In Search of the Snowy Owl

It was rather a cloudy day - not a great day for taking photographs but I was keen on searching for a Snowy Owl. With Birding you never know what can show up at any particular time however this is the time to find the Snowy Owls as they come south in search of food. Now I did not find a Snowy Owl that day but I had my camera ready when I literally ran right into these 2 White Tailed Deer.

With all the snow and cold weather we have been having it has made me dream about my Costa Rica Birding Tour I am hosting in late May. Why not join us. Come checkout the details at www.birdinglifetours.com

BirdingLife Tours

My apologies for not making a blog post since the end of October. I have been very busy concentrating on building my new company - BirdingLife Tours.

Until now my career has focused on business and technology. For most of that time, I’ve had a passion for birding and photography - two hobbies that seem to overlap for so many people.

While hiking through the Monteverde Cloud Forest in 1992, I saw my first Resplendent Quetzal. To say I was amazed is an understatement. The surroundings of the cloud forest mixed with the Quetzal touched me deeply and left me speechless. I knew I experienced something special, but to this day I could never truly portray how that changed me. From that moment on, my hobby of birding became a passion. I began my lifelist and gradually started to become more aware of the world around me.

Always interested in photography, I then started taking pictures of birds. I gradually upgraded my equipment and skills until I was satisfied that I was capturing many of those magical moments in photographs to be enjoyed forever.

BirdingLife Tours wants to not only take you on that magical journey but capture those moments forever. A beautiful hardcover bound book is included with every tour. This photo journal will include all the highlights of your trip, the birds, that special meal, new friends, as well as a list of all the birds seen on the trip.

I started BirdingLife Tours so that I could create magical moments for others and be able to give them lasting memories, as well as contribute to environmental awareness and conservation.

Please have a look at www.birdinglifetours.com to learn more about this exciting new company!!!

Red Tailed Hawk

You should always travel with your binoculars and camera in your vehicle. Most of us will have the best of intentions but rarely follow this simple rule. If you do manage to do it I guarantee that it will pay off once in a while. I was travelling down a back road and ran into this Red Tailed Hawk. I reached into the back seat and grabbed my camera and snapped a few shots before risking getting closer. This was the best shot I was able to capture.

Red Eyed Vireo in the rain

I have recently created a website to display my best photographs over at photos.birdinglifetours.com. I will be adding photographs on a regular basis as it is a little time consuming to get each photograph prepared to be sold. It is an opportunity for individuals who like my photographs to purchase them in many different formats including, prints, canvas mounted, frame mounted and strange things like puzzles and magnets. You can also crop my pictures to your personal taste on checkout. Use the coupon code Blog-November at checkout and the first 10 people will save 20% during the month of November.

Loon Baby with Fish

Loon Baby with Fish, originally uploaded by Michael A. Nelson.

Here is another shot I captured on the same boating trip I described in my last blog entry. At first I didn't realize there was a small fish in the loon's mouth. I cropped the photograph slightly so now you can see the minnow quite clearly. Again, the light is quite good. My poor brother who forgot his camera :-(