An otter so engrossed with its tail that it never knew I was there.
Category Archives: Massachusetts
Photo #2
I’m still sorting through the Whale pictures. I went on quite a few whale watches this summer so there are a ton of pictures. I eliminated all of the flukes and tails because I have lots of those so they lack that “special” quality I’m looking for.
This one is another surface feeding humpback. I like this because of the boat in the background and the shoreline. It gives you as reference point for size and the relationship to the shore. The water depth is relatively shallow where these whales are feeding.
Check out all of the gulls flying around hoping for an easy dinner.
Photo Number 1
Although I called this Photo Number 1, I don’t mean it’s necessarily the best. I mean it’s the first photo to make the cut.
This is a photo of a humpback whale “Surface feeding” as he skims the surface with his mouth open, the baleen strains the water out leaving the tiny fish and krill in his jaws.
The photo is sharp, can be enlarged and caught an unusual subject. It’s not everyday you see a whale feeding like this.
Baleen – Stellwagon Banks, Massachusetts Bay, MA
Anyone who knows me understands that I have a fascination with humpback whales. I’ve been following them and whale watching for over 30 years. This season was one of the best whale watch season I can remember. I even saw my first breaching whale. Unfortunately it was too far away for the picture I got to pass the top 10 criteria test.
Humpback Breaching, Stellwagon Bank, Massachusetts
Christmas Eve
It’s Christmas Eve day and I have the tree lights on and carols playing in the background. I’m making my list for one last run to the grocery store. But I want to take a minute to share my adopted home town through the years. I live in Taunton, MA nicknamed “The Christmas City.
Taunton Green 2010
Long before I moved here Taunton earned the name Christmas City for it’s Holiday display at the intersection of Routs 44 and 138. All roads led to Taunton back in those days. In 1914 when the tradition began there was no Route 24, 95 , 495 or 128. If you wanted to get someplace south of Boston you probably had to go through Taunton.
Taunton Green 2011
I moved to Taunton in 2006 but I didn’t start photographing the “Green” with it’s Christmas Display until 2010. But I have made an effort to document the different displays every year since.
Taunton Green 2012
I hope you enjoy this visual visit to The Christmas City, past and present.
Taunton Green 2013
Taunton Green 2014
Taunton Green 2015
And last but not least, this year, 2016. The Holiday Train, Polar Express or however you want to think of this iconic Christmas Present, is the theme this year.
Taunton Green 2016
Nice Job Taunton. Easy to see why you are The Christmas City!
The Whales are on a Roll
I’ve been doing a lot more whale watching this season because the whales seem to be especially active this year. They have been so active that I have skipped some of my other seaside activities to get some extra outings and I have not been disappointed.
A couple of weeks after the Great Puffin Adventure I decided to give the morning whale watch a try. I stayed on the upper deck this time. I wanted to try a different angle.
Sure enough, it was a very active trip. Right off the bat we spotted multiple humpbacks. At first we were getting backs showing as they cruised along and a few flukes.
I have plenty of photos of backs and flukes so I wasn’t too interested in that.
A bit deeper into Stellwagon bank we found ourselves surrounded by groups of humpbacks surface feeding.
That’s always fun to watch. There lots of activity with the birds trying to steal the fish that manage to escape the huge mouths.
Plus the whales swim along the surface with the water streaming out the sides of their mouths as they strain the water through their baleen.
That alone would have been a successful trip but suddenly there was a mother and calf off the port side. “Mom” would flipper slap and then the little one one would do the same.
This went on for quite awhile. In fact all of us with cameras had plenty of time to get pictures.
Eventually, as if to say goodbye, mom rolled onto her back and gave a double wave, both flippers waving in the air and then both mom and calf disappeared beneath the surface. The show was over.
We watched some more surface feeding before it was time to head back. I was just packing up the camera when a collective WOW! went up. I looked up in time to see a whale fully breaching. It was quite a distance away. It flew fully out of the water like a giant dolphin! The splash down was huge.
That was the only full breach I saw but the feisty whale gave us a few other partial breaches. I managed to get the camera back out for the end of the show.
I’m not too disappointed that I missed getting a shot of the full breach. It was amazing to see and I think I appreciated it more by being able to watch it without the little view finder. A breaching whale, at least in this area, is a rare sight.
I’ll keep looking for another opportunity for that awesome photo shot but if I never get it , I won’t be too sad. I’ll chalk it up to the one that got away.