Visit Jerry Blank's New Blog Page!

To My Readers:

I’ve moved my blog page to my “Beyond Boundaries” website. I think you’ll like the new look!

I always look forward to sharing my adventures and images with you.

You can still read and enjoy all the weblog entries I posted prior to September 2012, below.

To visit the new blog, click here.

Mountain Goat Kids On Mt. Evans, Colorado

Last week I shared some of the mountain goat images I captured at Mt. Evans in Colorado, at the end of July. As promised, the yearlings and kids are in the spotlight this week.

To view this image in a larger size, click here.

The goat herd was not large, but it did have many youngsters. There was a stiff chill breeze blowing down the mountainside, and four of the kids decided to tough it out atop a large rock by huddling together as close as possible.

To view this image in a larger size, click here.

Nearby, a yearling paced to and fro at the base of another rock while working up the nerve required to leap up to join a couple of kids. As the yearling placed its small hooves against the rock, one of the kids was peering down at it. If not for the wind, I’ve no doubt I would have heard it telling the yearling to circle uphill around the rock, to access it from above as the kids had done. “Jumping’s too much work, you dummy! Go around!” Humiliated, the yearling summoned its courage and easily made the leap to the top of the rock.

To view this image in a larger size, click here.

Meanwhile, the other kids in the herd rested with the grownups on the patchy tundra, in a small sunny space with a nice view of Mt. Bierstadt and the Abyss Lake drainage. Meanwhile, another kid napped near a less-exposed rocky niche as my camera clicked softly but steadily, capturing its every movement.

To view this image in a larger size, click here.

While we avoided making sudden movements toward the herd, the experience was fun because the goats were used to gawkers and didn’t mind being watched. That doesn’t diminish the respect I have for those who specialize in capturing wildlife images. We got lucky on that morning late in July. Good wildlife shots normally require a thorough knowledge of the animals and the paths they travel...and even more patience.

— Jerry Blank

Mountain Goats On Mt. Evans, Colorado

On July 28, my son and I traveled to Mt. Evans, a 14,264-foot peak located about 1½ hours west of Denver. The route is paved the entire way, ending just short of the summit, and is the highest paved road in North America.

The highlight of our morning’s journey was a small herd of mountain goats right near the highway, at about 13,600 feet.

To view this image in a larger size, click here.

I pulled off the highway as far as I could—at that elevation, the pavement is narrow and shoulderless—grabbed my camera, and scrambled down the rock-strewn slope with my son. Thinking back upon it, as dizzy as I felt in the thinner air, I was fortunate not to have tripped over my own feet, to say nothing of all the rocks!

To view this image in a larger size, click here.

It turned out that there was no need to rush. We soon realized the mountain goats were soaking up the bright morning sun at that particular area, and weren’t in the mood to move away just because some two-legged creatures wanted a closer look at them.

To view this image in a larger size, click here.

As you can see in these images, the goats were the picture of contentment; in fact, their expressions were amazingly humanlike when compared to animals I had seen on previous trips to the northern Rockies.

In my next post, I look forward to sharing photos of the young kids in the herd with you!

— Jerry Blank

Rescuing A Fawn In the Grasslands

I often find that in spite of my careful planning, I don’t always get the photos I expect to. But just as often, I get some nice surprises I don’t expect, which more than makes up for it. June 20, 2008 was such a day.

The Little Missouri National Grasslands in western North Dakota can be accessed, weather permitting, via U.S. Forest Service roads and oil well access roads. While exploring one such access road in the Grasslands, I stepped out of my car to look for wildflowers or interesting scenery. As soon as I stopped walking noisily through the dry grass, I heard a rustling sound to my left and whirled round, expecting to find a rabbit.

No rabbit did I find, but a tiny fawn which I might not even have noticed, had it not lost its nerve and stumbled to its feet. As it did so, one of its front legs got wedged between two branches of the small cedar tree under which it was hiding, and now it was obviously in trouble. I knew I could not take a photo of the fawn in its pitiful condition; it needed to be freed quickly before its leg got sprained or broken.

Kneeling by the cedar tree, I reached underneath gently to lift the fawn’s leg up and out of the branches which had trapped it. I got up and cradled the fawn in my arms like a baby as I walked back to my car, while it bleated loudly for its mom. I envisioned getting my butt kicked by an angry doe, and said: “Okay, I’ll put you down. Just sit tight a bit while I get my camera, okay?” Fat chance. Though my camera was close by when I set the fawn down, it dashed down a nearby coulee with amazing speed.

The one shot I managed to fire off was a blurred image of its rear end. Happily enough, the coulee led to a beautiful evening view of the Little Missouri River, with interesting weathered sandstone formations and flowering cactus nearby. This view below was one of a few decent ones I managed to capture that day.

The fawn got away, but I captured this view instead...so it was all worthwhile.

To view this image in its full horizontal format, click here.

I felt lucky to have gotten up close and personal with the wildlife, despite the fact that I could only prove it with one blurry photo.

— Jerry Blank

Ducklings at Lake Eola

On May 30, a couple of dozen Central Florida photographers rendezvoused at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando. Just before sunset, some of us spotted four ducklings getting cozy on a bed of pine straw near the lake, with their mother standing guard nearby.

The people in the park were snapping photos at a frenzied rate. And who could blame them? It was a perfect Kodak moment. For my part, having just purchased a camera that can also capture video, I decided to try video.

Ducklings near the shoreline of Lake Eola, just before sunset

To view the HD video footage, click here.

The four ducklings made perfect actors, yet were simply being perfectly natural, snoozing as people crowded around them to capture the image. After awhile, some swans approached. The duckling’s mom, wishing to avoid a territorial dispute with the swans, quickly herded her family into the pond.

The ducklings seemed to be as happy swimming as they had been relaxing on the shoreline. They followed their mom into the sunset, occasionally poking their tiny heads beneath the surface of the pond to investigate what lay beneath.

— Jerry Blank

Cascade in Glacier National Park

After having visited Glacier National Park several times, I was finally able to bring my son with me in the summer of 2006. He was 14 at the time, and I took the greatest of pleasure in showing him all the scenic places I had discovered during my previous trips.

On July 7, we took Going-to-the-Sun Road westward to Logan Pass, and I decided to stop at the Lunch Creek cascade to take photos. As I did so, my son bounded over the rocks and was quickly out of sight.

He reappeared in a moment, pointing excitedly toward the massive stone shoulder of Piegan Mountain on the east side of the creek. “Let’s climb that mountain!” he begged.

We followed Lunch Creek toward Pollock Mountain, climbing stair-like rocks as the creek splashed down past us. Where the creek tumbles over a short cliff, we scrambled up a series of ledges that led away from the creek and toward the south face of Piegan Mountain.

Lunch Creek cascade, with Pollock Mountain as a backdrop

(To see this image in a larger view, click here.)

I was glad to have come up this far. From our vantage point, we could see the peaks of the Livingston Range to the west, and had a much grander view of the valley which sprawls in an emerald carpet from the foot of Reynolds Mountain eastward to St. Mary Lake. No way could we have seen it like this from Going-to-the-Sun Road two thousand feet below us.

This is the best way to see Montana, I realized—getting off the beaten path.

We turned back toward the cirque on the south face of Pollock Mountain. The downhill trek went faster than the upward climb. Before long, we found Lunch Creek and scrambled down alongside the falls till we were back at our SUV. We wasted no time in digging our lunch out of the cooler. Though we were both pretty hungry by then, I resisted the urge to inhale my sandwich, and took small bites while looking at the scenery and resting my tired legs.

“I just realized why they call this Lunch Creek,” I exclaimed as we ate. Corny, but it seemed funny at the time.

Summer Blossoms in Florida

I find it curious that, by June, the heat index in Florida has been in the 90s for a couple of months. Yet, it’s not until June that the crepe myrtles begin to blossom.

Having just purchased a new Nikon camera body and a macro lens, I braved the aforementioned heat index to capture some images of bees visiting the crepe myrtle blossoms in my yard. To view a full-size version of this image, click here.

I've taken many closeup shots of bees, probably because I haven’t been squeamish about being near them for years. About the time I bought my first Nikon body—an FE2—I spent a short time working for a beekeeper. After such an experience, one either loves or hates being close to bees.

Bee visiting crepe myrtle blossoms

However, I’ve had more experience shooting them in the northern states. For reasons known only to God, the little buggers move twice as fast in the South...or maybe I’m just getting older? Luckily for me, my new camera can capture many images in rapid succession, and I can delete the ones that miss the target.

Off the subject, my little bro Mike just returned from out West with some extraordinary images. Head on over to his website and take a look.