More From The Pa. Elk Rut...

Two posts in a week maybe I can get back into the swing of things here.  Today's post comes from my recent trip to Elk County for the rut.  In Monday's posts I mentioned the weather, what I didn't mention is that with the wet weather on Winslow Hill normally comes heavy fog in the mornings.  And we had just that, heavy fog on a few mornings.  When it is foggy like this you have a choice of just observing the Elk, trying to photograph them or doing both.  I have always done both, but I spend more time just watching than photographing.  This bull was photographed on the top of the mountain as he bugles to anyone that wants to listen, and believe me we were listening.  This is just an amazing sound, if one spends enough time around the bulls you can learn if it is an old bull or a younger one.

Now I am typing this hoping the video works, I changed some things on blogger to up date the way I make my posts hoping that some of the bugs go away and this is my first post after doing this.  If it works what you will see is a cow and her calf grooming each other close up.  This was taken mid morning on an overcast day in the woods with little light.  I have found that it can be much easier to video rather that shoot photos with a DSLR in low light.  Being away from the other noises Winslow Hill can bring is great, turn up your volume and listen to the peacefulness of the outdoors and the bugling of the bulls.  It is funny as the bull bugles the cow must have been bored by it as she appears to yawn or maybe she is lip syncing.  I hope this post works.

Water Rescue On Front Street...

I assuming the video upload worked, I have tried a few times with no luck. This was one of the calls we had on Friday last week, we were dispatched to North Front Street near the city line for a car in the water with the occupant inside. One of the most difficult things to do during a flood is determining the best route of travel because of flooded streets. On this call I drove out of the city into the township to approach the incident. With apparatus on both sides we waited for the Utility to arrive with the raft. A crew of three walked the raft in to the auto and assisted the elderly man into the raft and out to safety. Once out we placed him on the front bumper of my wagon for EMS to check him out. The last photograph is Captain Jim McHenry "B" platoon and Battalion Chief Herb Berger "C" platoon working overtime with us.

I turned out to be an 87 year old man delivering meals on wheels, had this been a younger person we would not have been very happy about the call and he more than likely would have been fined. But do to circumstances we handled this a little different.

I would like to point out that the local news paper the Patriot News Harrisburg reported on the incident, of course it was almost all wrong. They stated that River Rescue brought the man to safety, WRONG it was the HFD. They also said that in the photo caption that he was setting on the bumper of a Susq. Twp. fire engine, WRONG again, they were not even there. I did send an email to three different people at the Patriot pointing out the errors but none were corrected nor did I even get a reply. I guess it is more important to just report things even if they are not true than to report the actual news. I should be used to this by now but it just pisses me off. In the last year they have only wanted to report negatives about the fire bureau and no positives.

Silver Springs Fire Continued...

When I posted last time I spoke briefly and showed a few photographs from a fire last week behind my house. You could tell from the photographs that I arrived before the fire department and began photographing and videoing the fire. In the video before the FD arrives you will hear the sound of a 20 pound propane tank as it relieves pressure and begins to burns. For those of you not in the fire service you will be able to see the flames intensify from this in the front right hand corner of the building. For you old timers like me it is in the 1-4 corner, quadrant A, first floor. For you new fangled talk like rocket scientist it will be the AB corner on division 1.

Response to the 31-02 box brought companies 31 (Silver Springs), 33 (New Kingston), 27 (Citizens Mechanicsburg), Truck 28 (Washies Mech.), 25 (Monroe Twp.), E23 (Upper Allen for R.I.T.) and Air 45 (Carlisle). Manpower was pretty good for a daylight as enough men showed up to handle numerous buildings this size. The blaze was knocked down rather quickly and further damage was averted. There appeared to be no injuries in battling the blaze and companies remained on the scene for several hours. I did not speak to anyone concerning cause or damage dollar amount but according to the local paper the occupant started the car went back inside and came back out to find the garage burning.

Pre-Rut Whitetail Sparring...

Sorry I missed an extra day of posting on the site, I have been a little preoccupied lately. For those of you that live in my area and watch the news you will understand. Depending on my schedule with helping the union and trying to save jobs this may happen more frequently in the near future. I would like to elaborate more but I am scared my anger will take over and I will type something in that I regret.

Today's whitetail photo and video are from my pre-rut trip to SNP during the second week of October. I think I posted a video from this encounter earlier and I know I mentioned it. This was early morning when it was not light enough to capture good still of the action without raising the ISO higher than I like, but it was a good time for shooting video. The video is the first one I recorded from this experience, you will see four nice bucks in the group. There was one other buck and a number of doe's and first year deer in the herd. The still photo was one of the few that I captured that was worth posting.

Car Fire In Harrisburg, And A Way Of LIfe...

On the morning of November 3, 2010 as the members of "B" Platoon attempted to get some sleep the shrill of the beeps rang out around 3:15 a.m. followed by the dispatch "Box 1-3 Wagon 3, Tower 2 report of an car fire in the area of Green and Woodbine Streets". The lights came on in the bunkroom followed by five men putting on socks and pants as they headed toward the apparatus room floor. As the men reached the rigs shivering from the cold air coming through the open bay doors, wiping sleep from their eyes and shaking the cobwebs free they donned their protective clothing as the drivers started the rigs. Out the bay doors a quick left up one block and another left down Maclay Street to Green, once on Green Street the Wagons front seat rider reported to county that we were on the scene with a well involved car fire. As the riders leaped from the rig and began stretching a hose line, I set the parking break, transferred the rig to pump gear and engaged the generator. The line was quickly deployed and the back-up man waved his hand to tell me to charge the line. The line swelled with the water and the pipe man began to attack the fire. By then the Truck company arrived and began opening the car to allow for a more efficient extinguishing of the fire and insure that no one was inside.

Within a couple of minutes the fire was knocked down and overhaul had begun. Shortly after the Battalion Chief marked control and the hose line was taken up. As the last few sections of hose were being put on the rig the beeps once again went off for an automatic fire alarm in the 1700 block of Fulton Street sending the uptown and hill rigs. The call turned out to be unattended cooking and Tower 2 was held to ventilate the building. A quick stop at a hydrant to top off the booster tank and it was back to the station to clean face pieces and fill out SCBA sheets. It's now 4:30 a.m. and back to bed in hopes of getting a couple of hours sleep, 6:15 a.m. and my watch goes off telling me it is time to get up and start the coffee, empty the dishwasher and bring in the morning paper. It is to bad that I just finally fell back to sleep.

That is a night like many I have had over the last three plus decades, missed sleep, cold nights, hot days, missed holidays with the family, sad times, injuries and aches and pains. But I would never change a thing, paid or volunteer this is the best job in the world. There is the joy of helping someone, the excitement of saving a life, the brotherhood and the adrenaline of doing the job. By the way as I sat here in the firehouse kitchen typing this on night shift I had to do so in segments as we went out the door twice for calls before I could finish this post. As I near the end of my career I find myself reflecting on the good moments more and more and the things I will miss when I am gone, this job becomes more than just a job it becomes a way of life. The photos and video were all taken with a point and shoot digital camera.

Sparring Whitetail Videos...

Today like yesterday I am taking the easy route and posting two videos. These were taken in early October in Shenandoah National Park early one morning with the Nikon D90. There was a bachelor group of five bucks all nice ranging from eight to 10 points. Unfortunately it was to early to photograph without setting the ISO high but it was just right for videos. The five sparred for sometime often breaking it off to spar with another buck. It was a thrill to watch. The first video last 31 seconds and the second last 30 seconds, if you turn up the volume you will hear their antlers coming together and the wind blowing, in the second video you hear a car go by as I was not far from the road.

Whitetails And Turkeys...

Today is an all video day and shows what happens when you give someone like me a camera that shoots video and send them out for wildlife all alone. The videos are all short to allow me to upload to blogger and because they were all shot from in the truck there is not much for audio. The first one was taken early one morning around 5:30 a.m., I came across this buck and since there was no traffic I decided to put the truck sideways in the road and turn up the high beams. Then I got this bright idea of lets shoot some video, so I did. At one point you get the deer in the headlights look as his eyes take in the light. The next two were taken at the same place and same time the first of those taken through the windshield. It is not often I see turkeys and deer in the same viewfinder so I thought I would shoot a little video. The last video was taken from the drivers window of the turkeys as I drove slowly along side of them. Not to worry I was steering with my knees much like to people do at 75 mph on the interstate as they are texting. The big difference is I was only going about 5 mph. That's all for today.

Pleas stop by Shane's blog today for a new post.

SNP Nine Point Buck...

This was one of the few bucks that spent the morning out until there was enough light to photograph at reasonable ISO settings. This nine point buck was out before 6 a.m. in the same area and came back out a couple hours later, the video only last about 20 seconds.

Practicing For The Future...

These young bulls were captured the last morning I was in elk country. While the bigger bulls fought and chased cows around these two young elk practiced for the future not far from me. It was to early to photograph without noticeable noise but with the D90 set at ISO 1250, 1/15 second at f4 they were able to be videoed. They were fun to watch, maybe I am easy but I really enjoyed watching them.

Elk Fight Video...

The majority of the time when the action was taking place in elk country it was to early or to late to photograph the wildlife unless one wanted to crank up the ISO way beyond what is usable. When those times occurred I used the Nikon D90 to take video of the action. This time I remembered to put my glasses on since focusing is manual but even with the glasses it is not easy to operate the focusing ring some distance away on the 200-400 VR F4 lens and look at the LCD. I also found that unless the action stays in the same focal plane and does not get get closer of further away it is easier to maintain the focus. Even with the glasses most of my videos were not sharp, I guess I need allot more practice. The other issue with videoing is to keep the VR turned off so it can not be heard in the audio on playback, I managed to do that the entire trip except for the last day when most of the videos were shot with it turned on hence the annoying sound in this video, turn up your volume to hear the bugling of the bulls and crashing of the antlers.

This fight video last 24 seconds, I have more footage from it but it is to large to upload to blogger and at present I am unable to edit footage for use. This was taken the last morning there and shows two mature bulls competing for cows, note the other bull on the hill behind them at the beginning of the video, he moves closer when another comes of the hill. When this video was shot there was at least five mature bulls a rag horn and two spikes in the same area along with the many cows and calves.

Please stop by Shane's blog today for a new post.

And People Think I am Not Right...

Okay for those of you who think I am not right watch this video and you will see that I am the normal one in the family. I hope the video works, when I upload them they always say an error occurred please try again later but once the post shows up they always seem to be there. This is the sort of thing I have to put up with all the time. This was at the condo we stayed at in Ocean City the other week, Shane finds a luggage cart and Linda acts like a kid with him. By the way the were shot with the point and shoot camera also. I know I sound like a broken record and I am not looking for pity but I have not been happy with the quality of photographs I have been getting lately. I have good equipment and I should be getting better but I seem to be digressing. The post processing skills are not improving either. Since I am doing this for fun I have decided not to worry about what I post anymore, besides on a good day my numbers only around 25 to 30 hits a day anyways.

More Sika's...

Like I said yesterday more on the Sika Deer today. In order to get a full body photograph I used the point and shoot camera and since I had it in my hands I figured why not shoot a quick video of him grazing. With that said the quality will not be the same as yesterdays photos. I hope the video works, this is the first time I attempted to post one from this camera.

Sika's are an oriental species, they found there way to Blackwater when a local man by the name of Clement Henry purchased several to bring to his home in Cambridge Maryland in 1916. Sika's are smaller than whitetails only standing about two and a half feet tall, they have a rich chestnut red coat. Often the coat exhibits white spots much like the whitetail fawns during the summer months. Those spots fade away at other times of the year. A black dorsal stripe runs from the ears to the base of the tail and can be seen in the photos I posted. They normally range in herds of five to twelve although the three times I have seen them there has never been more than two together at a time. There racks rarely grow larger that six points. Since the Sika's lack natural predators and because they multiply at great rates the areas in Maryland have a hunt once a year.

Please visit Shane's blog today for a new post.

Elk Video's...

Today I am taking the easy route and posting videos from our trip to Benezette in June. They are short and there is some audio, turn up your vlume and enjoy the sounds of birds and elk. That video was shot early one morning in the dense fog, still photography was pretty much non existent that morning so I took a few videos. The second video is of "Odie" eating breakfast one morning along Winslow Hill. I think he was proud to display his new necklace. I hope these videos work, since some of the changes to blogger they come up unavailable to me on the preview screen but they seem to work the day the scheduled post appears.

Bears Win! Bears Win!

I just could not pass up the chance to make a post about the Hershey Bears. Monday night the Bears beat the Stars 4-0 to clinch their 11TH Calder Cup championship and first on home ice since 1980. I thought I should make the post now because if they wait 30 years to do it on home ice again I may not be around. The Bears had the best season in the AHL's 74 year history. They set many records from win streaks at home to most wins to the first to come back from a 0-2 deficit to win the cup. It was special to be part of the celebration but something seemed to be missing. I think it is because we have been in the finals four of the last five seasons and it was our third cup in that time period.

Just my luck, I spent time researching point and shoot cameras (something small) over the weekend and purchased one on Monday so I would have it to photograph some of the game. If you remember we can not bring cameras into the arena that have removable lens. After setting down and pulling out the small camera I was informed that late afternoon the Bears announced that you could bring real cameras to the game. So there I set with a point and shoot and the D300 with the 70-200 2.8 at home. Just my luck I guess. Last night the Bears had a celebration open to the public so you may see a few more photos soon. Hopefully the video will work, I have been having problems since the blooger changes in the last week.

Blue Heron And Chick...

More from my spring Florida trip, these were taken at Viera Wetlands. This Blue Heron and chick were nesting in a tree in one of the ponds. This was the best chance I had to photograph a heron chick in the last two years. Unfortunately my best video found the delete button, just because it makes a good vertical photograph does not mean it will make a good vertical video. Yes that is right I video tapped the heron and chick vertically. After downloading the card and viewing the video it donned on me that the video will be displayed horizontally. I never claimed to be the brightest candle on the cake. The video last 20 seconds and shows the adult fixing the nest while the chick moves about.

Since I do not post on the weekends and I skipped yesterday this is a couple of days late BUT, Happy Birthday Shane. On Sunday June 13TH Shane turned 14 years old, he is out of middle school and will be going to High School next year. My how time flies. I think he had a good birthday and I feel certain he liked his gifts. Speaking of Shane's don't forget to visit his blog today for a new post.

Limpken Videos...

Today I am taking the easy route and posting videos from Florida. All were taken the same day at Viera wetlands and show the Limpken bathing and squawking. The videos are all short and last 9, 27 and 26 seconds. When I shoot videos I try to keep them below 45 seconds to keep the file size below 100 meg so they can be uploaded to blogger. I eventually hope to get a video editing program so I may take the short clips and put them together to make decent short films. But for now this is what you get. In all three videos there is a back ground sound that I could not determine, after talking with a friend about it we think I had the VR turned on in the lens creating the sound. Time to experiment a little and see if that was the source.

Feeding Frenzy...

More birds from the front window, I have to shoot something I can't just let the cameras lay. The video was taken with the D90, no need to turn up your volume, since this was taken from the comforts of my warm home there is no audio. The first photo I just liked because of the back lighting and the depth of field.

4X4 Buck Videos In Rain...

Both of these videos were taken at the same time on November 11 in SNP during the whitetail rut. This is the larger 4X4 I posted photographs of previously. The first video last 14 seconds and shows the big buck walking through the woods, you can see how foggy it was with limited visibility. If you turn up the volume you can hear just how hard it is raining. The second video last 20 seconds and even though the buck steps behind a tree you can still see him shake the water from his coat much like a dog does. It is something that most people don't get to see.

More Whitetails...

What can I say that I have not already said about the SNP whitetails? I can come up with nothing. With that I leave you with this photo and short video.

I noticed my video wasn't up. After trying numerous times to do it again and every time it seemed to work but continue to show up black I decided to check my other videos. All of those are showing up the same way when they worked in the past. I checked blogger and it seems they are having a problem. Hopefully they will get this corrected and all my past videos will show back up also.

Final Installment Of The House Fire...

This is my final installment of the house fire near Newville. Up to today I posted general photos from the fire ground, so today I wanted to post a few of firefighters up close working the fire. The video is short and shows the Shippensburg truck boys opening up to get to the fire. After posting the same incident three days in a row there really is not much left to say.