Now You All Know a Published Photographer

Raptor

By Matthew Jorgensen

Well, if you were wondering why it has been so long between posts this is the reason. I haven't been getting out to shoot anything new recently because I've been working on putting a book of my photography together. I'd suggest you all go out and buy it, but then what would I give you all for your birthdays? I guess you could get your friends to buy though. I will hopefully be seeing the final product on my doorstep in a few days so I'll let you all know how it turns out. Thanks to Marty for putting me onto the website that got this started (and finished I suppose).

The Wildcat Sanctuary

Let me just preface this by saying that this is not my photograph. Then let me follow up by saying that I may have some like this by the end of the summer. I have officially been offered an animal care internship at The Wildcat Sanctuary in Sandstone, MN for the summer. So that means I will definitely not be in Wyoming much at all during the break. I still have to hear from the Denver Zoo as to whether or not I have the option of working there, but I'm not sure if I should wait to find out. I don't know if I even get an interview there until the 15th. Thoughts? I'm really not sure what I should do, but it's looking like MN has a good chance at being my final destination. That means Lindsay will at least be getting some visits on my days off, (and possibly a third dog for a few months?...)

Snow Day

We got a lot of snow in Ithaca last night and today, and Skua finally got to go out and enjoy it off of her leash this afternoon. Of course she wore herself out and is now asleep on my bed, but she has more fun in snow than any dog I know.

Harris' Hawk

This is Ike, a Harris' Hawk. Native to the American Southwest...I'm not really feeling like writing anything so just enjoy the photo.

Weird...more birds

The combination of some new models and a beautiful Saturday morning didn't leave me with much of a choice. I had to shoot some more at the raptor center. This handsome gentleman is the juvenile northern harrier that we got early on last semester. I know he has a stupid monkey face, but don't hold that against him.

TUVU

So this semester I switched birds at the raptor center. Eleanor is helping one of the newer hand feeders get the hang of things, and I have the lovely assignment of working with the beautiful young boy you see here. He's a turkey vulture, probably just in his second year of life. I think he's at the center due to multiple wing and leg injuries that were probably inflicted by a car. When he showed up he was a wild bird, no previous contact with humans. Things are going very well: he's getting used to me, allowing me to approach him, and eating off of my glove. The most impressive part is that I've only been working with him for a few weeks so if we can continue to progress at this rate he will be a great bird for education. I wish this was a testament to my skill with the birds, but I'm sure it has more to do with his personality (particularly his curiosity) than anything I'm doing. He still doesn't have a name, so any suggestions on that front would be most welcome. Please no plays on any nasty vulture habits (like vomiting). I refuse to call him Chuck or Ralph.

Lincoln Park Zoo

On the way home from break I stayed for a few days in Chicago with Marty. We went to the Lincoln Park Zoo one day, it was getting dark and really tough to shoot, but I managed to get a few workable photographs. This is one of them-a European white crane.