Author Archives: Two Shutterbirds

Additions to Collections: Texas Ducks and Some 2012 Favorites

The jet stream being directly over Texas for the past several weeks has meant appalling weather and much time spent on the computer. As a result, some new images have been added to Texas Ducks and Some 2012 Favorites. Please take a look!

Snowshoe Hare in Summer Colors, Kalaloch, Olympic Peninsula, Washington
Snowshoe Hare in Summer Colors at Kalaloch, Olympic Peninsula, Washington. For MP: Critters don’t get much cuter than this!

© 2013 Christopher R. Cunningham or Elisa D. Lewis. All rights reserved. No text or images may be duplicated or distributed without permission.

Some of our 2012 Favorites: New Collection

2012 was a great year in the field, and a great year at home. We’re excited to share some of our 2012 favorites. We continued to photograph the birds and other wildlife of Texas, from the Rio Grande Valley to Central Texas to deep East Texas. We also got a chance to spend a week on the Olympic Peninsula and surrounding areas in Washington State, including Puget Sound. We worked hard to improve our photographic technique in both long telephoto and macro work and tried to keep up with developments in digital photography: we are all about getting better. We worked at continuing to expand our ornithological knowledge and know many more birds by sight and sound than we did when we started the year. We also took the plunge and decided to set up our own website and share our explorations with a wider audience. We are excited about the future and are currently planning excursions to places we have never been to see birds we have never seen before. . . .

 

American Robin on moss, Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Washington
American Robin Fledgling on Moss, Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Washington. The temperate rain forests of the Olympic Peninsula are some of the most beautiful and exotic habitats in North America.

 © 2012 Christopher R. Cunningham and Elisa D. Lewis. All rights reserved. No text or images may be duplicated or distributed without permission.

New Article and Collection: Stalking the Hunters

Stalking the Hunters: Observing and Photographing the Predatory Water Birds of Brazos Bend State Park, Texas explores the hunting activities of waders and other birds at one of the Texas Gulf Coast’s finest birding sites.

Little Blue Heron with American Bullfrog Tadpole at Brazos Bend State Park, Texas
This Little Blue Heron has just captured an American Bullfrog tadpole. Photo taken at 40-Acre Lake.

Some of Our 2011 Favorites: New Collections

Each excursion into the field is filled with expectation. Will the mated pair of Pileated woodpeckers be at the nesting cavity today? Will we get another shot at photographing a Great Egret catching gar? Sometimes expectations pan out and sometimes we are pleasantly surprised by a new sighting, a new interaction, or a new discovery of some sort. In many ways, last year was our first year of serious photographic effort. We became willing to go great distances and work under hostile environmental conditions: we visited deserts, swamps, jungles, and mountains, and braved heat, cold, high-altitude electrical storms, bugs, alligators, and Grizzly Bears to get the shots. We had a blast!

We hope you will stop to take a look at Chris’s selected 2011 favorites, stay a while to see Elisa’s selected 2011 favorites, and then come back for more. Welcome!

Curious Empidonax Flycatcher at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Texas
Empidonax sp. flycatcher, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Texas. 
Empidonaxes are notoriously hard to identify to the species level. Elisa watched for hours as this unidentifiable but undeniably charming little bird flew to and from this riverside perch occasionally bringing back a tasty insect treat.
Male Mountain Bluebird at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
This proud and confident bird allowed Chris to approach within twenty feet. Male Mountain Bluebird at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.