Today is Memorial Day, first observed on May 30, 1868, declared a national holiday by Congress and, since 1971, celebrated on the last Monday in May. It also marks the unofficial beginning of summer when families enjoy a long weekend of outdoor activities. In the process, I hope you’ll all remember what it commemorates by remembering and honoring those who gave their lives defending our freedoms in the service of country.

While preparing this post, I thought about the 272 words so eloquently delivered by President Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg when he paid tribute to the honored dead who had made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. In that memorable address, he summarized what we today celebrate as Memorial Day.

I thought, too, about my family’s long history in this country. Our ancestors arrived in the Massachusetts colony around 1630. That an ancestor of ours has fought in nearly every conflict in which this country has engaged is highly probable. It is documented that one ancestor fell at Gettysburg, so Lincoln’s words hold special meaning for our family.

I thought of my father who, though still with us, served proudly as a B-29 pilot during WWII. It was my pride in him and his service to country that made me want to follow in his footsteps. I thought of my brother, Ken, and my daughter, Shannon, who served in the U.S. Navy, and how proud I am of them both. I thought of all my ancestors, known and unknown, who have served in the fight for freedom…

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Proving that photographers will do just about anything (and, apparently, assume any position) to “get the shot,” here’s one taken by Dawn during our long weekend with friends in Stinson Beach. On the left is our friend, Rob, grabbing some shots of a beautiful sunset. In order to steady his camera, he assumed this, uh, “unusual” stance and Dawn couldn’t resist capturing it for posterity.

Of all their long experience, National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence Dereck and Beverly Joubert consider their two years with the lions of Duba the most exciting, important research they have done. The internationally acclaimed naturalists and cinematographers produced Relentless Enemies: Lions and Buffalo, a companion volume to their National Geographic film, providing an unforgettable once-in-a-lifetime glimpse of the world’s most awe-inspiring hunters, the lethal and beautiful lions of Duba.

The rich surroundings and unique environment of the Okavango River Delta have morphed these lions into huge, thick-necked beasts. Far more aggressive and dangerous than their cousins on the Serengeti, they defy what we thought we knew about big cats. They are larger, more fearsome and more innovative than your typical lion, and of necessity they have learned to hunt places big cats normally avoid.

Trapped on an island only five years old with these giant killers are thousands of cape buffalo, forced to develop their own strategies for survival.

The book is illustrated with 100 amazing photographs of the lions in Botswana’s Duba Plains and their long, lethal relationship with the region’s buffalo. “The back-and-forth interplay between two of Africa’s giants is eternal, harsh, and at the same time quite beautiful and essential,” writes Dereck Joubert, who provided the text for the book. Beverly contributed the 100 vivid, gripping images.

A great read for wildlife photographers and enthusiasts. Truth be told, if I could have my “dream job,” this would be it.

A follow-up photo album of 44 images taken during our getaway to Stinson Beach with friends Michael & Sisko and Candy & Rob. All were taken with the Nikon D2Xs and Canon Digital Elph pocket cameras. Although Dawn was a little under the weather, this was one of the most relaxing getaways we’ve enjoyed. Heartfelt thanks to Sisko and Michael for making it possible.    (See also Part 2 and Part 1).

You don’t have to look far to see signs of spring. From the budding of trees and the warming of temperatures to the animals coming out of their winter hideaways, the promise of new birth and fresh color fills the springtime air. In our area, signs of the change in season have been popping up for weeks. La Niña provided a mild winter with above normal rainfall, and we’ve enjoyed some wonderful early spring-like weather.

The first day of spring is usually March 20 but sometimes, like last year, it falls on the 21st to correspond with the vernal equinox when the sun rests directly above the equator on its apparent trip northward. As the earth revolves around the sun, the Northern Hemisphere tilts more toward the sun as winter turns to spring. Conversely, the Southern Hemisphere tilts more away from the sun ushering in the beginning of autumn for people in that hemisphere.

The word “equinox” is derived from Latin and means “equal nights.” Around March 20 (or 21st as the case may be), sunrise and sunset are about twelve hours apart everywhere on Earth. Because of that, some folks mistakenly believe that day and night on that date are of equal length. In reality, though, the day is a little longer and here’s why. Sunrise occurs when the top of the sun rather than its center is on the horizon. But the sun actually appears to be above the horizon when it is in fact still below it. That’s because the earth’s atmosphere refracts, or “bends,” light coming from the sun, so we “see” the sun a couple of minutes before it actually rises over the horizon. And if you add the daylight that persists after sunset, you’ll find the day on the equinox is several minutes longer than the night.

Spring is a time of transition, not only for plants and animals, but for the weather, too. It can mean weather extremes from very cold and snowy days to humid and stormy days. Some of the country’s biggest snowfalls have occurred in March and the period from March to May brings severe thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes to much of the south. In the Sacramento region, spring is my favorite season. It means hiking and other outdoor activities, longer days and warmer nights, and myriad opportunities for landscape and wildlife photography.

And let’s lay to rest the myth about your being able to balance a raw egg on end on the first day of spring when, supposedly, the pull of gravity is more equal because the sun is more directly overhead. There’s simply no scientific support for this.

The balancing egg legend apparently got its start in 1945 when a reporter for Life Magazine wrote a story about a Chinese ritual in which people stood eggs on end on the first day of spring. But the Chinese recognized the first day of spring in early February, or about six weeks before the spring equinox! Hmmmm…

Later, in 1983, a hundred New Yorkers got together on March 20 to balance eggs and an article about the event appeared in the New Yorker magazine. A year later, five thousand New Yorkers repeated the tradition on the first day of spring, and the egg legend grew. The truth is that if you can get a raw egg to balance upright on the spring equinox, you can get it to balance any other day of the year. The pull of gravity or the position of the sun in the sky has nothing to do with it.

But balancing egg or no balancing egg, by all means embrace spring! Get outside, listen to the birds and smell the flowers. Take long walks. Explore. Immerse yourself in the newness of the season!

Today’s post is a photo album of more images taken during our getaway to Stinson Beach (see Friday’s post). I haven’t processed all the images Dawn and I made - I’ll post another album this week.

Thanks to all of you that commented about Friday’s images. I hope you enjoy these as well.

“Forgive me, gentle readers… it’s been seven days since my last post…”

It’s true. We drove to Stinson Beach last Thursday with four dear friends for a long weekend and some much needed “R&R”, and it’s taken me most of this week to catch up with myself and get back in the swing of things. Obviously, the decompression worked!

For those of you unfamiliar with Stinson Beach, it’s a little beach community in Marin County, California, with about 750 residents. A popular day trip for people from the San Francisco Bay Area and for tourists visiting northern California, it’s near such attractions as Muir Woods National Monument, Muir Beach, and Mount Tamalpais. It has a long beach with occasional opportunities for surfing, although the water is cold and fog is common throughout the year.

In 2002, a surfer was attacked by a 12-15 foot great white shark while surfing off Stinson Beach. The young man survived, but received more than 100 stitches to close his wounds. The attack was the second in Stinson Beach since 1998 and the 13th in Marin County since 1952. The surf off Stinson Beach is within an area known as the Red Triangle, where there have been an unusually high number of shark attacks. Needless to say, we stayed out of the water!

Our friends had the use of a beautiful beach house and invited us to share the weekend with them. What a rare treat! I won’t go into detail about what its owners refer to as their “beach house” — a luxury home by most people’s standards — but we enjoyed a panoramic view of the ocean and fell off to sleep every night listening to the surf just 16 steps from our back door!

Needless to say, Dawn and I took a lot of photos of the beach and the little towns of Stinson Beach and nearby Bolinas. We even visited the Point Reyes Lighthouse. It was a wonderful, relaxing weekend with good friends, no cell phones and no itinerary. I’ll try to get more images posted once I’ve had time to process and assemble them into an album. Meanwhile. I hope you enjoy these. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge.

This May, CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the most powerful particle accelerator yet created by humans, is scheduled to start smashing protons into each other with unprecedented impact speeds. The LHC will explore the leading explanation that mass arises from ordinary particles slogging through an otherwise invisible but pervasive field of virtual Higgs particles. In this image by Maximilien Brice, a person stands in front of the huge ATLAS detector (center, near bottom of frame), one of six detectors being attached to the LHC. This was the February 25, 2008 Astronomy Picture of the Day.

Of the three birds I photographed for this short series, this was by far the most uncooperative — he simply refused to look at me or the camera. As a result, all my images of him were “one-eye” captures. Not to worry, though, because I met some nice people at the Folsom Moose Lodge and had fun during the short photo shoot. And I learned something new about three birds I’d not photographed in the wild! It was an enjoyable and educational experience that proved my original point: Photo opportunities are everywhere — we just need to be open to spotting them. And have a camera ready! (Click on thumbnails to enlarge)

Great Horned Owl

Here’s one you may recognize: The Great Horned Owl was first seen in the Virginia colonies and the first published description was made in 1788 by Johann Gmelin. Sometimes known as Hoot Owls, Cat Owls or Winged Tigers, Great Horned Owls are found throughout North America from the northern tree line and then in Central and South America. They’re resident year-round, although birds living in the northern part of the species’ range may migrate south.

Great Horned Owls have large, staring yellow-orange eyes, usually bordered by an orange-buff facial disc. The name is derived from tufts of feathers resembling “horns” which are sometimes referred to as “ear tufts” but have nothing to do with hearing. The large feet are feathered to the ends of the toes, and their wingspan is 36-60 inches. Females are 10-20 percent larger than males.

They hunt by perching on snags and poles and watching for prey, or by gliding slowly above the ground. From high perches they dive down to the ground with wings folded before snatching prey, usually killed instantly when grasped by its large talons. A Great Horned Owl may take prey 2-3 times heavier than itself. They sometimes hunt by walking on the ground to capture small prey or wading into water to snatch frogs and fish. They’ve even been known to walk into chicken coops to take domestic fowl.

A long-lived owl, captive birds have been known to live 29-38 years, and wild owls up to 13 years. Most mortality is related to man — shootings, traps, road kills and electrocutions. Its only natural enemies are other Great Horned Owls and, occasionally, Northern Goshawks during disputes over nest sites. Peregrine Falcons have also been observed attacking Great Horned Owls.

Continuing from yesterday’s post, I also photographed a Eurasian Eagle Owl, a very cool and seemingly aloof bird with a face only a mother could love. (Click on the thumbnails below to enlarge.)

Eurasian Eagle Owl

Eagle owls are the largest owls in the world with an average wingspan of nearly six feet and are best known for their large, striking orange eyes. They are often called the Old World version of America’s widely distributed great horned owl. They have prominent ear tufts and are primarily brown-black and tawny-buff in color.

Found in North Africa, Europe, The Middle East and Asia, Eagle owls are primarily solitary animals except during the mating period. They fiercely defend their territory against other owls and will only overlap territories slightly if food is sparse. Despite their large size, they are very elusive creatures, spending most of their days roosting high in trees and remaining relatively inactive. They are nocturnal and become active at dusk and remain so throughout the night.

At the top of the food chain, Eagle owls are carnivores. They are primarily nocturnal hunters and have various hunting techniques. They take their prey in flight or on the ground. They prefer to hunt in open spacious locations rather than forests. Most owls are very capable hunters and the eagle owl is no exception. Owl wings have evolved to make very little noise when flapping. With their night vision, advanced hearing, and silent flight they are the hit men of their territory. Their prey usually has no idea they were being stalked. They feed on almost anything they can catch including rats, mice, voles, beetles and even large prey like deer fawns and foxes.

Eagle owls are considered rare but not yet threatened. Their numbers are steadily declining due to habitat loss from human encroachment.

Next: Great Horned Owl

Sometimes a photo op presents itself when you least expect it.

Dawn and I had just finished a jog a couple weekends ago and were driving home when we came upon a couple walking with an owl and a falcon! You don’t see that every day! To make a long story short, the couple was helping the Folsom Moose Lodge with a membership drive and invited us over to photograph their birds! Didn’t have to ask me twice!  (Click on the thumbnails below to enlarge)

Lanner Falcon

The Lanner Falcon is a native of all of Africa and the southern parts of Italy, Sicily, Greece and Asia Minor. It is essentially a bird of mountainous terrain except in Africa, where it can also be found in savannahs, plains and deserts. A fast-flying raptor, it is well designed for catching birds up to the size of a Guinea Fowl, and bats, especially the larger fruit bats. When prey of this kind is scarce, ground living mammals and lizards are taken. It will also gorge on locusts and flying termites when they are swarming.

Much, but not all of the Lanner Falcon’s prey is taken in the air, when the falcon descends to its prey and binds to it with a smack which can be heard for some distance. It then carries it off. Occasionally, it will strike its prey in the air and allow it to drop to the ground and collect it there, but this is less frequent behavior. When defending its nesting territory, it will often swoop with tremendous force at an animal it cannot hope to kill, which seems, nonetheless, an effective deterrent.

The Lanner Falcon has a shrill, piercing, almost screaming voice, similar in content to that of the Peregrine Falcon, but somewhat higher pitched.

Tomorrow: Eurasian Eagle Owl

The Sacramento Autorama, billed as the largest and second oldest running indoor car show in the world, returned to Cal Expo for its 58th annual exhibition February 8-10. Dawn and I, along with friends Michael and Sisko, went to see the 350 or so custom cars, hot rods, classics, motorcycles, and specialty vehicles from around the county and weren’t disappointed, although we somehow missed Henry Winkler and a couple other “Happy Days” actors that were apparently on hand. I took a camera and my “walk around” lens and snapped some photos.

Photographing an indoor car show, with all its chrome and bright lighting (and crowds!) always presents unique photographic challenges. I think next time I’ll bite the bullet and schlep a tripod and faster lenses. I’m thinking long exposures without flash might yield better results. These images were, in most cases, made using flash, all hand held. Also, here’s a list of show winners.

James sent this great photo of an owl in the hollow of a tree. Unfortunately. he was unable to provide any information about where and when it was taken or by whom. Nonetheless, it’s a great shot worth sharing.

If this is your image or you know who the photographer is, please let me know. I’m sure we’d all like to know the details.

This is a particularly interesting self-portrait, in part because it was taken by an astronaut of himself in space, but even more so because of the reflection in the glass of his helmet. Visible in the image, working in from the outer borders, are the edges of the reflecting helmet of a space suit, modules of the International Space Station (ISS), the Earth, the arms of Expedition 15 astronaut Clay Anderson, and the digital camera used to snap the image. This picture was taken during the shuttle orbiter Endeavour’s mission to expand the space station last August.

Once a year, the Light Station at Pigeon Point near San Francisco, California, is lit as it was over 100 years ago, its light generated by five kerosene lamps pouring through 24 rotating Fresnel lenses. Tyler Westcott captured this stunning image November 17, 2007, when light emanating from the Pigeon Point Lighthouse was particularly picturesque because of a thin fog that also blurred the distant Moon. Still active, the light house now uses a more efficient flashing aerobeacon.

An interesting side note, during the latter 1970s, the lighthouse was guarded by an 800 pound pig named Lester. I’ve tried to find a photo of Lester “on duty” but have so far been unsuccessful. If you have or find one, I hope you’ll share it here.