After joining Flickr, I made a new Flickr friend who is also interested in wildflower photography - Lara Hartley. According to Lara’s bio on Flickr (with no capitals in her informal style of writing):

“i am a pro shooter working for a newspaper - in the features department as a writer/photographer. used to be full time staff shooter but have evolved from that to writing and editing and page design. it is a great job, super to be able to do all those jobs, and not just one.”

One of Lara’s latest newspaper stories is about another of her activities - the review of new Wildflower Books. Wildflower enthusiasts should find her review of these books interesting - “Calochortus, Mariposa lilies and their relatives”, “Plants of Western Oregon, Washington & British Columbia” and “Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest”.

LINKS

• Books for the Hunt - Lara’s Book Review
  
• Lara’s Wildflower Photography on Flickr
  

(Photo by Lara Hartley - Calochortus kennedyi var. kennedyi, Desert Mariposa Lily)

After a Labor Day weekend spent doing laborious tasks at home, I returned to bird photography on Monday evening through Friday evening at Devereux Slough. On Monday evening (September 3) the approximately 3,000 Red-necked Phalarope were still at Devereux Slough and were very vocal and active. Groups would fly over the walkway near the south pull-out and then fly back again; other groups would fly to different areas of the Slough. It seemed that the birds had stirred up sediment because the water was reddish-brown-blue in places. The large number of Red-necked Phalarope was a very impressive sight. On Tuesday morning, there were still very many birds, but on Wednesday all but a few remained. The large Red-necked Phalarope flock must have continued on their migration journey on Tuesday evening.

(Red-necked Phalarope, Egrets - Devereux Slough - September 03, 2007)

(…read more…)