So I've landed at my hacienda in Utah...
for the next little while, stalking the collared lizards with my new big lens and enjoying the spring bloom of desert wildflowers.
Sunset this evening. Magnificent.
Waxing gibbous moon...
this evening with 78% of the surface visible. Full moon is on Thursday.
Canon 5Div with 500 mm EF lens at 1/125 sec, f/5 at ISO 100. This is a cropped jpeg right off the camera with no adjustments or sharpening. I really like this lens.
A morning in the blind...
on Middle Pine Lake in Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge was enjoyable on this bright and sunny day.
Male common goldeneye.
Female ring-necked duck.
Male ring-necked ducks.
Trumpeter Swans at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge...
shot with my big new glass on a gimbal tripod head at approximately 100 meters.
This Northern Flicker...
was perched on a tree trunk no more than four meters away, basking in the sun and all puffed up for maximum insulation in this frigid weather.
Image shot with my new Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens - through an unwashed double-pane window. I’m pretty pleased.
Close-up of breast feathers in image above.
The long flight home...
from one white landscape to another. The numbers: Approximately 9,000 miles on three flights (USH - EZE - DFW - GEG) during a 28 hour long period, not including the final Uber ride. Ugh.
The deeply glaciated terrain of the Beartooth Plateau north of Yellowstone National Park.
Tierra del Fuego National Park at nearly the bottom of the world...
features a lovely coastline of folded phyllites and southern beech forest. What a nice change to see green in the landscape after spending so much time in ice and snow.
The southernmost post office on planet Earth is found in the park.
And here’s the postmaster of this outpost, a real character. I’m heading home to the northern winter tomorrow!
Deception Island reprise...
with a panoramic view from the summit of Ronald Hill above Whaler’s Bay.
(Click image to enlarge.)
The British Antarctic Survey station and older Norwegian whaling operation were swept by lahars in 1969 during another eruption in nearby Telefon Bay.
Descent from Ronald Hill where the panorama was taken.
Last landing in Antarctica this season...
at Neko Harbor on the peninsula. An entirely terrific last day on the icy continent.
The Silver Explorer (center, distance) surrounded by brash ice from nearby calving glaciers in Neko Harbor.
Brown Bluff dressed in fresh snow and ice...
And a highly curious Gentoo Penguin chick investigating our gear on shore.
Towering iceberg in the Drake Passage...
as we make our way toward Elephant Island and the Antarctic Peninsula.
Ship's cruise into Drygalski Fjord...
on the southeastern end of South Georgia.
Grytviken whaling station...
as seen from above the restored church, on the return walk from Maiviken, a nearby historic sealing station.
Inside the museum, a juvenile Wandering Albatross with a nine foot wingspan!
Industrial remains of the early 20th century whaling station.
Expedition team member Patrick Demus and me at the pass between Grytviken and Maiviken. I’m trying to convince the guests that this German-speaking Austrian fellow is my nephew!
Gold Harbour panorama...
on a gorgeous day where, unfortunately, wind and swell prevented us from landing. A huge disappointment.
(Click image to enlarge.)
Panoramic view of Stromness...
a historic whaling station to which Sir Ernest Shackleton returned after his epic adventure in 1916. It’s from here that the rescue of the men on Elephant Island was launched.
(Click image to enlarge.)
Beginning the short walk from Stromness to Shackleton’s waterfall, one mile up the valley.
Shackleton’s waterfall, the last obstacle on the crossing of South Georgia.
My reflection in an Antarctic fur seal’s eye.
The view of Godthul Harbor...
from the summit of Mount Edda, nearly 1,000 feet above sea level.
(Click image to enlarge.)
On the bridge of the Silver Explorer...
as we enter North Cumberland Bay on South Georgia.
From left to right: John, the 2nd officer is making a notation in the ship’s logbook, Captain Eric Saint Plancat has the conn, and Lawrence, the seaman, has the helm.
Shag Rocks heralds the approach to South Georgia...
and is draped in guano from the South Georgia Shag.
The "Neck" at Saunders Island...
(Click image to enlarge.)