paul_ashton

It's not that simple, Robert, not along the Texas Gulf Coast. I

absolutely agree with you but the amount of space dedicated

and open to the public does not always give us that option. High

Island, for example, consists of only two quite small sanctuaries

that are open to the public. There seemed to be more birders

than birds there this morning! Private lands in Texas are, simply

put, private!

At Bolivar I did hike in but "they" followed me for over a mile,

perhaps assuming that I knew what I was doing (!) and knew all

the best spots.

The truth is that weekdays must be better, but I have to work.

I just spent a most enjoyable morning along the Upper Texas

Gulf Coast, stopping at four locations: Anahuac NWR, Anahuac

East Bayou NWR, High Island and Bolivar Flats. The weather

was warm with no real expectation for a migratory fallout.

I was the first visitor to both Anahuac locations and these were

the places I personally derived the most satisfaction and, if the

films prove it, some good shots. Everything kinda went down hill

from there.

High Island is world renowned as a birders' paradise and there

were plenty (too many) visitors at the two official Audubon

locations. Every time I set up for a shot a group of birders would

come up and point at my subject, causing it to disappear. Sigh.

Bolivar Flats was the same. If you have very high powered

monoculars, you can stand as a group a long way from the birds

and TALK to each other about what you can see. After half an

hour of stalking a large group of brown pelicans and with only a

couple of shots taken, the birders caught up with me and

proceded to scare off my subjects! Meantime a beautiful

tricolored heron flew real close to us and they didn't even notice

it, even though I was clicking away!

Please don't get me wrong, I think it's wonderful that so many

people are interested in nature along our coastline and will

come from far away to admire the incredible diversity that is

available. But there does seem to be a difference of priority

between the majority (holding mono/binoculars) and the minority

(lugging around moderately heavy glass). Has anyone else had

a similar experience?

Miles that's a very good concept! Question, where did you get

the map from? I would like to use a similar style map for a web

page on Big Bend NP but all the ones I could use are

copyrighted. I have been thinking about making my own map in

Illustrator.

Greg, the Tandayapa Valley sounds relatively easy compared to

visiting Amazonas (the Oriente). Not that this is difficult but you

will need time and patience on your side! My experience in

jungle areas (I always think the term "tropical rainforest" is an

invention!) is that they are monotonously dark green with very

little evidence of life unless you happen to be Sir David

Attenborough. Everyone tells me I should go to Costa Rica and

be proven wrong, but areas like Colombia (Putumayo), Gabon,

Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka have all

convinced me that I have seen enough of the tropics and should

spend the rest of my life in a desert! For this reason I would

much prefer the Galapagos where at least you can see the

wildlife up front and personal.

State Department advisories are worth reading but not always

that accurate, as I have found when on location! But do be

aware that there is the potential for flare ups between the

Indians and the authorities concerning oil exploration and

production in the Oriente.

Dane mentioned the Hot Springs. A few years ago the "desert

telegraph" had a story that some Europeans were skinny

dipping at Hot Springs and that the Park Rangers were none too

happy about it as there had been complaints from people with

children. A Ranger told us that had they been caught they would

have been ejected from the Park.

The Hot Springs area has some interesting pictographs and

abandoned structures which add to the photo opportunities of

the area, even if the opportunity for some nude photography is

not available!

Incidentally, Europeans are apparently now second as a group

of visitors to BBNP after native Texans. Apparently the Texas

Tourist Board is doing an excellent job of advertising BBNP in

Europe but not elsewhere in North America. We have met

numerous German, French and British visitors over the years

and last week spoke with a family from Moscow, Russia (i.e. not

Moscow, Texas).

South Rim view on December 30, 2001, just to get your juices

flowing!<div></div>

Wolfgang, you will find Big Bend all we say it is and more! There

is nowhere quite like it.

By the end of April the Park is getting to be warm to very hot and

you must be made aware that heat exhaustion and dehydration

are the greatest risks you will face (unless you insist on poking a

stick at an angry rattlesnake). The park authorities recommend

a gallon of water a day for hikers and this is a minimum

requirement. Pasy attention to all their other recommendations

as well.

Now, as to your questions. Last week (see previous post) the

occotillo were blooming everywhere but there were very few

other flowers in evidence because it has been so dry. If it rains

in the next few weeks things could change dramatically, so keep

your fingers crossed (the locals and the wildlife will thank you!)

It is reported that all the black bears have left (gone south into

Mexico) because of the drought. You would be unlikely to see

them anyway even if they had stayed. The key to seeing wildlife

is to know when and where. Typically the times when they are

most active are dawn and dusk and they will be looking for

water, so the springs and water holes are the best places to be.

The best places are often remote because you really don't want

to be around other people, particularly if they make a lot of noise.

Some hikers never understand why they see nothing on the

trails, but singing US Army marching songs has an effect on

wildlife - they flee! In my experience you do best if you have a 4

wheel drive (high clearance pickup truck is actually all you need

when it is so dry) and then select one or more of the excellent

primitive camp sites in the desert. Examples include Ernst

Tinaja and Glenn Springs. People have been advised against

camping along the Rio Grande (the River Road) but my

experience is that things can happen anywhere in the park (in

1994 a lone camper was shot twice and killed in Pine Canyon -

my wife and I were camping in the next canyon at the time). I say

this not to put you off, Big Bend is a lot safer than any American

city if you have lots of common sense and no enemies! We go

back at least once a year!

Because it may be hot, consider spending some time in the

Chisos Mountains. If the weather is hot, it will feel cooler at

7,000 feet and there is plenty to see and photograph.

Unfortunately the long range visibility may be impaired due to a

variety of reasons including pollution (Mexico is always blamed

for this!), smoke from wild fires and dust due to strong winds.

There may even be some low clouds around! When this is the

case, turn to macrophotography and look for textures among the

desert plants, etc.

Don't forget the archeological ruins (pictographs to early 20th

century ranches and mines).

My favorite landscapes include the Sierra del Carmen at sunset

(hence their name due to the alpenglow) taken from the road to

Rio Grande Village, the Chisos Mountains with a full moon

framed by the steep walls of St Elena Canyon, ultra wide angle

photos to exentuate the vastness of Big Bend, Casa Grande

from the Basin in late afternoon, Sotol Vista, and so on.

Everyone will find their own favorites!

The river provides the only opportunities for water/reflections and

you may be disappointed with the fact that the Rio Grande is

polluted and sluggish due to so much water being taken out of it

upstream. April could be a good month due to the high snow

melt in the Rockies.

My wife and I just returned to Houston following a nine day

holiday in West Texas. Here are some observations for others

who may be heading out to the big wide world west of I-35!

Big Bend - very dry, no rain for a long time. Occotillo are

blooming everywhere but few bluebonnets or other flowers due

to the drought. Too soon for many migrant birds but the

Warnock Center in Lajitas had some nice birdfeeders out with

purple finches and pyrhoxelya (spelling almost certainly wrong!)

El Camino del Rio (Highway 170) is a beautiful and photogenic

drive for those without 4 wheel drive looking for good river

scenery. We also drove part of the BBNP River Road near

Castolon where the outside temperature was 95ºF! Major

problem for most scenic shots was smoke and dust due to dry

winds and resulting fires in adjacent areas.

We were reminded how dangerous the desert can be when we

helped three hikers off the Dobson Trail - one had heat

exhaustion and refused to move or drink. Fortunately my wife (a

nurse) took control of what could have become a lethal situation.

The Park Services are not joking when they recommend a gallon

of water a day, etc.

A hike to the South Rim provided plenty of scenery shots but few

flowers or wildlife opportunities in the high Chisos. All the Black

Bears have gone to Mexico due to drought-induced stress.

Mountain lions are being seen more often for the same reason.

Guadalupe Mountains. We stayed in Van Horn, an hour to the

south of the park. Excellent sunrise shots with the Delaware

Mountains as a backdrop. the Guadalupe Peak trail is steep

and gains nearly 3,000 ft altitude. Quite a challenge with an F5

and two lenses as well as water, etc.! The view from the summit

is spectacular, particularly the one to the south, looking down on

El Capitan! Our second day was spent in McKittrick Canyon and

this provided us with the most wildlife including several rare bird

species as well as the sound of leopard frogs mating (needed a

tape recorder for that once a year phenomenon as they are very

difficult to spot and the rangers will not let you off the trail

anyway!) Lots of mule deer and one snake rounded out the day

but the best was on the return journey when a coyote stepped

out in front of us. Result, one frame (click) then end of film. Too

bad!

Returning to Houston by I-10 we stopped at two promising bird

locations, the first, Fort Lancaster State Park, has numerous bird

boxes and a very colorful vermilion flycatcher was seen. South

Llano River State Park also yielded an excellent list of birds in

just 30 minutes and this should be even better as the spring

migration starts up in earnest.

The Texas wildflower season is just starting and I-10 was

covered with the usual broadcast flowers from Junction to Sealy.

It should be at its peak in a week or two in the Hill Country. The

recent heavy rain east of I-35 has brought out the spring

greenery and the flowers as well.

Hope this is of interest to some of you.

Actually this lens is very good from 24mm up to around 80mm,

though there is corner distortion at 24mm which bothered me

enough that I bought a 20mm f2.8. I have also read that the early

production of this lens was fraught with quality control issues

such that Nikon replaced some lenses that were unnacceptable.

I use mine as a travel lens and take a lot of landscapes with it as

a result.

It is likely that a combination 24-120 and 80-200 would cover all

your bases.

Back from the airport (seriously I had to go meet my mother-in

law off a flight from London) and a comment from Seth, who

suggested I conduct a scientific survey of film fogging and

publish the results. Seth, I think you are asking the wrong camp!

You see I am perfectly willing to take the risk that my film will not

be rendered less than perfect by too many scans while on

multiple leg trips. I really think you should be asking someone

who is a doubter to produce the evidence.

More often than not, questions like the one asked my Peter M. on

this thread actually seem to relate to only one or two passes

through an X-ray machine. If experienced travelers can relate

numerous examples of multiple scans with no fogging, why not

simply believe us when it comes to a simple there and back

assignment?

Kevin, you can throw all the regs at me you want, I've read them

many times over on this site! What I would really like to see is an

example of a film, say ISO 100 speed, that has been fogged by a

carry on bag x-ray machine. Of course it would also be useful to

know just how many times the film was passed through the

machine and whether or not the operator stopped the belt in

order to double check for a suspicious object, etc. That may be

much too much to ask for when it is soooo much easier to just

complain to what is largely a like-minded audience that doesn't

expect to see any evidence.

OK, enough said. Got to go to the airport!

Welcome to the bleeding hearts "I demand to have my film

inspected" club. You have provoked the usual comments about

security personnel being dumber than dumb, etc. Such

arrogance!

There continue to be two trains of thought on film inspection on

this site. On the one hand there are the "I demand my rights

people" who do nothing but complain but never actually give

examples of their film having been fogged. Then there are those

who know that several passes through through an x-ray

machine has no effect - plenty of examples of such statements

in the archives. My most conclusive evidence was for Fuji Astia

x-rayed seven (7) times on an 8-leg trip to Africa and back. No

discernible fogging, period.

Now this is just my opionion, but pushing the envelope with

Nature photography is best achieved using patience. To

illustrate:

A couple of years ago my wife and I saw a bobcat at Anahuac

NWR. We shared this information with several "regulars" who

were amazed at our "luck".

The "(1) noisy grandchild, (2) I can drive this route as fast as I

like, (3) I've been coming here for twenty years and. . . . (4) fill in

the blanks" comments.

There was little luck. We switch off the ignition, sit and wait.

Sometimes something happens. Often. . . . nothing. C'est la vie

mon cher. (Since you insisted on suggesting that Nature

photography could be "avant garde"!)

I agree with Bob and if you can't find the Rollei Quick Release it

is actually part of the Rollei Pistol Grip and you can buy this for

less money and get more. At least I did.

Dennis, this is a fabulous place - lot's of atmosphere, superb

photo opportunities and of course the history. I think it would

help if your searches spelled it BANDELIER though. The NP

service offers a number of publications on the area and the park

in particular. All my books are in packing cases at the moment

so I cannot be specific about those we own but I think a search

on Amazon or similar will provide what you need.

As far as the ruins are concerned, they could be almost

anywhere in the state of New Mexico. Check out Philip's own NM

pages for some nice pictures.

For the archives, I heard from a friend that two birders did a count

of 135 species at High Island following the second cold front

passing through.

Dana, Scott is accurate in his descriptions. I always think of Big

Thicket as the entire East Texas region of "Piney Woods".

Having just returned on one of those mammoth trips from West

Africa I was suffering from jet lag yesterday and had a mental

blank. Yes, take plenty of deet, (Sawyer brand 12 hour cream is

my recommendation) but at least those mozzies won't give you

cerebral malaria.

I guess Caddo Lake is the number one attraction though it's on

the edge of the Big Thicket per se. I might also suggest the

Texas State Railroad as a possible nature site because the track

winds its way from Palestine to Rusk through the forest, thus

giving a good impression of what it's like.

Check out the Texas Parks and Wildlife web page for other

ideas.

I hope someone is going to be able to be at High Island

tomorrow morning as the conditions for a fall out of northern

migrating birds coming across the Gulf of Mexico are excellent.

Two cold fronts in 24 hours. If anyone makes it down there

would they send in a report?

Living in the center of a green city - Houston, Texas - there is a lot

of wild life on my doorstep. Some animals and birds are quite

tame. I have been spending some time in the parks and have

been surprised at the diversity of wildlife around me, including a

small blue heron feeding in Heritage Park and a group of black

bellied whistling ducks in Hermann Park. Am I in a minority in

seeking out wildlife within a city's limits? Are there similar

experiences to be shared?

To all the above good advice I add one word: patience. When

you "invade" their space, small birds take off and will only return

when they are ready. You must be able to wait for them to return,

knowing that there is always the possibility that they won't. While

you're waiting there are still many things to do, just don't make a

lot of noise and movement. Study the light, check for potential

shadows/obstructions, work on some pre-focus distances as

auto focus will let you down if there are a lot of twigs and leaves

in front of and behind the subject. A tripod sounds like a good

idea but chances are a monopod could give more flexibility for

when the birds return. Study the birds and note their motion

when perched - there may be a predictable moment when they

keep still that you can time a shot with a slow shutter speed and

still get a sharp picture. I use Fuji Astia and don't push it. I have

also tried fill flash with some success even though I don't have a

fresnel attachment to concentrate the flash beam.

Another thought:

If you drive up from Van Hoorn, and have a telephoto lens, then

El Capitan will be straight ahead for mile after mile of barren

roadscape.

(the above post is dead on with respect to the 4WD track, BTW).

Erik, El Capitan faces south with walls to the east and west.

From the main road lookout, which is south of the Park HQ, the

best times would be morning though noon. From the end of the

dirt road you would probably do better with an afternoon shot as

it faces to the west.

This is somewhat academic in that there may be significant

cloud cover during the spring when strong winds blow across

the area; the good news is that those strong winds create a

constantly changing cloudscape.

I have a fine book containing some beuatiful photos by Michael

Allender. Simply called The Guadalupe Mountains of Texas, it

was published by the University of Texas, ISBN 0-292-70481-X.

There is a comment within <a

href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0

01HYW">this thread</a> that the Audubon Society has banned

the use of flash at the Smith Reserve, High Island, Texas. I am

sure the reason given by the AS is that flash disturbs the already

distressed migratory birds. I just wonder, however, if it is not the

non-photographer enthusiasts who are the ones most disturbed

by flash? My experience in photographing animals is that flash

does not seem to bother them as much as it does humans.