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
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
Urban Guardian
On a walk through an urban area, we noticed this hawk perched on the utility pole. As we got close it would fly and stop at the next pole along our route…a few times. I kept hoping it would swoop down and snatch some prey while I had my camera ready. Of course, it didn’t or you’d be viewing a different picture here. He/she just seemed to be surveying the surrounding urban landscape.
To get a better view of this beautiful bird, click on the photo and a larger version will open in a new browser tab.
Dawn’s Early Flight
On the morning I took this photo, it was a calm and slowly brightening scene. I was focused on capturing the color in the clouds behind the lighthouse.
A large number of seagulls were resting on the pier running perpendicular to the lighthouse, apparently having spent the night there.
For no particular reason, they began to take off and I simply clicked the shutter several times as they inserted themselves into the scene.
To view a larger version of this image, click on the photo.
Four and Twenty
Those who follow my work know, I photograph a wide range of subjects. I capture, photographically, the things that capture me. This is one of those images. I was just working in the yard and noticed the way the birds on the power line were sitting, almost perfectly spaced, even on the line the angling down to the insulator.
You can view a larger version of this image by clicking on the photo.
Heads Up
Two Sandhill Cranes are up to the necks in wheat. This wheat field is in southern Door County, Wisconsin.
Sandhill cranes have always presented a challenge for me. They seem to be very shy and quick to take off when I try to get close. These two required a creative, persistent approach. Here’s how it happened.
Sara, my wife, and I were on a weekend getaway in Door County. We were heading to Peninsula State Park for a day of hiking through the woods. On the way Sara spotted these guys in a wheat field that we passed. We decided to go back an try to get a shot. I pulled over and we switched positions, so Sara was driving and I was free to take the photos. The plan was to approach the field at a relatively slow speed…but not too slow, so the birds wouldn’t get spooked. I would try to focus in and snap a few frames before they caught on and disappeared.
The first pass was a resounding failure. The movement made it hard to find and focus on the birds with my zoom lens and my exposure settings were way off. We turned around and tried it again. This time I had the right exposure but the birds sensed something was up and were on the move. Their heads were bobbing up and down in the field, always in a different spot than the last. Sara remarked, it reminded her of a Whack-A-Mole game.
We approached slower and even stopped as the birds headed for the brush at the edge of the field. Before they really took off, I got a couple of decent shots. There were actually 4 or 5 of them in the field, but with their concealed movement and head bobbing, I was never able to catch more than three in any shot. This is the one I liked best.
To get a better, more detailed view, click on the image.
House Sitting House Wren
I happened to catch this house wren sitting in the doorway of its home, but it wasn’t there long. I was constantly swooping in and out to bring insects to the babies inside.
In an earlier post, I showed this same wren with a beak full of spider to feed the babes. See it HERE.
This bird was photographed on a recent trip to northwest Missouri. We’ve not been able to attract an wrens to nest in a similar house we have in our yard in northeast Wisconsin.
To view a larger image of this bird, click on the photo.
Aging Patriot
Happy Independence Day!
This wounded warrior was sighted at the Topeka, Kansas zoo. They had two bald eagles on display who had been injured and no longer able to fly, so they were life-long residents.
To view a larger version of this image, click on the photo.
House Wren Spider Snack
This house wren was busy taking fresh food to its babies nestled in the tiny birdhouse hanging in this tree. If you look closely at the snack in its beak, this particular morsel was a spider.
This little cutie was captured in rural Missouri.
To view a larger version of this photo, click on it.
American Beauty
This female American Goldfinch was kind enough to pose for a portrait shot. This is an image I found in my archive; something I took a couple of years ago. It must of gotten lost in the shuffle.
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Shy Dove
I took my camera for a walk around the yard. It had been a rainy day and I thought I might get another perspective of the “normal,” since everything would still be wet.
While stooping down to take a photo of some bleeding hearts in the flowerbed, I saw something run from one clump of plants to another. It took some stalking to finally get a look at what had moved.
It’s a young mourning dove; very young and apparently too small to fly. I was able to catch this shot before it darted, again, into the brush. It must have thought it was hidden pretty well. I saw it again, the next day, hanging out with other birds, grazing under some bird feeders. When they saw me, the birds flew off…and this one ran for the safety of the flowerbed.
To view a larger version of this image, click on it.
Sea of Gulls
Seagulls take to flight before the Kewaunee, Wisconsin pier and lighthouse as the sun rises over Lake Michigan.
Yesterday I was on the beach to photograph the sunrise. I had finished started walking back to the car, ready to head home to grab breakfast before going to work. As I neared the parking lot, I noticed a large number of seagulls resting on the beach. I figured, as I got closer, they would eventually take off. So I prepared my camera for the shot.
When they began to take off, with my camera at arm’s length, I just pointed in their direction and snapped away – one-handed because I was carrying my tripod in the other. Looking directly into the brightness of the sun, I really couldn’t see what I was shooting, so I was rather pleased with what I saw when I downloaded the morning’s images to my computer.
To get a better view, click on the image and a larger version will open in a new browser tab.