Rainbow – About Nature With Beth

I’ve been absent for much too long from the “blogging” world and felt a pressing need to share some of my recent adventures. In part II of this post I’ll share my “excuse” for my extended absence.

While very recently tucked away in a cabin overlooking Lake Blue Ridge in the Appalachian mountains of North Georgia, I was privileged to witness one of nature’s greatest wonders. Each morning and evening I saw, without a doubt, a ballet, an aerial dance unequaled by any other bird or man. A blazing wondrous display of agility and aerobatics that simply leaves one breathless. These birds weighing 2-20 grams must feed every fifteen minutes to survive. Their heart rate ranges from 40 beats per minute (at night ) to over 1200 beats per minute in hovering flight. Absolutely astounding! If any of God’s creatures were meant to fly it is tiny birds.

It was incredibly difficult to capture images worthy of these amazing birds given the lack of ideal light, equipment capability, and photographer skill, but here are a few of my best images taken over one week’s time.

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If you go in the fall, be sure to plan layers, heavy boots and warm parkas! At temperatures between zero and 20 degrees, not even considering wind chill, it was a bit brisk in mid-November. I took the last polar bear tour of the season. The impetus for this trip was to see and photograph polar bears in their natural habitat while I’m still young enough and healthy enough to handle the bitter cold. More importantly, I wanted to see the polar bears before the trend of the global warming climate changes threatens their existence any further.

Polar bears feed almost exclusively on seals and generally feed only in the winter. A late freeze of Hudson Bay, keeps the bears on land, and although they have some amazing mechanisms that slows down their metabolism when there is no food source available, they must pack on the weight in winter in order to survive the long periods without food after the ice flows disappear.

Mid-to late November, Churchill is starting to close-up shop for the winter. Temporary help returns to warmer climates, and the locals settle in for the winter. They are a hearty group, and certainly have my respect.

Oh yeah, if you have a chance to go out on a dog sled, don’t miss it, even if it is bitter cold! That was a real treat. If I ever figure out how to edit my go-pro video and this web site will accept videos I’ll add a short clip of the dog sled ride.

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