Archives
A Sample of Pop’s “Bee” Images

Another Day at Work

Apis Workers' Party

Predator

Some of Your Beeswax

Sedum Bumbler

Look of Defiance

Chicory Bee

Bumbling Bees

Garden Cafe

Buzz By Here - To Infinity and Beyond

Pick Your Poison

Blind Side Attack

On a Mission

Honey Bee on Sedum

Covering the Cosmos

Center of the Cosmos

Three's a Crowd

Popular Spot

On A Pedestal

A Sample of Pop’s “People” Photo Collection

Big Harry Fireworks Display

To Impress the Girl

Different Perspective

Sweet Ride

Perfect Little Piggies B&W

Flipping the Light Fantastic

Festival of Flights

To the Crowd's Delight

Amish Go Round

Wondersome One

The Stars In Her Eyes

Tuesday's Child

Sleeper Hold

Considering the Next Move

Sugar and Spice

Front Porch Portrait

Caged Competitor

Early Adoration

Child In the Ligtht

Stroll Through the Weeds

Attention Grabbing

Eye Contact

On the Line

Eyes of Wonder

Rounding the Curve

Troubadours of Basin Spring Park

Down by the Creek

Sun Day

Catching Some Light

EAA Fireworks

Hear Me Roar

Birds

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Phoebe and Fly

Phoebe, Bird, Fly

This small and feisty Phoebe seems proud to show off its next meal. This is a photo taken in Missouri during the busy month of July; while they are raising their young.

You can get a better look at this cutie by clicking the photo. When you do, a larger version of this image will open in a new browser tab.

All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me (pops@popsdigital.com) for digital purchase and licensing options.

The Wild Bunch

Guinea, Guineafowl, Guineas, Bird, Birds

These guineafowl remind me of gang of miscreants looking for trouble. While out on a drive in our area of rural, northeast Wisconsin we turned around in a small farm yard at the end of a road and these birds were quick to check us out.

The guinea is a bird that emanated from Africa. I hear they make a good pheasant-like meal, but I’ve never attempted to eat one.  We used to have a number of them on our small rural homestead in Missouri. We enjoyed them for the variety they added to our flock of fowl (chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, etc.) and ease of care, because they pretty much take care of themselves. They are prized for eating ticks and other insects. They also make good “watch dogs” because of their tendency to make an annoyingly, loud racket when something or someone new is entering the yard.

You can get a better view of the beautiful polka dot plumage below the ugly heads by clicking on the photo. When you do, a larger version will open in a new browser tab.

All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me (pops@popsdigital.com) for digital purchase and licensing options.

Phoebe Feast

Eastern Phoebe, Phoebe, Bird, BugThis little bird was planning on a big lunch. This is an Eastern Phoebe that had captured a large flying bug and seemed intent on showing it off before taking it home to the family.

I’d been watching this little bird fly around the yard. It would often land on the chain-linked fence post not far from me.  I decided to position myself as close as thought I could be without scaring the bird from landing again.  Then I simply stood and waited with my camera focused on the top of that post.  It took a little while, but it finally landed and, to my delight, had a huge bug in its beak.  (In the near future, I’ll share a profile photo of this bird; where you can see the bug a bit better.)

On the website All About Songbirds, they share about the Eastern Phoebe – “The Eastern Phoebe is a plump songbird with a medium-length tail. It appears large-headed for a bird of its size. The head often appears flat on top, but phoebes sometimes raise the feathers up into a peak. Like most small flycatchers, they have short, thin bills used for catching insects.  The Eastern Phoebe generally perches low in trees or on fencelines. Phoebes are very active, making short flights to capture insects and very often returning to the same perch. They make sharp “peep” calls in addition to their familiar “phoebe” vocalizations. When perched, Eastern Phoebes wag their tails down and up frequently.”

I snapped this in a shaded area and I was still far enough away it required quite a bit of cropping to get this view.

This is one image you’ll really want to view full-screen. To do so, simply click on the photo.

All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me (pops@popsdigital.com) for digital purchase and licensing options.

Stately Stance

Sandhill Crane, Crane, BirdThis sandhill crane seemed to strike a pose when I snapped this photo. It is standing at the edge of our homestead, next to a recently harvested wheat field.

We have a lot of sandhill cranes around our home this time of year. Unfortunately, they are very shy and the moment I get anywhere close to them, the take off. I happened to snap this photo by just cracking the door or my garage and poking my lens out. Even my stealthy strategy did not go unnoticed. They were alert (a pair of them) and quickly on the move.  This was take some distance away using a 300mm lens…and then cropped in quite a bit to provide this view.

If you are viewing on a large screen, you can see a larger, more detailed version of this image by clicking on the photo.

All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me (pops@popsdigital.com) for digital purchase and licensing options.

Rock Dove on the Rocks

Rock Dove, Pigeon, Bird,These common birds can have some uncommonly beautiful blends of blue, purple and gray hues.  This is one of the residents we found at Fayette Historic State Park on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. There is a healthy colony of rock doves living among the old buildings of this once bustling iron smelting industrial community.

These birds are commonly referred to as Pigeons but their official name is Rock Doves; also known as Rock Pigeons. According to Wikipedia, “Wild rock doves are pale grey with two black bars on each wing, whereas domestic and feral pigeons vary in color and pattern. Few differences are seen between males and females. The species is generally monogamous, with two squabs (young) per brood. Both parents care for the young for a time.”

You get a better look at this dove, click on the image.  When you do, a larger, more detailed version of this photo will open in a new browser tab.

All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me (pops@popsdigital.com) for digital purchase and licensing options.

The Victor

Red-tailed Hawk, Hawk, Bird

This red-tailed hawk was enjoying a lunch of gray squirrel.  As you can see, it had already consumed most of it by the time I spotted them.

Thankfully, this hawk wasn’t bothered by me being close enough to capture it’s image.  I took a lot of photos from various angles and it mostly ignored me.  This was taken while on a hike around the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

You may be able to view a larger, more detailed version of this image by clicking on the photo.

All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me (pops@popsdigital.com) for digital purchase and licensing options.

Keeping a Tiny Eye On You

Hummingbird, Bird

This ruby-throated hummingbird paused for an instant stare down.

This image was taken in August of 2012 through the window to my back yard.  That was back when I had a less capable camera (Sony SLT-A55V).  I happened across some files from this shoot and decided to try and process one of the shots I had neglected back then.

I spent a good deal of time that year trying to capture hummingbirds up close.  It was a daunting task – they are so small and move so fast – but I managed to get a few good shots. (Out of thousands of attempts.)  Experimentation, patience and perseverance can pay off.

To see a larger, more detailed version of this image, click on it. When you do, a new browser tab will open.

All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me (pops@popsdigital.com) for digital purchase and licensing options.

Mona Lisa Smile

Bird, Flamingo, Pink, Feathers

On a recent trip to the Columbus Zoo, in Ohio, I snapped this image of a flamingo.  I titled it, “Mona Lisa Smile,” because the bird seemed to have a look in the eye and crook in the smile that reminded me of a much more famous work or art.

This is an American Flamingo. These birds were found in southern Florida by early European explorers but their populations declined until they were gone by the early 1900s.  However, in the 1950s they were added as a decorative addition to the Hialeah Park race track in Hialeah, Florida.  The current wild populations of flamingos in southern Florida are believed to be the result of escapees from the race track.

The elements of this photo that I like most are, of course, the vibrant color, the detail in the plumage and the unusual shape and symmetry of the bird and its plumage.

To better view the detail in this image, click on the photo and a full screen version will open in a new browser tab.

All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.

Resistance Is Futile

Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Bird, Snow, Raptor Nature
A glimpse of the cold reality of nature – photographed during a light snow fall in rural NE Wisconsin. This Cooper’s Hawk swooped in to capture a red-winged blackbird. The blackbird’s only option is to resign to his humble position in the food chain.

The hawk is holding the red-winged blackbird down on the ground and, when not checking his surroundings as you see here, is plucking his victim. I believe the blackbird is still alive at this point.

This image turned out much better that I had hoped. Still, it is technically deficient.  Let me tell you how I got this shot.

There was a light snow falling as I puttered around my home. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a bird pass by the window. I didn’t really see it, but something about the movement by the window registered in my brain as different. I thought it was just a large mourning dove flying down from a tree to pick up seed underneath the bird feeders.  Still, I decided to take a look.

It was in the vicinity of our bird feeders, but that was no dove. I noticed the hawk standing on the struggling blackbird.  Of course, I thought to get my camera but realized shooting through the window and screen from above, through the snow fall, wouldn’t produce a worthwhile image. I watched for a time until it noticed me at the window then it flew to the right – out of my sight.

It didn’t seem like the hawk was going far, just out of my sight…in fact, I thought, it might still be close to the house. I went to another window and could see them, but all the same obstacles still blocked a good shot. Then I got the idea to see, if by chance, it was close to a basement window. I grabbed my camera and headed to the basement. Sure enough, the drama was playing out about six feet from one of the windows.

I was careful to be quiet, grabbed a bucket to stand on, positioned my camera lens in the corner of the small, basement window and tried to be inconspicuous. I was able to snap off several shots before the hawk took note of me.  After all, it was a bit preoccupied and I was being my best stealthy self. The shot you see here, was when he finally noticed me…and in a moment he was off; flying to a distant spot in the farm field to the south of our home.

As I said, this turned out better than I had hoped for because the basement windows are not clean. They are ground level windows so they accumulate dirt and leaves and grass clippings, etc.  The basement is unfinished so we don’t spend much time down there and never really think of cleaning the windows. Aside from the dirt, these are triple-paned windows and they have a slight tint to them. Thankfully, only half the window has a screen over it, so I was able to shoot from the unscreened side, trying to find a less dirty area.

The final hurdle was the light. As I mentioned, it was snowing, so the sky was dark and dreary. I had to kick up the ISO (800) and lower my shutter speed (1/250), and try to hold my lens (set at 130mm) steady enough to get a sharp image. The raw image didn’t look so hot, but I was able to tweak it enough to create the final product you see here. If you were to enlarge it, it’s not as tack sharp as I’d like and there’s plenty of noise, but it turned out to be a shot worthy of sharing.

If you’d like to see a larger, more detailed version – which I highly encourage – click on the photo and a full-screen version will open in another browser tab.

All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.

One-Eyed Snowy Owl

Snowy Owl, Owl, White, Bird

I spotted this snowy owl perched at the top of a power pole in rural Northeast Wisconsin. It seems to have only one working eye. These owls, along with their beautiful white plumage, have distinctively orange eyes. It also looks like it’s missing a beak, but it’s just hidden by the fine plumage around it’s beak.

I was on my way home in the afternoon when I passed by the owl a quarter mile from my home.  I pulled into my garage, grabbed my camera from the house and headed back; hoping it wouldn’t fly away before I got back to take photos. Thankfully, it was still there when I returned and was willing to sit while I snapped a few images.  Most of the time it seemed uninterested in me and rarely looked my way. It stayed in place long after I was done and back home.

I took this image at some distance but I really don’t have the kind of lenses that could capture a clear, sharp photo at this distance on a dreary winter day. When shooting, I was far enough away I didn’t notice the problem with its left eye.  I thought I noticed the left eye was not open as wide, but didn’t realize the real problem until I could view it enlarged on my computer screen. This isn’t a bad image for the screen, but it wouldn’t make a great large print.

You can view a full-screen version of this image by clicking on the photo.

All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.

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