Hummer No. 1

FEMALE RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 25, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/180 sec. f9.5 with on-board flash
ISO 400

There's a hummingbird feeder just outside our front window, and during a dark thunderstorm yesterday afternoon a female hummer came along and posed prettily just long enough for me to get into position with my rig before the bird dashed back into the woods.

Sunrise No. 2

SUNRISE, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 25, 2010

Pentax K10D
Sigma 17-70 at 34mm
1/750 sec. f8
ISO 400

We're in the middle of a heat wave in Upper Michigan, and the warm 62-degree air over 48-degree Lake Superior caused a fog bank to form as the sun rose over a flotilla of Canada geese off the neighbor's beach to the west. By midmorning the fog will have rolled in to shore, cutting visibility to a hundred yards or so.

Standing out on a starry dawn

CANADA GEESE, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 18, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/4000 f8
ISO 400

The sun's sparkling reflection on the water of Lake Superior just after sunrise set off the silhouettes of these honkers, a species that may be considered noisy and beach-fouling pests in many areas but in the right places lend themselves to photography in many ways.

Sunrise No. 1

SUNRISE ON LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 20, 2010

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 at 26mm
1/1000 sec. f8
ISO 400

I stepped out of the cabin shortly after dawn to capture this view. It's never the same from day to day, one of the glories of summering on the southern shore of Lake Superior. It'll be my desktop photo for at least the next few days; click on it if you'd like to take a larger version for yourself.

Semipalmated Sandpiper

SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER (CALIDRIS PUSILLA), GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 17, 2010

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/750 sec. f11
ISO 400

At first this seemed to be a Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla), but the dark, rather than yellow, legs suggest the slightly larger Semipalmated, according to the bird books. Sandpipers -- also called "peeps" -- have been scarce on our Lake Superior beach for many years, but they seem to have returned in force this spring. (Click for a large view.)

Merganser

MALE COMMON MERGANSER (MERGUS MERGANSER), GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 18, 2010

Pentax K10D
Sigma APO 135-400 at 400mm
1/500 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

The early-morning sun set off this large diving duck's orange bill as it paddled close inshore past our cabin on Lake Superior in Upper Michigan. I had just set up the camera and long lens on a tripod behind the cabin's front picture window when the merganser kindly consented to serve as a test subject.

Buffleheads

FEMALE BUFFLEHEADS (BUCEPHALA ALBEOLA), GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 17, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/1000 sec. f8
ISO 400

Up to this spring we hadn't seen Buffleheads in these parts, and have been surprised to see them almost every day in Lake Superior outside our cabin. They're the smallest diving duck in North America, and the bird books say they evolved downward in size in order to hole up in the tree nesting cavities of Northern Flickers. They're growing more common, partly because they're too small and gamey for good eating.

Calendula

CALENDULA OFFICINALIS "PACIFIC LEMON BEAUTY," CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, APRIL 28, 2010

Pentax K20D
Tamron SP AF 90mm DI Macro
1/250 sec. f9.5
ISO 100

Often called a "pot marigold," this large and gorgeous bloom is actually a hybrid English calendula, an herb often planted in kitchen gardens and plucked for its edible petals, used as salad or soup garnish. It was dressing up the Heritage Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden when I walked by with a camera.