Reflection of a mountain

I was born and raised at the foot of this beautiful mountain, Mt. Shasta. I never appreciated it until I’d left home. While I’d seen many photos of it’s reflection in Lake Siskiyou I’d never taken one myself. On my last trip up there I decided to make it a priority, unfortunately the closer I got to the prefect spot for a reflection the more the lake was rippled by the wind. Still I’m semi-happy with the results.

Ich bin am Fuße dieses wunderschönen Berges, Mt. Shasta, geboren und aufgewachsen. Ich habe es nie zu schätzen gewusst, bis ich von zu Hause weg war. Obwohl ich viele Fotos von seiner Spiegelung im Siskiyou-See gesehen hatte, hatte ich selbst noch nie eines gemacht. Bei meiner letzten Reise dorthin habe ich beschlossen, es zu einer Priorität zu machen, aber je näher ich dem perfekten Ort für eine Reflexion kam, desto mehr wurde der See vom Wind gekräuselt. Trotzdem bin ich halb zufrieden mit den Ergebnissen.

Kleine Räuber

Anke und ich waren am Samstag im Otterzentrum in Hankensbüttel. Neben den Fischottern gibt es dort auch andere Marderarten zu sehen, so wie den Iltis (unten) und die domestizierte Form des Iltis, das Frettchen (oben). Das war auch mal wieder die Gelegenheit mit großen Objektiven auf kleine Tiere zu “schießen”.

Anke and I were at the Otter Center in Hankensbüttel on Saturday. Besides the otters there are also other marten species to see, like the polecat (below) and the domesticated form of the polecat, the ferret (above). This was also once again the opportunity to “shoot” small animals with large lenses.

Burrowing Owl

I’ve been wanting to get some pictures of these cute little burrowing owls but they have eluded me until this morning. Fortunately these owls are very social and are active during the day. They use the abandoned burrows of ground squirrels and other mammals. Their habitat is being infringed upon heavily in Arizona due to extreme human development in the state.

Happy Earth Day

This beautiful orb that we live on never ceases to amaze me. No matter how hard we try to destroy it, it tries to resist any way it can. The above picture was taken about 2 years after after a major wildfire devastated everything in this particular area. The picture shows just one of the ways the earth continues to fight by regenerating itself. I love this world we live in that provides us with the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink and the beauty we see. I would like to think that it will be able to continue to provide these necessities for life for the generations following us. And if we can get all the countries in the world to participate in protecting the environment, maybe it can. I pray that we are not too late. Enjoy your weekend and stay healthy and Happy Earth Day!

Stairway to the bottom

This would, by many, not be considered a ‘stairway to heaven’ since it is attached to O’Shaughnessy Dam that blocked the Tuolumne River and created Hetch Hetchy reservoir and flooded the other ‘Yosemite Valley’ .

Dies würde von vielen nicht als “Treppe zum Himmel” angesehen werden, da es an den O’Shaughnessy-Staudamm angeschlossen ist, der den Tuolumne River blockierte und den Hetch Hetchy-Stausee schuf und das andere “Yosemite Valley” überflutete.