Second squirrel of the season

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 21, 2011

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/90 sec. f6.7
ISO 400

While I was laid up recovering from a knee replacement, Deborah Abbott (a k a the Lady Friend) captured this squirrel through the window of our her home office. Ordinary as they may be and ubiquitous as they may be, members of the Sciurus genus always are good subjects. Just hand out some tidbits and they'll come sit for their portraits.

Blue-capped Waxbill

BLUE-CAPPED WAXBILL (URAEGINTHUS CYANCEPHALUS), SKOKIE, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 10, 2011

Pentax K-5
Sigma 17-70 DC at 70mm
1/200 sec. f7.1
ISO 3200

Another exotic African bird found in the Alden rehab center's aviary, this one is also known as a subspecies of the Cordon Bleu waxbill. It's popular among breeders but takes some work to keep reproductively happy, since it likes termites more than any other food. And you know what happens when termites get loose in the house.

Shaft-tail Finch

SHAFT-TAIL FINCH (POEPHILIA ACUTICANDA), SKOKIE, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 9, 2011

Pentax K-5
Sigma 17-70 DC at 70mm
1/200 sec. f8
ISO 3200

This pretty, sparrow-sized bird is native to the dry savanna of northwest Australia. Its export is now banned in that country, so examples have become expensive elsewhere. Fortunately the species breeds readily in captivity and hence is often kept in pairs. This one was captured in the little aviary at the Alden Estates rehab center in suburban Chicago.

Diamond Dove

DIAMOND DOVE (GEOPOLIA CUNEATA) SKOKIE, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 9, 2011

Pentax K-5
Sigma 17-70 DC at 70mm
1/200 sec. at f8
ISO 3200

Another of my rehab center aviary captures, this one is of a sparrow-sized pigeon native to Australia. Not much can be said about it (or any other kind of pigeon), but the vivid eye ring bespeaks a male, or so says the bird book.

Orange Weaver

ORANGE WEAVER FINCH (PLOCEUS AURANTIS), SKOKIE, ILLINOIS, DECEMBER 9, 2011

Pentax K-5
Sigma 17-70 DC at 70mm
1/200 sec. f8
ISO 3200

When it's in breeding plumage, the male Orange Weaver (a k a Red Bishop) is about as gaudy a bird as you'll see. The rest of the time this native of Central Africa looks like a sparrow. I captured it after a strenuous trek through the jungle of the Alden Estates Rehabilitation Center, which keeps a small aviary for the amusement of its patients.

First squirrel of the season

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, NOVEMBER 11, 2011

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/180 sec. f5.6
ISO 800

I've been back in Evanston for six weeks and am only now getting around to photographing the wildlife in my backyard through the rear office window. This young specimen held steady for its portrait on a cloudy day.

Giving up the ghosts

ABANDONED HOUSE, ATLANTA, MISSOURI, OCTOBER 16, 2011




Pentax K-5
Sigma 10-20 DC at 13mm
1/250 sec. f8
ISO 100




Driving around the small town of Atlanta (pop. 385) in northeastern Missouri with a carload of rail-buff photographers yielded this picturesque old house in the weeds. The cloud formations in the blue, blue sky above the house suggested supernatural events, even if Halloween hadn't quite arrived yet. Considerable distortion correction in Lightroom was required to straighten the vertical lines of the house.

Stop-action hummer

RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 6, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 260mm
1/2000 sec. f8
ISO 1600

Discovered among the summer's photo archives this morning, this is one of the few hummingbird shots in which I've been able to stop the wings and catch the subject away from the intrusive red plastic feeder used to attract the birds. It appears from the angle of its tailfeathers that the bird was flying backwards in mid-hover.

Dahlias

'BISHOP OF LLANDORF,'
SEMI-DOUBLE DAHLIA, 
CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN,
GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, 
OCTOBER 10, 2011




Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 170mm
1/320 sec. f8
ISO 1600




Taken as the low early morning sun backlighted the blossoms.

Leaf

ERSATZ MAPLE LEAF, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 10, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/200 sec. f8
ISO 1600

It seemed like such a likely subject--a ripe maple leaf caught on a twig and backlighted by the sun--until I called up the frame on my computer. Clearly it's a fake leaf made of some sort of fabric, probably a Halloween decoration. But it's still pretty.

Green Smoke? Really?

NYMPHAEA 'GREEN SMOKE' WATERLILY, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 9, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 190mm
1/800 sec. f14
ISO 1600

The sign next to this striking scarlet bloom in the lily pools north of the Regenstein Center at the Chicago Botanic Garden calls it a "Green Smoke" nymphaea variety, but I'm wondering if it's really something else. If you know, kindly tip me off, will you?

Baluster

VASIFORM BALUSTER,
CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN,
GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, 
OCTOBER 9, 2011

 



Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300
at 230mm
1/2000 sec. f8
ISO 1600





One of the familiar sights at the Chicago Botanic Garden is the cast stone balustrade overlooking the Lakeside Gardens at the south end of the main island. In the early morning sun yesterday the interplay of light and shadow pleasingly emphasized the stony texture of one baluster.

White Knight

WOOD'S WHITE KNIGHT TROPICAL WATERLILY, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS OCTOBER 9, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/1000 sec. f14
ISO 1600

My first foray this balmy October to the Botanic Garden yielded this HDR-like shot of a white water lily. Considerable tweaking in Lightroom helped subdue the strong highlights of the white. I used a high ISO so that a fast shutter speed would dampen the shaking of my increasingly elderly hands, and the Pentax's in-camera antishake system further helped.

Jaybird

BLUE JAY, GREEN, MICHIGAN,
MAY 19, 2011



Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm
f4.5 ED (IF)
1/3200 sec. f6.3
ISO 1600



At our cabin on Lake Superior, the noisy jays arrive early in May, strip the bird feeders, and depart by Memorial Day, not to return until mid-September. We have no idea where they hang out from June through August. I found this shot while winnowing out the summer's bird photographs, and wondered about that saying "naked as a jaybird." What?

Sunset No. 8

SUNSET OVER LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 30, 2011

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 DC at 17mm
1/180 f8
ISO 400

In my opinion, it's generally not a good idea to shoot a sunset at an extreme wide angle, because that shrinks the orb of the sun to an unreal, almost pinpoint size. But when the sun is behind spectacular, sky-enhancing cloud formations, as it was on this evening in late August, going wide is the way to go. I shot it sitting on the bench on the beach in front of the Writer's Lair, with trees on either side to frame the composition. Click photo for a desktop-size version.

Sunset No. 7

SUNSET OVER LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, SEPTEMBER 4, 2011

Pentax K-5
Sigma DC 17-70 at 17mm
1/20 sec. f9
ISO 400

In the photograph above, the setting sun in the west cast a weird hue on the low clouds to the north, even coloring the rainfall from them. The photograph below was taken an instant later directly west. Sunsets in these parts, I've said before and will say again and again, are unbeatable.

Pentax K-5
Sigma DC 17-70 at 70mm
1/250 sec. f9
ISO 400

Red-breasted Nuthatch

RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH (SITTA CANADENSIS), GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 30, 2011

Pentax K-5
Sigma 135-400 APO DG at 340mm
1/400 sec. f7.1
ISO 1600

I've captured lots of white-breasted nuthatches, but this is the first specimen of the smaller red-breasted variety to fall to my camera. This morning I set up my nylon duck blind ten feet from a bird feeder in the back yard of our cabin and waited, and within minutes this visitor came calling.

Green heron

GREEN HERON, ONTONAGON TOWNSHIP, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 25, 2011

Both photographs:
Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/1250 sec. f9
ISO 400

The Great Blue Heron is common on the shore of Lake Superior, but this was the first time I'd ever spotted its smaller cousin, the crow-sized Green Heron, a swampland denizen. Its small crest erects when it's excited, making it look frantic and frazzled in flight. These aren't terrific photographs, but at least they will do for my lifetime bird list.

Juvenile eagle

JUVENILE BALD EAGLE, CARP LAKE TOWNSHIP, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 25, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/640 sec. f9
ISO 400

As I strolled along the southern shore of Lake Superior, this juvenile bald eagle swooped low, about 75 feet in the air, and loitered above for a long minute, gliding tight circles directly overhead. At last I have my close-in eagle shot for the summer, even though an adult would be more spectacular. Click the photo for a large version.

Sunset No. 6

SUNSET OVER LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 21, 2011

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 DC at 58mm
1/500 sec. f13
ISO 400

What can I say? Sundowns in these parts at this time of year are simply nonpareil.

Eagle

BALD EAGLE, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 14, 2011

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/1000 sec. f11
ISO 1400

Someday I will get close enough to one of the four adult eagles that live in tall trees near our cabin on Lake Superior to get a good frame-filling shot, but for now this will have to do. He (or she) flew about 200 feet above me as I sat in a chair on the beach and I cropped the photograph hard. Click it for larger version.

Sunsets No. 5

SUNSET OVER LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 16, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/500 sec. f9
ISO 400

Last night's sunset was absolutely weird -- the sun punched through two storm systems, one close in and dumping rain over the lake (hence the strange halo effect), another system far, far out on the horizon. A gaggle of geese flew past just as I was trying out different f/stops to see if I could subdue the halo. (I couldn't.) Click on the photo for a desktop-sized version.

Below is a wide-angle shot of the same sunset, taken a few minutes later with another camera. Click on it also for a desktop-sized version.

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 at 21mm
1/30 sec. f8
ISO 400

Sunset No. 4

SUNSET OVER LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 5, 2011

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

I hate to keep boasting that my summer place is sunsettier than yours, but I'm afraid it's true. Even when the colors aren't at their usual vividness, the clouds and the deep blue sky over the Big Lake still bespeak a sundown of champions. The usual free desktop-sized version can be obtained by clicking on the photograph.

Hummer No. 3

RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 6, 2011

Pentax K-5
Pentax SMC-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/180 sec. f6.3 with on-board flash
ISO 400

One of these days I will capture a male hummingbird in all his iridescent red splendor without a distracting plastic feeder in the frame, but for now this will do. I found the shot, taken two months ago, while rooting around in the computer for something else. It was taken through the picture window of our cabin.

Sunset No. 3

SUNSET OVER LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 3, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 190mm
1/1250 sec. f5.6
ISO 400

Looks like Jupiter or maybe Uranus, doesn't it? Nope, it's old Sol, punching through a darkling storm far in the distance over western Lake Superior. Squint at the detail photo below (click on it and it'll be a little larger) and you might able to see what appear to be sunspots on the surface. (They're not schmutz on the camera's sensor -- I checked.)

Sunset No. 2

SUNSET OVER LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 2, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/800 f7.1
ISO 400

The Big Lake sunsets are getting ever more vivid as the summer rolls on into August. This one turned out best with a long lens. Click on the photo for a desktop-sized version.

Sunset No. 1 of 2011

SUNSET OVER LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JULY 28, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 35mm f2.4 AL
1/100 sec. f8
ISO 100

Late July is when the gorgeous-sunset season begins in earnest over Lake Superior -- that's when the evening clouds, which give the skies their most interesting character, enerally are at their best. Here's my first effort this year at calendar-pretty sunset shots. Click on it for a desktop-sized version.

Viper's Bugloss (formerly Mystery bloom)

VIPER'S BUGLOSS (ECHIUM VULGARE) UNKNOWN WILDFLOWER, SAULT STE. MARIE, ONTARIO, JULY 21, 2011

Pentax K-5
Sigma 17-70 at 70mm
1/160 sec. f16
ISO 400

While I was waiting for a train at the Soo, I spotted these gorgeous dime-sized blooms in the weeds at trackside and captured them for my wildflower collection. But I have no idea what they are and they don't appear in any of my wildflower books. Can anyone clue me in? UPDATE: This turns out to be Viper's Bugloss, a.k.a. Blueweed, Blue Devil, Blue Thistle, Viper's Grass, a weed native to Europe and west and central Asia, but an invasive species in North America.

Mayfly

MAYFLY (RITHROGENIA GERMANICA), SAULT STE. MARIE, MICHIGAN, JULY 21, 2011

Pentax K-5
Sigma 17-70 at 70mm
1/400 sec. f10
ISO 800

The other day I was waiting aboard a tour boat for a trip through the Soo Locks when this mayfly alighted on a window in front of my nose. Up came the camera, and the result is this portrait. The adult insect, often called a "fishfly" around the Great Lakes for its usefulness as bait -- trout in particular love it -- has a life span ranging from 30 minutes to 1 day, depending on the subspecies.

Common daisy

COMMON DAISY (BELLIS PERENNIS), PORCUPINE MOUNTAINS WILDERNESS STATE PARK, MICHIGAN, JULY 12, 2011

Pentax K-5
Tamron SP AF 90mm DI macro
1/2000 sec. f8
ISO 400

What could be more ordinary -- or prettier -- than the sight of a clutch of daisies waving in the breeze at the side of a highway? I just had to stop and get a closeup shot of one, using a high shutter speed to capture the nodding blossom. Next time you're riding with a small child, casually whisper the intelligence that Roman centurions soaked bandages in the juice of crushed daisies to bind battle wounds.

This year's hawkweed

ORANGE HAWKWEED (PILOSELLA AURANTIACA), GREEN, MICHIGAN, JULY 11, 2011

Pentax K-5
Tamron SP AF 90mm DI macro
1/160 f9 with on-board flash
ISO 100

Also known as Devil's Paintbrush and Fox-and-Cubs, the gaudy orange hawkweed is widely grown as an ornamental plant and is protected in several European regions. Several American states and Canadian provinces, however, consider this wildflower an invasive, noxious weed. New Zealand is trying to keep it out. It has just begun to emerge in Upper Michigan and adds sparkle to the greenery.

Morning sky

MORNING SKY OVER LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JULY 11, 2011

Pentax K-5
Sigma 17-70 at 23mm
1/1250 sec. f9
ISO 800

In mid-July, the summer skies over the south shore of Lake Superior begin to grow dramatic as isolated thunderstorms march from west to east far out over the lake. This shot was taken shortly after 8 a.m. when the sun was still low in the east. Click on the photo for a desktop-sized version.

July sunrise

SUNRISE OVER LAKE SUPERIOR AT GREEN, MICHIGAN, JULY 7, 2011

Pentax K-5
Sigma 17-70 at 34mm
1/250 sec. f11
ISO 800

As rain clouds drifted in over Lake Superior from the west this morning, the eastern sky's clouds and colors suggested a Van Gogh-like palette, and so I padded outside in bathrobe and slippers to capture the rising sun. Click on the photo for a desktop-sized version and download it if you like.

The well-equipped woods photographer

PHOTOGRAPHER WITH DEEP-WOODS KIT, PORCUPINE MOUNTAINS WILDERNESS STATE PARK, MICHIGAN, JUNE 14, 2011

Pentax *ist DS
SMC-DA 35mm f2.4 AL
1/180 sec. f4.5
ISO 400

My latest and greatest item for photography in the deep, bug-infested woods is that $8.95 headnet, which effectively thwarts skeeters and blackflies immune to industrial-strength DEET. With it I had no problem peering through the viewfinder, and neither did Deborah Abbott, who wore her own identical headnet while snapping this photograph.

Sandhill crane

SANDHILL CRANE (GRUS CANADENSIS) NEAR BRUCE CROSSING, MICHIGAN, JUNE 20, 2011

Pentax *ist DS
SMC Pentax-DA 50-200 at 200mm
1/750 f8
ISO 400

We keep a seven-year-old but still quite serviceable 6.1-megapixel digital camera in the car for those rare opportunity shots while on the road, and with it Debby captured this sandhill crane in breeding colors from the car window as we were driving south to Illinois for a week.

Motorboating merganserlings

RACING MERGANSERLINGS, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 17, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/800 f10
ISO 1600

An infrequent but always amusing sight off our beach at Lake Superior is a clutch of very young merganserlings racing each other, wildly churning their webbed feet like pint-sized Evinrudes, down the beach when the water is calm. The one in the lead triumphantly grips a wiggling prize in his beak, either a minnow or a tadpole.

Rapids

PRESQUE ISLE RIVER, PORCUPINE MOUNTAINS WILDERNESS STATE PARK, MICHIGAN, JUNE 14, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 35mm f2.4 AL
1/8, 1/15, 1/4, 1/30, 0.6 sec. at f11 with .8 ND filter
ISO 100
HDR processing in Photomatix Pro

Photographing in the woods under overcast skies renders better images than in harsh overhead sunlight, but I tried melding five separate full-sun exposures with high-dynamic-range software in an experiment. Except for blown highlights in the lower right, it seemed to turn out OK. Nonetheless, I'm going to return on a gray day and try the same shot, also with HDR processing.

Nursery

FEMALE COMMON MERGANSER (MERGUS MERGANSER) AND YOUNG, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 13, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/2000 sec. f10
ISO 1600

This flotilla of merganserlings -- 13 count 'em 13 -- probably is made up of two or more clutches of siblings. The females of the species often appoint one of their number as a feathered day-care center and dump their younguns on her while they go off to work or the hairdresser's. Note the two piggybacking on Mama, behavior common with loons but this is the first time I've ever seen it in mergansers.

Radar station

FEMALE WHITETAIL DEER (ODOCOILEUS VIRGINIANUS), SILVER CITY, MICHIGAN, JUNE 9, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/125 sec. f10
ISO 1600

Whenever we head up into the nearby Porcupine Mountains, we make sure to take along in the car a camera and long lens for drive-by shooting opportunities. I rolled down the window and captured this winsome doe stopping in the tree line from the side of the road. With those ears, she probably can hear a butterfly whisper from a thousand yards.

Brown Thrasher

BROWN THRASHER (TOXOSTOMA RUFUM), GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 29, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/250 sec. f11
ISO 1600

This is the first time I've photographed this common but elusive cousin of the catbird and mockingbird. One usually hears its many different calls rather than spotting it in the dense thickets of the Northern boreal forest. The long shot was heavily cropped, but it's a large bird, bigger than a robin, so it shows up with reasonable detail.

Mystery dragonfly

RESTING DRAGONFLY, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 9, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/1600 sec. f11
ISO 1600

The other evening a swarm of scores of dragonflies swooped around the trees and bushes in front of our cabin on Lake Superior, and this one held on long enough to a twig for me to get its portrait. There are dozens of dragonfly species, and I have no idea which one this is. If its back had been to the camera, it probably would have been possible to compare the markings with those in a bug book.

Nightmare

AMERICAN CROW, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 8, 2011

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/60 sec. f11
ISO 400

It's only an ordinary crow on the rock riprap in front of our cabin on Lake Superior sampling the bird seed we scatter for the chipmunks, but in this tight shot it looks as menacing as an apparition from "Lord of the Rings."

American Crow

AMERICAN CROW (CORVUS BRACHYRHYNCHOS), GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 3, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/1000 sec. f14
ISO 1600

The Lady Friend disdains these birds as much as she does gulls -- she refuses to enter either species in our daily bird sighting list -- but I rather admire them. Ugly as they are, they're the smartest avian species around and even can modify and use tools. A few years ago West Nile fever set their numbers back a great deal, but they've rebounded handsomely.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (male)

MALE RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 6, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/1000 sec. f8
ISO 1600

Notice the tiny landing gear on this bird -- it's so small and feeble that the species can't walk on the ground, only grip a twig.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (female)

FEMALE RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD (ARCHILOCHUS COLUBRIS), GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 1, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/180 sec. f11 with on-board flash
ISO 200

This year we have more hummers than ever around the cabin on the shore of Lake Superior. Sometimes the squadrons of looping, swooping and bickering birds -- hummers are solitary and aggressive toward each other, especially in the mating season -- cause us to duck as we walk outside. A snap of flash captured this female's iridescent color.

Spotted Sandpiper

SPOTTED SANDPIPER (ACTITIS MACULARIUS), GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 30, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/2000 sec. f10
ISO 1600

This species of sandpiper, one of the many small shore birds the locals call "peeps" for their peet-weet-weet calls, often displays an exaggerated bobbing motion that suggests it's a few feathers short of a headdress. It's also one of the few shore birds that actually will dive underwater to escape a predator. For a few years they seemed to have disappeared from our Lake Superior beach, but if so they've come back in goodly numbers.