It's difficult to fully explain just how much work is involved in getting a photograph that is artistic, and worthy of being on my website----HogbatsPhotography.com.  Wildlife photography, Bald Eagle, Wind River Canyon, Wyoming"Bald Eagle in Flight", Wind River Canyon, Wyoming. and consequently learning conservationism, is my full-time gig and I have no other occupation.  I'm able to devote all my waking time to documenting the extraordinary and isolated wildlife here in Wind River Canyon, Wyoming. 

     Sometimes certain wild animals are to be seen in my dreams; for instance when I'm chasing around Bald Eagles in the winter months.  When I'm devoting all my time to a specific species, i.e. Hummingbirds, I seem to spend twenty-six hours a day with them. 

     At this moment we're in a migration period, and birds are moving into and through the Canyon.  Early this week a large boisterous group of Cedar Waxwings, migrating through, stopped by to fatten up on our plump juniper berries; the berries also provide food for the Robins that spend the winter here in the Wind River Canyon.  There were a dozen, probably more, that would swarm into a juniper tree and wolf down as many of the blueish berries as they could, in as short a span as seemingly possible.  These Waxwings could literally eat faster than I could shoot in the dim morning light; and in the bright afternoons dark shadows presented different exposure problems altogether.  

     Over a five day period I shot more than 400 digital frames, and looked at nearly every one to see which was worth more interest.  They turned into the usual obsessive twelve hour "work" days, with all the digital darkroom time, and I finally had eight or so that I liked late yesterday; but it didn't take a frying pan to the head to figure which picture was going to be uploaded today.  So after six long days of work, here is the one photograph that spoke to us.

Cedar Waxwing, Wind River Canyon, WyomingCedar Waxwing with a juniper berry, photographed in the Wind River Canyon, Wyoming.       I don't know if it's male or female, as Cedar Waxwing adults look the same; at least to humans they do.  The Cedar Waxing can be told from the Bohemian Waxwing by the lack of yellow marks on the wings; and the Cedar Waxwing has a yellow underbelly.  But never in fifteen years have I seen a Bohemian in the Canyon, except for that guy in the van. 

     Cedar Waxwings are much smaller than the Robin, and are only slightly larger than a House Finch (I've had them both in my hands).  They eat berries and bugs, and aren't interested in our sunflower seeds and birdseed; this presents an altogether different challenge in getting a photograph of one.  So what I do is to watch them, and try to understand their behavior, so I can find ways of getting closer without disturbing their eating habits. 

     In this case I ended up on top of the picnic table with ten pounds of camera, and a fear of falling off and getting skewered by a big white lens.  My advice has always been to swallow your fears, and focus the rush you're feeling into getting the shots.  I use these heightened moments to focus my attention and reactions in getting what I want; In this case a Cedar Waxwing with a juniper berry in it's beak!

     Now imagine the moment, I'm standing on top of the picnic table with a Canon 7D and the grip, with their off-white 300mm f/4 and the 1.4 extender III; no room for a tripod, and I need one because it's cloudy and I never like working over ISO 400!  This shot was taken @ f/5.6 with a shutter speed of only 1/160th of a second, and the right stuff is sharp.  My hands were steady, and thank Mother Nature for giving us all image stabilization.

     Audubon recently finished a seven year study of the effects our climate-changed world will have on the Earth's birds; "Nearly half of our birds are threatened by climate change, and some may suffer extinction."  But you can make a difference, even in the smallest of ways.  Our behavior as humans is to be the stewards of this planet, and while I love short term profits as much as the next stockholder, isn't it time for our generation to finally make some decisions that are good for the Earth's health?  Don't we want to leave our children's, children's, children something besides flooded cities and air so thick you can't see your shoes, like in China right now?  While I don't know what the future will be for sure, I do know that we need to err on the side of caution, for our birds and our grandchildren.