Fifth squirrel of the season

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, MARCH 17, 2012

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF) with 1.5x Kenko AF teleconverter (450mm in all)
1/250 sec. f5.6
ISO 800

This, like the post yesterday, was hand-held. It's said that teleconverters degrade the image considerably, but when combined with a tack-sharp prime long lens like the Pentax F* 300, the result is more often than not quite usable.

Downy Woodpecker

DOWNY WOODPECKER (PICOIDES PUBESCENS), EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, MARCH 17, 2012

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF) with 1.5x Kenko AF teleconverter (450mm in all)
1/350 sec. f5.6
ISO 800

In terms of image quality this isn't the greatest shot, but it's the first time I've ever captured this species, the smallest woodpecker in North America. It looks very much like the larger Hairy Woodpecker, but the bill seems smaller in relation to the head than the Hairy's—one of the points of identification—so I'm calling it a Downy.

House finch No. 2

HOUSE FINCH, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, MARCH 16, 2012


Pentax K10D
Sigma APO 135-400 at 400mm
1/500 sec. f8
ISO 800


I'm posting this morning's photo of the male house finch that hangs around our backyard deck mainly because it was taken with a six-year-old, 10.1-megapixel Pentax K10D. Even though its image quality has been surpassed by later cameras, the K10D still produces fine photographs.

Trumpeter Swan

TRUMPETER SWAN (CYGNUS BUCCINATOR), CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, MARCH 9, 2012

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/2000 f16
ISO 1600

This species of swan is, on average, considered the largest waterfowl in the world. Once endangered, its populations are rebounding, especially when transplanted to new ranges. This is one of a breeding pair often seen on the lagoons of the Botanic Garden.

Anemone coronaria

ANEMONE CORONARIA, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, MARCH 2, 2012

Pentax K-5
Tamron SP AF 90mm DI Macro
1/180 sec. f13 with on-camera flash
ISO 400

Last week it was a mystery plant, but today I finally found the identification sign for this spectacular deep velvety purple bloom in the Botanic Garden's semiarid greenhouse. Sometimes called the poppy anemone, it is a perennial, a member of the buttercup family, and it blooms in many different colors.

Spikes

DIDERACEA ALLUADIA PROCERA, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, MARCH 2, 2012


Pentax K-5
Tamron SP AF 90mm f2.8 DI Macro
1/180 sec. f32 with on-camera flash
ISO 3200



The single specimen of this spiky succulent bush in the Botanic Garden's arid greenhouse is only about seven feet high, but in the wild it grows as high as 60 feet. There are whole spiny forests of this horror in its native southwestern Madagascar. They clearly are no place for intrepid explorers to get lost in.

Orchid 'Mayumi'

BRASSOCATTLEYA MAIKAI "MAYUMI," CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, MARCH 2, 2012


Pentax K-5
Tamron SP AF 90mm f2.8 DI Macro
1/160 sec. f22 with flash
ISO 3200



This popular orchid, a hybrid of two naturally occuring species, sparkled in the gloom of the tropical greenhouse at the Chicago Botanic Garden on a gray day in March. The garden's orchids have been blooming madly the last couple of weeks, and I caught this one at the tail end of the orchid season.