Friday, December 24, 2010

Photo of the Year 2010

I was afflicted with employment in 2010, so pickings for Photo of the Year are thin. I actually considered whether to renominate "Little Brothers" from way back in 2004, but I'll settle for this plug: Buy "Nothin' but Puffins (and other silly observations" now available on Amazon.com. I also considered whether to pick a flower photo from New York gardens or the California desert.

But I've never selected anything except a wildlife image, so ultimately I decided to turn to a Mississippi River eagle photo for the third time (also 2005 and 2007). This one is from a very reliable roosting tree on the Keokuk, IA waterfront. If eagles are widely spread, as they were last February, there are always at least a few that can be found in or near this tree. I'm planning to head back to Keokuk in a few weeks, and I'm hoping to cured of the affliction I mentioned earlier sometime between March and September.

Keokuk Eagle
Keokuk Eagle

Here are my POY selections for 2002-2009.

Young red-tailed hawk Junior I (2002 edition) right outside my office window.
Junior I
2002
Gentoo penguins greet each other, Jougla Point, Dec. 4, 2003.
Gentoo Penguins
2003
Puffins on Machias Seal Island, Gulf of Maine, 2004.
Little Brothers
2004
Bald Eagle along the Mississippi River, 2005.
Bald Eagle
2005
Blue Jay, 2006.
Blue Jay
2006
Eagle with fish, 2007.
Eagle with fish
2007
Great Horned Owls, 2008.
Great Horned Owls
2008
Custer State Park Bighorn, 2009.
Custer SP Bighorn
2009

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Squaw Creek again

I didn't make it down to see the eagles and geese and Squaw Creek NWR in northwest Missouri last year, so I wanted to make sure to get there this year. The refuge web site said there were more than 100 eagles watching the geese, but when I made it there on Friday there seemed to be more people than eagles. Maybe they (the eagles) have already started to move on. I snapped a few images Friday and Saturday morning before trying to beat a blizzard back to South Dakota. Instead I got stranded in Onawa, IA overnight before making it home.

If "10" is the best I've ever seen at Squaw Creek (see 2005 and 2006), I would rate this trip maybe a "4".


Missouri eagle