Carolyn Copper's Podcast

If you love birds, you have to love dead trees. I photograph raptors and other birds, a lot. I often notice one thing in common across my many bird shots, in the many different locations I’ve photographed them, and that is the birds are in a dead tree or on dead wood. Sounds bad, but it’s not. In fact, it’s a good thing because dead trees are do-gooders.

Washington, DC has a young red-shouldered hawk family living in a busy and dense part of the city. By all appearances, this hawk family has successfully acclimated and adapted to city life. I've been sharing first images and progress of the red-shouldered hawk parents, their three young, and information about this species including the risks it faces in a human-dominated world. This podcast accompanies and enhances the images and video available on my website blog and social media, providing information on the characteristics that enable red-shouldered hawks to survive and adapt in our environment and let us witness their miracle.

Earth day is April 22. It’s inspired a blog and podcast about a couple of things happening around my home, and to share resources on Earth Day and actions we can all take that support good stewardship of our planet. In this episode I talk about a great flower for pollinators that also turns into a striking dried flower you can have in your house for years, how we can better protect pollinators, what I do with old t-shirts and why, and resources that help us all with environmental stewardship.

My latest blog post at www.copperrangellc.com covers the not always agreed upon topic of the conditions in which photographers – both professionals and hobbyist – photograph wildlife.

Photographers are not all like-minded; some are opposed to photographing captive wildlife and actively work to devalue this type of wildlife photography. Other photographers are unopposed and keep ethics in the forefront when photographing captive wildlife.

Captive wildlife aren't domesticated. Domestication takes thousands of years and special circumstances.

My latest blog post, and this podcast covers important facts about this sometimes thorny topic.

We all know there’s something special about bald eagles – the United States’ national symbol. They represent strength and determination; they’re strong and independent; they’re incredible survivors; they’re majestic, bold, and faithful; and they’re unique to North America. This year (2019) I encountered bald eagles on a few of my photography travels. See what you know - and maybe don't know -- about these majestic birds, including the deadly risk they face from lead poisoning.

In this inaugural podcast you'll learn about me and one of my recent trips to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Kempton PA where I participated in a 4-day raptor trapping and banding course. Bird banding is an important tool in wildlife research and conservation.