishers). They are interesting to watch. They are very skittish though and do not let you come to0 close usually. I was kayaking on a windy day and was surprised when this one let me drift closer than usual. It was not until I got home and looked at the images on my computer that I may have seen why.

Kingfisher Stuck in Fishing Line- This was on one tree down over the water

This kingfisher seemingly has a fishing line attached to it. It did fly from tree to tree overhanging the water and I did see it drop into the water. However, I hope if it needs help, it will allow someone to get close enough to bring it to help.

According to NOAA Fisheries: “Entangled animals may drown or starve because they are restricted by fishing gear, or they may suffer physical trauma and infections from the gear cutting into their flesh.”

Kingfisher Stuck in Fishing Line – This is on a different tree that is down over the water

The lake I went on is popular with fishermen on shore and on fishing kayaks. Although this bird was on an unpopulated side of the lake, those on kayaks could fish in that area.

Kingfisher Stuck in Fishing Line

It was not possible for me to get there before dark today, but I have put the word out. Incidentally, I also have a picture of a turtle with fishing line stuck to it as well from the same outing. Hopefully if this bird needs help it will allow someone to get close enough to grab. The hazards of life for wildlife that depend on water seem to be many.

American Veterans Traveling Tribute

American Veteran’s Traveling Tribute brings war memorials around the country. They have a Vietnam Wall, Iraq and Afghanistan Wall, 9-11 Wall, plus tributes to those who died in other conflicts. When I heard this was going to be in the Hudson Valley I decided I needed to see this.

Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, NY hosted this event. I understand Dutchess County arranged for this exhibit to be at the park. Your town, county, etc. can contact this group to arrange the American Veterans Traveling Tribute to visit.

Afghanistan and Iraq
American Veterans Traveling Tribute

The Iraq and Afghanistan Walls are arranged by year of death. Within the year they are alphabetical.

American Veterans Traveling Tribute- Jason Lehto, Marine SSGt. Explosive Ordnance Disposal Tech.

I added this in because I know someone who served with Jason Lehto and from my understanding Jason does not get included on a lot of lists like this. It was non combat yet it was a related to IED or explosive diffusing. I think death by any any enemy weapon should be considered a combat death.

World Trade Center, Planes, and Pentagon

Many locals are on the World Trade Center part of this wall. I was careful not to include people in these pictures and even removed some when they were there.

American Veterans Traveling Tribute
American Veterans Traveling Tribute

The names of who died in the World Trade Center terrorist attacks are arranged alphabetically. These are the ones who died in the towers. Many locals to the Hudson Valley are on the Towers Wall as people commute from here to the city. Same is true with Long Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey.

American Veterans Traveling Tribute- Michael Finnegan- Worked at Cantor Fitzgerald

Some locals to the Hudson Valley remember Michael Finnegan who grew up here. I’m including his name for those who knew him.

American Veterans Traveling Tribute- Flight 11
American Veterans Traveling Tribute – Flight 175
American Veterans Traveling Tribute – Flight 77
American Veterans Traveling Tribute – Flight 93

The county arranged veteran’s events at the same time this exhibit was occurring and local county veteran’s related services set up tables.

Vietnam Wall
American Veterans Traveling Tribute – Vietnam Wall
American Veterans Traveling Tribute Vietnam Wall
American Veterans Traveling Tribute – Vietnam Wall in the background
American Veterans Traveling Tribute
Lebanon
American Veterans Traveling Tribute – Lebanon

Other conflicts are covered with information about casualties, but not names including WW1, WW2, and Korea.

Not everyone can get to DC or other places to see memorials like the Vietnam Wall. Not everyone is comfortable going to New York City to visit the World Trade Center Memorial. This exhibit brings these memorials to them.

For more information or to see where this exhibit is next click on the link below:

https://www.americanveteranstravelingtribute.com/schedule

Barn Owl

I have always wanted to see a barn owl. We do have them in New York, but the Ebird reporting site protects the location of where they are sighted as they do exist, but are rare in the state. Going to a castle in England was my best shot at seeing one of these owls.

Some castles have many different activities to bring in money. They may have tours, host large concerts, put on Medieval or other historical shows, have high end lodging, etc. However, my favourite event to see are the falconry shows.

This falconry show at Warwick Castle does not disappoint. They had four falconers flying the birds. They had owls, falcons, hawks and eagles. Unfortunately it was raining that day. I did remove the raindrops from these photos. However, it messed with my autofocus and most of the flight shots did not pan out. I think the size of the owl came into play as well.

If I ever return to England, I hope to spend a few days visiting this castle. They have many shows and multiple falconry shows a day. I would also like to see a barn owl in the wild some day. Have a great rest of your week.

Great Blue Heron Flipping Fish

This great blue heron showed no fear. It hung out near a boat launch. I kayaked out a short ways and it actually walked towards me. It was fun to watch.

Great Blue Heron Flipping Fish
Great Blue Heron Flipping Fish – Swallowing it down

As usual these are taken with a zoom lens. I am thinking this is a juvenile. It seems it is not as knowledgeable as it should be in the ways of the world. As much I enjoyed it walking towards me and these are not cropped a lot, I just hope it becomes more knowledgeable about safety in the future. Have a great week!