Rufous Hummingbird in Chenega Bay

I admit it, I've never seen a hummingbird in my lifetime until I came here to Chenega Bay. By the way, they are very hard to capture a decent photo of. I finally caught this one sitting on a branch outside my living room window yesterday evening. I was amazed she sat there long enough to grab my camera from 15 feet away. I got about 15 shots off before she took off way too fast for me to get it in flight. I'm seriously doubting the capability of my lens to do this tiny bird any justice.   After a quick google search I learned that this bird is called a Rufous Hummingbird and is the northernmost known hummingbird species.  Several years ago a year old Rufous was banded in Tallahasee, FL during winter then was caught 6 months later here in Chenega Bay, marking a 3,530 mile migration!  Thats pretty impressive for any bird none the less this little girl.

 ‪#‎ChallengeAccepted‬.

Aleutian Grocery Shopping

Went late night shopping at the Aleutian grocery store. I know it doesn't look like late night, but it was 10pm and I'm exhausted today. It was hard work but well worth it. Didn't get done processing until after midnight but hey, this is a 100 pound halibut!!! (58.5").  With about 75 pounds of edible meat, needless to say, I'm a happy fisher!

More whale watching around Popof Island

I had more time to look through the million shots I took while fishing turned whale watching the other day.  I wish I had video to share that would display the massive force these whales exerted just to breach the surface of the water, followed by the loud belly-flopping noise they made when they splashed back down.  It was so calm and quiet out there, except for the sound of the water spurting from blow-holes and the splashing of the fins and tails hitting the water.  It was truly awesome.

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All Rights Reserved. All photos on this website are subject to copyright, unless otherwise stated. These materials may not be reproduced, distributed, modified, printed or re-posted without the express written permission of Christopher Diaz of northernXposed Photography™.

Halibut Fishing and Humpback Whale Watching

The boat ride yesterday was awesome.  We saw at least 5 or 6 Humpback Whales breaching the water a few miles out.  Eventually a calf and mama got close enough for a quick show.  Below you can see the calf breaching halfway out of the water with mama by its side.  

smallest one was 10 pounds and the largest was 40 pounds!  Not a a bad haul for the day as we limited out.  At $25/lb in the grocery store, we just saved a tone of money by catching our own fish.

Copyright ©2015

All Rights Reserved. All photos on this website are subject to copyright, unless otherwise stated. These materials may not be reproduced, distributed, modified, printed or re-posted without the express written permission of Christopher Diaz of northernXposed Photography™.

Stellar Sea Lions in Sand Point

Yesterday I was invited to go on a boat ride with a friend.  This is the second trip he took me on with his new boat.  We tried some fishing for halibut but didn't have any luck.  We did end up landing 2 black bass and some bait fish but mostly I was enjoying the great weather and scenery.  If anyone knows me they know my passion is wildlife photography, so any chance I get to see animals I take it.  So when we saw these 2 stellar sea lions enjoying the sunny weather as well, boy was I thrilled.  How awesome to see these animals in their natural environment and have the opportunity to get so close.  We took care to not disturb them.  At first they slept right through our gawking.  After a few minutes of clicking away something aroused them and we got to see how truly large they were as they sat up.  I had a very difficult time just now choosing which photos to post so I uploaded more than my usual below as there were so many great shots.  I even got a couple action shots as they got tired of us and dove into the ocean.  Please do not steal my photos.  If you ask nicely, I will be happy to share an original by email.  Enjoy my little national geographic moment in the photos below.

Copyright ©2015

All Rights Reserved. All photos on this website are subject to copyright, unless otherwise stated. These materials may not be reproduced, distributed, modified, printed or re-posted without the express written permission of Christopher Diaz of northernXposed Photography™.