 |
|
| THE NEWSLETTER OF PHOTOGRAPHER PAUL BANNICK | August 21, 2009 |
 A young Great Gray Owl anxiously awaits the delivery of food from his mother. Most owls, are flightless when they fall, or leap from the nest. The days and even weeks after fledging can be treacherous for these young birds until they learn to claw their way up snags, shrubs and eventually trees. |
|
"The Owl and the Woodpecker" |
What's New?TRAVEL WITH RICK STEVES, SATURDAY AUGUST 22: Several months ago, I had the great pleasure of interviewing with Rick Steves for his "Travel with Rick Steves" NPR radio show. The segment on The Owl and The Woodpecker will begin 19 minutes into this Saturday's show. For a list of which NPR stations will feature the show in your area and at what time, see: http://www.ricksteves.com/radio/whereitairs.htm . In Seattle and Bellingham you can tune in to KUOW (94.9 FM) at 2 p.m. and in San Francisco you can tune in to KDFC 102.1 (102.1 FM) at 6 a.m. NEW BOOK TOUR DATES AND CITIES: My book tour continues with several new Washington, California, Oregon and even a new Kentucky event. After this Saturday morning's presentation at The Cedar River Watershed in North Bend, I will be integrating dozens of new images and stories into my presentations including the photos and story in this newsletter. SPECIAL SEATTLE PRESENTATION: I am particularly excited about my September 17th presentation at the new Mountaineers Clubhouse in Seattle's Sandpoint neighborhood, THE OWLS AND WOODPECKERS OF THE CASCADES, OLYMPICS AND COLUMBIA PLATEAU. Tony Angell, the award winning artist and author and who wrote the foreword for my book will be making the introduction for the evening, and Martyn Stewart, one of the world's best nature sound recorders, and the man behind the CD of owl and woodpecker calls in my book will honor us with his presence. I hope you can join us! Tickets are available at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/77010 2010 PAUL BANNICK & BIRDNOTE CALENDAR: This 8.5 x 11 wall calendar features twelve of my favorite recent photographs of North American birds. Printed on FSC-certified paper, this calendar is a perfect environmentally-friendly gift! The calendar will be available very soon and will be available for $15 plus tax and shipping. Quantities are limited, so let me know if I should reserve one for you. This year's calendar includes photos of the following birds: Northern Flicker, Black-capped Chickadee, Townsend's Warbler, Osprey, Evening Grosbeak, Pileated Woodpecker juveniles, Rufous Hummingbird, Burrowing Owl juveniles, Greater Roadrunner, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Varied Thrush, Pine Grosbeak. (see the cover at the bottom of this email)
Getting off the ground and away from dangerThe Great Gray Owl featured in these photos fell 50 feet from his nest, and after wandering on the ground for several days, he began to climb progressively larger snags before taking on the taller and safer trees. 
Young Great Grays inevitably fly from the snags they climb and immediately run towards tall, leaning trees. Once close to a tree, the youngsters stare up as if to asess their chances of success. 
Carnivorous mammals, such as this black-phase red fox, prey upon young owls unable to climb beyond their reach. 
After choosing a tree, young owls throw all of their energy at the tree and use feet and bill like crampons and ice axe to scale trees. Their wings serve multiple functions; serving both as propulsion tools and as arms to push their body up the tree and pull themselves up onto limbs. 
Climbing trees is tricky business. While the tree may lean at first, it may straighten out further up the trunk, and then there are the branches that appear in exactly the wrong places. The young owls are tenacious. They dig deep and try to push their way up the tree, clinging to any branch or trunk until they cannot hold on any longer. 
The Birds of BirdNote 2010 celebrates a year's worth of birds, through the photography of Paul Bannick and the words of BirdNote. Calendars will be available for $15 plus tax and shipping. Quantities are limited, so let me know how many you would like me to reserve for you by sending me an email at paul.bannick@gmail.com.
|
||||||||||
| You are receiving this email because you recently signed up for my PhotoList at one of my events or online. Thanks for your interest in my work. You will receive periodic emails with small photos, event announcements and other information. Forward this newsletter to a friend, or unsubscribe anytime. |