CalevPhoto

The largest starfish in the world

Among the prime wildlife destinations in the world, the Pacific Northwest is probably not among them.  Sure, we have some interesting critters – but we have nowhere near the diversity of other locations in the world.  Nevertheless, one thing we can lay claim to is having the largest and one of the coolest starfish in the world.

The sunflower starfish is the largest starfish in the world and one of the most feared predators of the ocean.  I remember watching them on Planet Earth one night and thinking how cool it would be to actually see one.  I later learned that one can find them in the Pacific Northwest but figured that my chances of actually seeing one were slim.

While walking on the beach at Kopachuck State Park, someone mentioned that there was a starfish with many legs.  Excited, I walked over and sure enough it was the starfish I suspected.

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Sometimes you just need to realize equipment will not help

As some of you may know, I have been eyeing a large telephoto for quite some time.  I have long agonized when I will finally purchase my large telephoto and which one will I buy.  Will I buy the more portable 500mm F4 or the longer but heavier 600mm F4?  Perhaps I will go all out and spring for the 800mm 5.6, or perhaps I will go the sports route and get the 400mm 2.8?  I have spent a great deal of time debating this and bugging others about it.

This weekend, though, I decided to do something a bit different.  Given a home I had to photograph in Monroe, I decided to take a trip to Ben Hierland’s Wildlife Park.  I took along my 100-400 and my 7D and used my monopod for stabilization.  I’ve had my 7D for a good month now, but this was the first time I had actually used it for wildlife.  The idea was that the crop factor should give me a good idea what magnification I truly needed and which lens would work the best for me.

I must say I was completely shocked at what the answer turned out to be.

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My new resolution for each Friday

Next to my office, there are several ponds that are teeming with wildlife.  Once in awhile, I go down there during lunch to take a few pictures.  I often find that my best macro shots are taken in places I go to often.  For instance, the majority of my best shots come from my backyard.

Therefore, I have decided to organize a group mini-photoshoot each Friday during lunch.  This will push me to make sure I show up here each Friday.  Each day, I also try to do something different.  For instance, the last time I went there I took my MP-E 65 and took pictures of the few creatures I could find.  Conditions were wet and chilly and much insect life had not yet appeared.  However, I did find some interesting worms.

As with current trends, I am trying to pay more attention to composition in my shots.  Therefore, it worked out quite well that I found some interesting worms.

I am excited to keep visiting this location each week to see it slowly change.  It is a very interesting area and I will try a few non-macro shots as well in the future.  For instance, there are a great deal of birds here so I will bring my 100-400 at some point.

A Trip to the Manu Biosphere Part IV

I think it has become quite obvious how much I enjoyed my trip to Manu based on the length of this series of posts. Today, I will try to wrap up this series. I will start today with the biggest mystery of the trip – some form of creature that today I still have no idea what it is.

A video probably would have been more helpful here, but these weren’t simple hairs on the bottom of a leaf. They were little organisms that were moving and were not permanently attached to the leaf. They could crawl sort of like a caterpillar. Our guide mentioned that they were extremely rare and he had only seen them once before. However, he did not know the name for them. If anyone has any idea what these things are I would be appreciative.

The following shot is one of my favorites from the trip.

Those of you who have been to South America or are interested in reptiles will recognize this as a caiman. Caiman are very numerous in this area of the world and we saw a good number of them as we motored by. There are two types of caiman – the common white caiman and the larger, but far rarer, black caiman. From the wildlife books I read, white caiman are very unlikely to attack swimmers and it is not dangerous to swim in the vicinity of them. The same can not be said of the black caiman. Though attacks are rare, they have been known to attack. Manu is one of the few areas in the world where you can still see black caiman, which we did. Needless to say, we didn’t go swimming.

The following shot is of a very common phenomenon in tropical jungles, but is something which looks rather strange to us who come from temperate areas.

A misconception many people have about rainforests, which unfortunately is shared by those who burn them down for crops, is that rainforests have very rich soils. This is actually very far from the truth. The fact is that leaf and branch litter that reaches the ground decays quite fast and therefore the soil never has the chance to build up the rich top soil so common in temperate forests, where the change in seasons aids the buildup of good soil. Therefore, in tropical forests, the rich part of the soil is isolated to a very thin portion at the top. To combat this, trees like this one send out a wide range of roots like these ones.

The following shot was taken shortly before I took my more well known shot.

This was taken early in the morning on an oxbow lake. Oxbow lakes are formed when a river changes course and are one of the best places to see wildlife. This particular oxbow lake was amazing. Usually in rainforests you really have to work to see wildlife, but this wasn’t the case here. Everywhere we turned we saw something interesting, including several species of monkey and the very rare giant otter. Speaking of monkeys, one of the most amazing experiences I had there was waking up early morning to hear what sounded like a large monster next to my tent. The sound was incredibly loud and it sounded like there was the most evil, vile, thing outside. I knew that it wasn’t a jaguar and must be something relatively harmless so I started to get dressed and searched for my flashlight to get a look at what it was. Then the noise stopped. During breakfast we asked the guide what that thing was. It was a howler monkey, the loudest land animal on earth. According to the guide this one was relatively close, where close was about 500 meters!

The following bird is called a hoatzin, and is one of the most unique birds on earth. They cannot fly well and are easily approachable, which is how I managed to get this shot. Superficially at least, they bear the closest resemblance to prehistoric birds.

By far the most luxurious housing we had was at Manu Wildlife Center, with its monogrammed towels, wildlife library, and nice dining facilities. It also had several wild macaws that simply wouldn’t leave. They were found as eggs by the local staff and raised there, then set free. While they are completely free to go, they like the center and it is even possible to rub their bellies! They love attention and one of them kept flying into me, then it would try to get me to rub its belly.

The following was our living quarters at Manu Wildlife Center.

Finally, after nine wonderful days travelling through the Andes and the Manu river, it was time to leave.

Before I headed back to the States, I managed to find time to visit Machu Picchu for a day. I’ll end with a few shots from this amazing place.