Kestrels are compact little suckers with beautiful plumage. The blue and orange combo makes them fairly distinct.

I saw a few of these guys tonight while birding the Ballona Marsh Wetlandshere in LA. While not this particular bird, they are easy to tell from a distance with their beak length and shape and head size.

The blue on these South American birds, known as Imperial Cormorants (Leucocarbo atriceps), and the blue in their eyes makes them a beauty to behold.

Last night I went to a spot overlooking the Santa Monica Pier to film a timelapse and it didn't go as planned. The overall lesson that I was reminded of was this: Creating Art requires failure and there is not greater freedom in Art than the freedom to fail. Over and over. This, that and the other thing weren't quite right and I won't bore you with the details.

One of the best parts of being in Patagonia in Torres del Paine National Park is just sitting and watching the weather go by.

Flying West toward Los Angeles, I was lucky enough to catch the light before a storm came in this past Fall. I think this might have been the storm that dumped a record amount of rainfall in the city for November. It sure looks like it could have been. If this had been the days of film I would have reloaded my camera at least four times.

Those times at the beginning or end of a change in the weather are ripe for photos. The shifting winds and clouds and light make for vastly different views while sitting in one spot. These three images were taken recently in Chicago looking out into Lake Michigan as one weather system finished snowing before the next one march toward shore. …

Truth be known, I didn’t finish the climb up to Angels Landing, the hill on the right side of this panorama from Zion National Park. It felt too sketchy to me and my feet too slippery. I am getting old and like to play it safe sometimes. But this view point made the hike up the hill with it for me.

You’re probably aware of the monumental decrease in funding the federal government has enacted with the latest budget cuts. If you don’t care about public broadcasting, here’s a picture of Yosemite. If you’re looking to do something to help, there is a great resource called Adopt A Station. Basically it is a website that shows how much all of the budgets of all the PBS stations have been cut.

As mentioned in yesterday's post, the road along the west side of Zion National Park doesn't get nearly the same traffic as the valley. Some same it is just 10% of the main attractions. I love a good, empty road and this one has vistas to spare. Truth be known, this part is actually on private land. The road dips out of the park briefly and then comes back in. Which brings up an interesting opportunity to fly a drone one day.

One day of stellar light in Zion fills my soul for a week. I was lucky enough to spend two nights up there recently and while the weather was a mixed bag, one of the evenings produced some splendid fall light. Like many people visitors, the Valley is the main draw for me, but one this trip I took time (and not much, it is just 45 minutes out of the way) to drive up part of the West highlands to hike and explore.

Such a lovely bird and spotted right next door to downtown Buenos Aires in Argentina. Caracaras can be found in many areas around the world, including North America. Guess what the talons are for?

I love exploring the Southwest from a plane. The colors and patterns offer a way different view than from on land. It took me a while to realize exactly where this was. I knew my flight path and that is was likely Capitol Reef National Park but it is a long park, so just where is this? Looking to the middle left of the image, that kind of round, flat area is Fruita, where the visitors center is. North is approximately up in this case and the dramatic folds of the landscape are on full display.

Patagonia sure doesn’t mess around with the wind. The clouds over the mountains were in constant motion give different glimpses of their peaks minute by minute.

Exploring fjords and glaciers in Chile was (possibly) a once in a lifetime trip for my wife and I. Patagonia has a number of ecosystems and the icy blue in and out of the water has a severe calming effect.

Ushuaia is also known as the End of the World. While this can't be literal when we live on a ball, it's fun to think it's the last reasonably modern location before jumping off to Antarctica. It's also wayyyyy do there and takes effort to arrive. If you don't see the video in email, click through to a web version of this page.

We are fresh back from a trip to Patagonia that has been on my mind for decades. Back then I wasn't as into birding as I am these days, but I can tell you; you don't have to be into birds to appreciate the Andean Condor. Be on the lookout for more Patagonia content as I get through the culling and edits. They'll be a mix of glaciers, and mountains and birds and general oddities of travel.

Continuing with the stairwell series, because for some odd reason I keep seeing something in them I'm compelled to photograph, here's a random stairwell at LAX Airport in the parking structures.

Known as the Gisele Library, this architectural wonder sits on the campus of the University of California Sand Diego

A classic cat like this deserves black and white treatment.

Growing up in Washington, black widow spiders were something exotic from far away lands. Then I moved to California and started finding them in place I did not want. I can still remember seeing my first one when we lived in Orange. It got my heart racing with an instant shot of adrenaline because of my vast ignorance and the overhype in society for this creature.

While some talk of Chicago being on fire and overrun, the view from the Chicago River seems pretty chill.

It’s a good song, from Dr. Dre…

Los Angeles has no shortage of interesting back alley scenes. Sometimes they need a little help with composition, but this one, for me, was pretty much perfect when I’ve viewed it on my screen in black-and-white.

I'm just back from two days attempting to climb Mount Whitney, the tallest peak in the lower 48 United States. It's an odd distinction, for sure, but it's also a good challenge. The hike up proved unsuccessful in the "reach the top" sense, but it was a great time to be on the mountain and in the wilderness. I made the attempt with my friend Josh, pictured here with some buff calves.