I stumbled across a couple of pretty good wildlife news blogs recently. They both seem to have very informative posts. If you are like me, you already have a lot of feeds you are subscribed to, but these two are worth considering adding a couple more!
From their about page: “Named after the Ute word for wolves, Sinapu is dedicated to the restoration and protection of native carnivores and their wild habitat in the Southern Rockies, and connected high plains and deserts.”. . I particularly like their category tag “Postcards from nutsville!”
A great blog on wolf news, recovery programs, and threats
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Something you didn’t know #2 . in a followup to my tagging to reveal things ‘you didn’t know’ – I thought it would be a good lead-in to simply refer you to a recent article at The Detroiter.com. . It is a nice article about Dispatch and the efforts and dedication of the founder. Dispatch is a local publication in Detroit that celebrates the work of poets, writers, and artists. The article reveals the relation to me.
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Yes Tim and Penny, not only did you immortalize your love in the bark of this very nice birch, but now you are immortalized in my blog as well. Ok, your relationship probably didn’t last. And not to pick on Tim and Penny specifically, but how about “MD + JP”, “Sue + Tom”, and of course the ever favorite “John and Kim TLA.” All probably history by now, but this tree still bears your insignificant proclamations.
Please forgive my bitterness, but I have never understood the compulsion to carve one’s initials in the side of a tree. I know, I know – to be young and stupid – or perhaps the growing sign of age with my intolerance. Is it that much of a tribute to another person? Would the kids key the same on the side of their car? Or are all natural objects simply around to serve whatever our whims may be? Hopefully someday people like this will learn to appreciate the details of nature, and how valuable and increasingly rare they are without their personal mark on them. Better yet, go the tatoo route instead – show the real commitment to each other. The relationship will certainly last longer that way. 
Fortunately nature has ways of erasing some of our impacts. Some of this birch has peeled away, and fortunately didn’t succumb to insect invasion through the many cuts it received. I see this happening in many other aspects of nature – where we may destroy an area completely, and if left alone long enough, nature reclaims.
The birch tolerated Tim and Penny, just as nature tolerates so many of our trespasses. One day people may see respect for other things and people are better ways to show appreciation and dedication. I can only hope.
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Black and white photography is prevalent with landscapes, people, photojournalism and so many other types of subjects. Why is it then that we rarely see black and white images of birds (among other wildlife)? Is it because birds are generally very colorful in their own right that showing them in monochrome somehow robs them of their beauty?
As with any subject in black and white, we tend to focus more on textures, shapes, and forms. Certainly birds have all of these characteristics, and should be no different than the other ‘well done’ black and white subjects. When I wrote my previous post on Seeing and Letting go, I mentioned that birds have a pretty tall ‘creativity ladder’ associated with them in my opinion. I did a quick Google search on black and white bird photography, and I turned up very little in the way of actual monochrome photographs. So perhaps this is a rung worth exploring a little more.
And coincidentally, while doing some browsing on creativity tools and thought starters, I came across this new black and white conversion technique. It is labeled as what Greg Gorman uses (or used to use), who is most well known for his great work with models and actors. It is quite different than many black and white conversion techniques, but I find it yields some very rich, deep tones. With my own set of models and actors I began to play a little, and was pleased with some of the results. I don’t think you could have better candidates for black and white photography than puffins and razorbill auks! After all, nature has already done most of the work for you. Cool stuff!
I want to say thanks again to all the great visitors I have here. By sharing your comments, thoughts, and ideas, you have made this blog richer than I could have ever done.
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I have been tagged by Paul Lester to reveal 8 things you might not know about me. Since I have read some other posts lately about people’s pets, I have been wanting to introduce you to Chinny, even before being ‘tagged.’ So you will get only one for now. 
Chinny (short for Chinook) is a female, purebred Alaskan Malamute (commonly confused with a Husky). Malamutes in general are a lot bigger than huskies. My wife Lisa rescued her from a drug dealer at the age of one (no, she was not a customer!!), Chinny is now 6. Her previous owner left her outside 100% of the time, often with no food or water, and was frequently abusive. This guy was a neighbor to my wife’s mother, and one day she just went over there and said why don’t I take that dog off your hands. The guy agreed, stating she was a terrible watchdog, which is why he got her. Anyone that knows the personality of a malamute would say -’what an idiot’ – Malamutes are not watchdogs. They will usually greet everyone regardless if they know them.
About a year ago, she was diagnosed as having canine diabetes. This is supposedly quite common among northern breeds of dogs, no one knows why for sure. As a result, she needs two insulin injections per day as well as specially prepared food and a lot of control over what she can/can’t eat. Once dogs develop diabetes, it is with them for life. Unfortunately oral medications aren’t available either. She is well known at our vet’s office now due to the frequency of getting her glucose levels checked.
Before being diagnosed, we had a kennel we really liked where she would be boarded during some of our trips. However, they will no longer take her because she requires shots. That has led us on a search for a kennel that we like, that will also give shots. No luck yet, but still need to check out a couple leads. So our dive trips and other travel plans have been put on hold until we resolve this kennel issue. We generally try trips now where we can take her with us.
As pictured above, her mood completely changes when there is snow on the ground. Like night and day actually – you can tell these dogs have snow in their blood. We wanted to someday try her with a sled, but the diabetes also places a limit on her exertion levels. So we are nervous about that now.
She attracts a lot of attention when we are out walking her or at the pet store, etc. People just seem to love snow dogs. And since she is such a ham, she is more than happy to receive the attention. But when people get a northern breed dog, often they get frustrated by their stubbornness. They are also extremely intelligent and like to ‘talk’ a lot. . Chinny is no different with all of these characteristics.
So that is a short introduction on a member of our family, and one thing you probably didn’t know.
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