Milo Burcham Photography
My favorite photographs from 2019 are dominated by images created during travels:
a California road trip in January, a trip to McNeil River in June,
a brief visit to the desert in August, and perhaps most of all, a
Western Australia road trip in October/November.
The trip to Western Australia was the year's highlight for sure. We covered over 7000 miles
in 6 weeks, camping the whole way. The wildlife and landscapes were spectacular.
The now infamous bush fires were just getting started in the east, and were already
making news. The extent of the damage to wildlife from these fires is now becoming
known, and looks severe. Our hearts go out to the people and wildlife impacted by these
unprecedented fires. There are many places to which donations could be made to help
with the recovery of Australian wildlife: World Wildlife Fund Australia is one to consider.
These photographs chronical my year in pictures, repeating some of my favorite
annual wildlife 'events', as well as some new adventures.
Enjoy!
I kicked off the year continuing the California road trip that began in 2018.
Tule Elk bulls above the Pacific Ocean, Point Reyes National Seashore, California (M_TELK_S2E9924)
Long-billed Curlews, Marin County, California (B_LBCU_S2E0463)
California Quail, San Benito County, California (B_CAQU_S2E9265)
Northern Elephant Seal bull and cow, Piedras Blancas, California (M_ELSE_S2E9009)
Back home in Alaska, it was more of the usual: hawk owls, shorebirds, and newts...
Northern Hawk Owl, Copper River Delta, Alaska (B_HAOW_S2E9915)
Western Sandpiper, Copper River Delta, Alaska (B_WESA_S2E2684)
Western Sandpipers and Dunlins, Copper River Delta, Alaska (B_SBFL_S2E3302)
Long-billed Dowitchers, Copper River Delta, Alaska (B_LBDO_S2E6295) Western Sandpiper, Copper River Delta, Alaska (B_WESA_S2E6882) ...and NEWTS?! Rough-skinned Newt (Taricha granulosa), Tongass National Forest near Juneau, Alaska (H_NEWT_S2E8063) ...and of course more bears! Brown Bear, McNeil River State Game Sanctuary, Alaska (M_BRBE_S2E4700) Brown Bear chasing salmon, McNeil River State Game Sanctuary, Alaska (M_BRBE_S2E5756) Brown Bear, McNeil River State Game Sanctuary, Alaska (M_BRBE_S2E6506) Brown Bear, McNeil River State Game Sanctuary, Alaska (M_BRBE_S2E7913) Brown Bear, McNeil River State Game Sanctuary, Alaska (M_BRBE_S2E8383) The following bear is known as "Ted-like". Brown Bear, McNeil River State Game Sanctuary, Alaska (M_BRBE_S2E8564) Brown Bear family, Prince William Sound, Alaska (M_BRBE_S2E0371) Collared Pika, Talkeetna Mountains, Alaska (M_COPI_S2E1331) I made brief trip to southern California and southern Nevada in early August. I had about 36 hours to kill. Mojave Desert Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes cerastes), Mojave National Preserve, California (H_SIDE_S2E1779) It had to happen! Stranded Moon Jellies, Prince William Sound, Alaska (I_JELLY_20190927) In mid-October we left for an epic road trip of Western Australia. Western Marbled Velvet Gecko (Oedura fimbria), near Mount Magnet, Western Australia (H_MVGE_S2E3689) Spinifex Pigeon, Karijini National Park, Western Australia (B_SPPI_S2E3943) Yellow-spotted Monitor (Varanus panoptes), Karijini National Park, Western Australia (H_YSMO_S2E4394) Finally arriving in Broome, we headed for the Broome Bird Observatory. Blue-spotted Mudskipper (Boleophthalmus caeruleomaculatus), Roebuck Bay, Western Australia (F_MUSK_S2E6339) Choosing my favorite image of the year was more difficult for me than in the past. Blue-spotted Mudskippers (B. caeruleomaculatus) fighting, Roebuck Bay, Western Australia (F_BSMS_S2E9376) Black-necked Stork or Jabiru, Roebuck Bay, Western Australia (B_JABI_S2E6575) Next, we headed for the tropical Kimberley Region. Magpie-lark, Windjana Gorge National Park, Western Australia (B_MALA_S2E8058) Agile Wallaby, Windjana Gorge National Park, Western Australia (M_AGWA_S2E8034) Agile Wallaby with joey, Windjana Gorge National Park, Western Australia (M_AGWA_S2E8142) Greater Bowerbird maintaining his bower, Windjana Gorge National Park, Western Australia (B_GRBB_S2E7736) Little Red Flying Foxes, Windjana Gorge National Park, Western Australia (M_BLFF_MG_9973) Little Red Flying Fox, Tunnel Creek National Park, Western Australia (M_BLFF_S2E7467) Freshwater Crocodile (Crocodylus johnsoni), Tunnel Creek National Park, Western Australia (H_FWCR_S2E7497_FFSSt) Freshwater Crocodiles (C. johnsoni), Windjana Gorge National Park, Western Australia (H_FWCR_S2E7909) Blue-winged Kookaburra, Danggu Gorge National Park, Western Australia (B_BWKO_S2E8709) Northern Knob-tailed Gecko (Nephrurus sheai), Kimberley Region, Western Australia (H_NKTG_S2E8936) Our next destination was the central western coast, which included Cape Range National Park, Coral Bay, the Peron Peninsula Stimson's Python (Antaresia stimsoni), Cape Range National Park, Western Australia (H_STPY_S2E0564) Black-flanked Rock Wallaby, Cape Range National Park, Western Australia (M_BFRW_S2E0938) Euro or Common Wallaroo, Cape Range National Park, Western Australia (M_EURO_S2E1393) Perentie (Varanus giganteus), Cape Range National Park, Western Australia (H_PERE_S2E2420) Next stop: Rottnest Island, just offshore of Perth. Here we experienced Quokka cuteness overload! Quokka female and joey, Rottnest Island, Western Australia (M_QUOK_S2E5631) I am going to count the following collection of 5 images as just 1 image towards my Favorite 50. Western Shield Spiny-tailed Gecko (Strophurus wellintonae), Karijini National Park, Western Australia (H_STGE_S2E3842) Our last leg of the trip was through portions of the 'southwest'. By now we had transitioned from the tropics Western Gray Kangaroo female with joey, near Yallingup, Western Australia (M_WGKA_S2E8225) Western Gray Kangaroo joey, near Yallingup, Western Australia (M_WGKA_S2E8574) Southern Emu-wren, Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, Western Australia (B_SOEW_S2E9142) Galah, near Denmark, Western Australia (B_GALA_S2E9890) Splendid Fairywren, near Denmark, Western Australia (B_SPFW_S2E9957) Southern Brown Bandicoot or Quenda, Arpenteur Nature Reserve near Cheynes Beach, Western Australia (M_SBBA_S2E0673) Short-beaked Echidna, Dryandra Forest, Western Australia (M_ECHI_S2E1067) And talk bout a high note to end an epic road trip! Pink-eared Duck, Herdsman Lake, Western Australia (B_PEDU_S2E3106)
Thus ends not just another year, but another decade! Wishing everyone excellent health and adventure in the coming year... and decade!
...It was nice to have an opportunity to photograph one of the few herps that reside in Alaska.
Especially one as striking as the individual pictured below.
We had the good fortune to be drawn again for permits to visit McNeil River for bear viewing, this time in June, as the
first salmon were arriving. This was the beginning of an uncharacteristically sunny and warm summer
for coastal Alaska, which can make bear photography challenging.
Regardless, the bears were obliging, we shared camp with great friends, and we saw
individual bears we had seen on previous trips.
He is a bruiser of a male that we saw on our first trip to McNeil in 2015.
At that time, he was obese from salmon and could barely move.
We speculated that he did not have too many seasons left in him.
Well, he made an appearance on this trip, looking good as he pursued
a female. Bear guide Tom Griffin has seen this male on all of the 18 years
he has worked at McNeil, making him one big, old bear!
I was especially interested in finding a Sidewinder rattlesnake. Research had pointed me to the Mojave Preserve, but it was hot!
I saw temps as high as 117F and it was still 100F at 3AM when I got up to head to the Vegas airport.
But, I found one!
A picture taken with my phone made my Top 50.
While the quality certainly lacks when compared to dSLR images,
sometimes the best camera is the one you have with you!
Western Australia is a big place and 6 weeks is not enough time to see it all.
But we tried...
After landing in Perth, we rented a car and headed north, via the Great Northern Highway.
While this area is famous for its shorebirds, I got distracted.
An interesting little fish inhabits the same mud flats occupied by wintering shorebirds.
Watching and photographing them were some of my favorite moments of the trip.
What a cool fish!
My images of elk, curlews, bears, Sidewinder, Blue-winged Kookaburra, gecko eyes, and Pink-eared Duck were all
close contenders. So many new and beautiful creatures to choose from.
In the end, because of their uniqueness and interesting and almost comical behavior,
I settled on this image of fighting mudskippers.
Even here it was difficult because I have several competing frames showing various poses of the action.
While we loved this area, our visit was shorter than planned due to the extreme heat!
and the Ningaloo Reef. Collectively we spent more time here than any other region of the trip.
I wanted to capture the fascinating eyes of the Strophurus Spiny-tailed Geckos found in Western Australia.
They are small, nocturnal geckos that have spines over their eyes and running the length of their tails.
While we did not find many of them, just 8 individuals throughout our travels, they represented 5 different species.
While I loved them all, the bright yellow eyes of the spinigerus species are my favorite.
Northern Spiny-tailed Gecko (S. cilarus), Broome, Western Australia (H_STGE_S2E6536)
Exmouth-tailed Gecko (S. rankini), Coral Bay, Western Australia (H_STGE_S2E3066)
Western Spiny-tailed Gecko (S. strophurus), Coral Bay, Western Australia (H_STGE_S2E3011)
Soft Spiny-tailed Gecko (S. spinigerus), Rottnest Island, Western Australia (H_STGE_MG_1143)
to the temperate, rugged south coast; and from desert to spectacular tall gum forests.
Our trip was drawing to a close.
Pink-eared Ducks were high on my photo want-list, and while we had seen them, all were too distant to photograph.
On the last morning I visited a park in Perth and met two photographers. When I asked where I might find a Pink-eared Duck
one of them responded that she could "present me one on a platter!"
Well, she pretty much did. What a great duck!
And it was a good one: including a trip to Ecuador and 3 trips to Australia, not to mention travels within
the U.S., including our home state of Alaska.
These images were presented in roughly the chronological order that they were made throughout the
year. As with all my photography, these are the scenes as they looked through my viewfinder; no content,
not a single blade of grass or twig, was digitally added or subtracted.
