Caught in the act

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 24, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/180 sec. f4.5
ISO 1600

Looks guilty as hell, doesn't he? No sooner did I fill the "squirrel-proof" feeder on our backyard deck and return to the house did this young ruffian arrive. He at least had the decency to pose prettily while I trained my favorite lens, aperture set wide open and ISO high against the gray overcast, on him. The depth of field is shallow but the whiskers are sharp.

Still soldiering on

ESCANABA & LAKE SUPERIOR 1221, ONTONAGON, MICHIGAN, MAY 20, 2010

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 at 21mm
1/500 sec. f11
ISO 400

A generation ago, railroad photographers raced to document the steam locomotives of America, fast disappearing under an onslaught of modern diesels. Today my age cohort is hustling to capture those first-generation diesels, now working mostly on short lines, before they, too, vanish. I was 16 years old when this classic 1,750-horsepower SD9 emerged from the Electro-Motive Division shops at La Grange, Illinois, in September, 1956, and went to work for Reserve Mining Co. around Duluth, Minnesota. Now Reserve Mining is gone, but wheezy old 1221 still labors for the bankrupt Escanaba & Lake Superior short line in upper Michigan and northern Wisconsin. Click the photo for a large version.

Water landing

JUVENILE RING-BILLED GULL, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 17, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/2000 sec. f8
ISO 400

Flaps down, gear down, speed brakes on: a young gull all but halts in mid-air to alight on Lake Superior during a hazy morning last May.

High dudgeon

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, JANUARY 12, 2010

Pentax *ist DS
Sigma 135-400 at 200mm
1/350 f9.5
ISO 400

"He's behind me, isn't he? With that damn camera? He's staring at my ass, isn't he? The creep!" Discovered while searching through last winter's archives for overlooked masterpieces.

Sunset No. 8

SUNSET ON LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 31, 2010

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 at 48mm
1/250 sec. f11
ISO 400

Rummaging through the summer's photo archive yielded this shot, which looks more impressive at a large size than it does at a small one. Click on it if you'd like to download it for desktop art.

Paragon of ubiquity

FEMALE HOUSE SPARROW (PASSER DOMESTICUS), EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 30, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/250 sec f6.7
ISO 1600

The house sparrow is the world's most widely distributed bird and is still extending its range; it arrived in Iceland during the 1990s. What's more, this gregarious little species leads a life that HBO really ought to film as a reality series. According to Wikipedia, although males and females mate for life, "bigamy occurs, and is mostly limited by aggression between females. Male House Sparrows guard their mates carefully before breeding to avoid being cuckolded."

Thirst

 GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 28, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/90 sec. f8
ISO 1600

I caught this young Sciurus dipping into the new heated bird squirrel bath we installed on the deck railing outside the Lady Friend's office window last week. The idea is that during winter freezes the open water will attract flocks of thirsty birds, hopefully rare and colorful ones. Of course it'll also be a magnet for the neighborhood tree rats.

White-breasted Nuthatch

WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH (SITTA CAROLIENSIS), EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 31, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/500 sec. f9.5
ISO 1600

Most of the birds that visit my backyard bird squirrel feeder are ordinary sparrows, but once in a while a nuthatch hangs out with them, figuring their presence will help protect it from predators. Nuthatches are active, agile and noisy birds, and typically perch heads down, their long, long claws gripping for dear life.