WHO KNEW???

That today I would walk away with another unique image, unlike others I have shot of these two busy bodies.

As I approached the nesting tree I noticed from a distance that several photographers were not standing on the usual side of the tree where these owls live. Getting closer, I learned why. The pair of chicks were clinging to the tree trunk and putting on a bit of a show. I found a spot far enough away from the nest so I would not disturb them (unlike many other folks) and began shooting. The experience was quite comical to say the least.

They watched everyone gather near them and fortunately it did not seem to disturb them as they continued climbing a step or two then rest for a few minutes.

This years chicks are growing faster than the previous years, or so it seems to me. I had a dream the night before they were already fledging so upon spotting them on the side of the tree I was thinking my dream had come true.

It has been my great fortune to witness so many species of animals in nature. It is a calm feeling and a reassurance that God still exist beyond human actions.

The rhythm of the morning and evening, the patterns of the clouds in the sky, the structure of the landscape and at times, even the smell of nature. All of this holds unconditional qualities to the soul.

To have the opportunity to co-emerge with nature early in the morning as she wakes and prepares for the day is the best therapy in the world.

Stealing time away from built structures and stepping into the dimensions of nature, even if on a small scale is a soft transition.

Morning such as today will hold a pleasant place in my memory for a long time. Seeing the two owl chics on the nest with the break of morning as it comes alive shining through the branches on their little faces is something to behold. Better yet, watching the rare occurrence of two river otters swim by me playing, fishing and watching me is even a greater treat.

Alone, in nature, experiencing the flirting of its mystical powers.

Want to see the otters? Check out my flickr site and there you will see

and then there were two…

Two and a half weeks old and these Great horned owls are drawing a rather large crowd of photographers. It is so exciting to see them interact with their mother and each other.
They are growing fast and even though Owls sleep during the day as a rule, these inquisitive little creatures keep mom sleeping with one eye open.

The first year this pair has  birthed two chicks and what a treat. I can’t wait until they are left alone to explore more of the tree cavity they inhabit. In the previous years it has been fun photographing one chick, now with two, I think we are in for some great shots.

The Great horned owl male is a model of a mate sitting close by with a watchful eye and dropping food into the nest just at the appropriate time. When danger is near he lets out a soft hoot to make the female aware of the situation. He will fly from his branch where he perches in a flash to remove or scare off whatever gets near the family.

These owls are lovers of solitude and I hope with the growing population of fans they  do not choose to abandoned this place and go deeper into the woods next year. It is such a blessing to experience this activity in nature.

However, there are many who still fail to educate themselves about nature. It boggles my mind that individuals visit our beautiful parks and never stop to read the signs before entering. These signs usually display a great deal of information of certain species that inhabit the reserve they are about to enter. I am aware that everyone is not as passionate about bird life as I, but I can’t help wonder what else can be done to further protect the welfare of wildlife within these parks. How does one get the important information into the hands of visitors before they visit?

It is my belief that birds play a very vital role on this earth. I write this today primarily because of an almost unfortunate incident that almost occurred last week.

Two weeks ago the world was blessed by another newborn baby Great Horned Owl in a nearby park. My shooting partner and I have been photographing a pair of adults and their offspring for the last four years. We found them quite by accident. Last year was an abandoned year and the only signs of activity inside the tree trunk crater was that of a raccoon. It was sad, to say the least, that we would no longer see them.

Lo and behold this year they appeared and the female began her nesting ritual. For weeks we watched and anticipated the arrival of the new chick. I say chick because this pair has only birthed one each year. About two weeks before the new born appeared we decided to visit. It was later in the evening and an unusual time for us to go, but for whatever reason we got a late start.

Crossing the small bridge on foot into the park we noticed a man climbing the huge oak tree where the mother owl was sitting. My partner yelled out across the park for the man to get out of the tree. His wife and two kids were watching close by. Just as he was getting down the male owl flew from a nearby tree with talons out and swooped by him. Lucky for him the tree he was climbing had another larger trunk just wide enough to interfere in the path of the owl which caused him to miss the man.

For those who don’t know, these owls are large and powerful and their talons can rip apart most anything they come in contact with. This entire incident could have turned out to be  very unpleasant for this man but just as important it could have cost the loss of an unborn Great Horned Owl.

His excuse, after we told him there was an owl nesting in the tree, was that he did not know and he had not climbed such a tree as this since he was a boy. He could not resist. I had my suspicions, but in the end it worked out fine and we proceeded to educate them on the existence of this owl nest. Furthermore, the greatest treat was to discover this year’s pair has indeed blessed us with two chicks.

What about the people we don’t catch? How many nests are disturbed or destroyed by lack of educated individuals on the subject? I shiver at the thought.

Ignorance is bliss, so the old saying goes.

I think I have it!

A design and layout I can live with for a while. OK, a late New Year’s Resolution…DO NOT change this website for at least one year.

In my years as a photographer I have always loved the simple black & white image. That is where I began in photography, shooting black & white. In fact it has been my overall characteristic through the years. Black and white. No middle of the road.

If you think about it even Jesus suggested it in the Bible. The Book of Matthew 5:37.

“But let your communication be, Yes, yes; No, no: for whatever is more than these comes of evil.“

So I have used the look of black & white to glaze over my site as much as possible except for the colored photos. There are times when we need a splash of color and it happens to be the way I shoot most of the time.

I have removed what I think to be distracting items and any advertising except when recommending a product of mine or that of a friend. Even some items I think worthy to mention I will write about. For now I am leaving the comments section but I can’t promise it will remain. It is not that I do not value each persons imput but I am thinking the conversation needs to be kept on my Facebook Fan Page.

If you haven’t figured out why I am doing all of this re-arranging, it is simple. I want simplicity as much as possible in my life and with the continued release of new gadgets and new widgets and new this and that, I am exhausted trying to keep up with all of it, and I am in the business of web development. Things are changing so rapidly it makes it impossible to continue staying up to date. I am to the point of throwing up my hands and run the other way.  Until I get quite with  myself, usually that means grabbing my camera and head for the woods and come away with images such as above, to clear my head and begin again.

Its really simple, stick to the basics and keep it easy for readers to move around my site.

I realized that in the past I have felt as if the business I was in had been sucking the life out of me. It was time now that I give my self some slack and accept the idea it is all a part of growth.

I don’t need to become a victim of the past I need to continue exploring all of what life presents to me. I like the way one person (who it was has slipped through my memory bank) described it. “It’s like trying to drive while looking in the rear view mirror. After a while you begin to hate driving.”

How true a statement. Something I need to check with myself on most everyday for fear of slipping back into a very unconscious routine. A routine that leads to nowhere and keeps me bound by my own unstable thoughts.

Another big mind bend for me has been the development of my own blasted web site. Something I have struggled with numerous times and a struggle that is so exhausting. The reason is, there are so many areas of my life, but yet I am all the same person. Spiritual person, photographer, writer, author, technology wizard (most of the time) and business woman. I also enjoy the idea of trying my best to live a more healthier life, grow a garden and explore the role of living off the land.

With this multi-sided life, comes several web sites. The problem is trying to design and keep up with them. Trying to do this and keep balance is beyond impossible. I get started on one and then the others lack, I turn my attention to another area and then I am being tugged on mentally about another one. The whole thing is nothing but a big boat anchor causing me to sink.

I have often wondered about just putting all my thoughts, my blogs my projects on ONE site and releasing it to the world and never look back. But then I began to wonder if that was the right thing to do for my readers. I even went as far as asking a very well known blogger and a well known minimalist. I discovered that he operates more than one site but to me they are about the same thing. My question was if you are teaching simplicity, then doesn’t trying to manage more than one site discredit that thought? His rely was, no, “it is not fair to your readers”. Meaning they would become confused as to what you are about. Keep it relevant. Something I have preached for years to my own clients. So again I struggled with this remark from him and set out trying to get back into the groove of operating many sites depending upon the subject. Four months later, I am no further ahead than when I started. So therefore my interested readers are disappointed once more.

So as with most people I took the New Year as a starting over place. Only this time I would pursue my GOD GIVEN path and approach to clearing out the clutter both mentally and in my everyday life and fully engaging in where God leads me. I have finally accepted the idea it is not about me. It is about those God puts in my path to help. Photography, yes, it is my life-long passion. I don’t think it will go away but in between God has shown me other things He needs to use me for and I have got to open the door and lift the weight of burden that has kept me in total disarray.

So what does this mean?

It means everything I do in life will be posted here on this site and no other. (Except maybe the technology stuff, I will share that on the business site) I hope if you came here looking for nothing but information about the photography you will not be disappointed or bored with a post from me about my love for kale soup. Or perhaps the articles I will write about the next book I am working on about someone else’s life. In the next few blog articles I will explain a little more about this shift, but I must say, the peace of mind is already taking over and allowing me to reconnect with the things I love. Growth is inevitable.

Over the next few days I will be redirecting my other domain names to the relevant section on this site and moving a few things around a bit. you will hardly notice.

THE WEATHER WAS PERFECT. Friday seemed to be a great day to visit Fort DeSoto. Not too much people activity. What I did discover was quite a bit of bird activity. Spotted the White Pelicans resting on the North Beach sandbar but way too far away for getting a decent shot. Appeared to be about 30 or so.

Back toward the other end of the fort area (Skyway bridge) there were plenty of shorebirds feasting on the afternoon low tide. This Great blue heron flew in with what appears to be an Urchin. He slammed it down in the water a few times and stabbing it with his beak until it was just right to swallow. Down the hatch and away he went for more.

This image is for sale double matted just as you see above. Contact me if interested and refer to Image #2 in the form.

This year, Thanksgiving was a bit different, on purpose. I chose not to spend it the traditional way with family and friends ( although missed) and all the trimmings but rather chose to spend the time outdoors doing what I love best. Into the woods armed with camera and a few snacks in search of whatever would present itself.

Thursday was spent at Circle Bar Ranch where my partner in crime and I hiked over the 1200 acres of swamp land and what was once home to cattle. Then on Friday a visit to Kapok Park.

Never disappointed here. This Red-shouldered hawk flew right in front of me to land on a low hanging branch only to be annoyed by the cluster of mockingbirds that were nesting nearby. This one appears to be a young one and did not mind that I was standing below firing my camera.

This image is for sale and is printed as a 12×12 matted in white. Signed by me, just like the above photo.

If interested in purchasing, contact and place this number in the contact form – #1.

c deborah kunzie - dolphin tail

Earlier this year, talks were in the works of my taking a month-long photographic adventure. I had made the decision last year to make a big change in my life, first by simplifying it, and second for me to dedicate more time to exploring my lifelong desire to be a full-time wildlife photographer. This trip would be a milestone for me, one that I could follow in planning my future.

A very dear friend and a client of my web development company Garlic D’zign had requested that I come to California and spend some time working on her website.  She had a new venture pending and we needed to get things ready.   This would require some work time but the payoff would be a dream come true for me.

The plan was for me to leave Florida on August 6th and fly into Long Beach, California.  Gloria and I would work three or four days and then fly to Phoenix, Arizona.  From there we would drive to Sedona for a week filled with hiking and climbing along the West Fork, one of the top ten trails listed in the United States. This would provide me with many photo opportunities.

On our return to Long Beach we would spend time aboard one of the daily boat cruises searching for signs of the Blue Whale.  Then we would invest a couple of days at Catalina Island for me to face my fear of heights by zip lining.

Our next stop would be a drive from Long Beach into Yosemite National Park. There I would fulfill a lifelong desire of witnessing and photographing the same images that had created passion in the heart of one of my favorite writers, John Muir. A week in this spectacular environment would surely continue to condition me into a person with an overwhelming desire to see more of the natural world.

On May 9th, the wheels for my trip set into motion:  the airline tickets were purchased and in my hands.  It was now official.  My adventure was going to happen.  Yet there were a few obstacles for me to overcome before I would be able to handle such an excursion. For one, I needed to get into better shape.

My life as a mild-mannered web developer requires that I spend much of my time sitting in front of a computer screen. Sometimes I sit hours on end chiseling away at the perfect design or setup for someone else’s work. I had struggled mentally for ages with the detrimental effects of sitting too long, eating wrong, and never getting any exercise.  Like most of us, I allowed time to pass and continued to follow the same bad habits. How many times had I promised myself to tackle this problem only to let that promise slip through my fingers?

Now, I had both a good reason and a time frame within to work on correcting my behavior and improving my life.   Especially since accomplishing this important goal would amply reward me.  Now all I needed to do was get my butt in gear.  I wanted to resolve this problem so that my upcoming adventures would be exhilarating and not exhausting.

Then on June 15th I received a call came from my sister Patti…

(continued here)

This story has taken on a life of it’s own. I created a web site relevant to the nature of the story and can be followed at

Living with Tyrosinemia:

Introduction

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Part VI

Part VII

c 2011 deborah kunzie | hungry mocking bird

I am happy to say, to my surprise there are three healthy looking chicks inside the nest.

Without interrupting or frightening them I managed to capture a few photos.

c 2011 deborah kunzie | two of the three mocking birds

c 2011 deborah kunzie | up close and personal