Views from our front porch, 9 p.m., June 29, 2014

LOOKING OUT OVER LAKE SUPERIOR AT 9 P.M., GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 29, 2014

Both photographs:
Pentax K-3
Sigma 18-250 at 43mm
1/400 sec. f10
ISO 400

At long last the summer late-evening skies over Lake Superior are becoming photographable. Earlier in the year the sunsets tend to be "barenaked," or without clouds to give them visual interest—or completely overcast.

Lady's Slipper

LADY'S SLIPPER, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 22, 2014

Pentax K-3
Sigma 18-250 at 250mm
1/2000 sec. f8
ISO 1600

I happened to be glancing out the bedroom window in our cabin when I spotted this specimen just fifteen feet away. Out I went with the K-3 and captured its essence. The Sigma travel lens yields surprisingly sharp results in macro mode. I shot at high ISO because of the deep shade.

Merganser

FEMALE COMMON MERGANSER, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 17, 2014

Pentax K-01
Sigma 135-400 at 400mm
1/640 sec. f9
ISO 400

Ordinarily, mergansers are as common as houseflies in this spot on the western shore of Lake Superior, but we've seen no more than four or five in a group all summer. This one was sunning herself on the crib in front of our cabin while I took her portrait.

Peep

SPOTTED SANDPIPER, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 16, 2014

Pentax K-01
Sigma 135-400 at 400mm
1/500 sec. f11
ISO 400

This "peep"—as people hereabouts call the various sandpipers—stepped onto the crib on Lake Superior in front of our cabin this morning, and stayed although I went out on the beach with camera on tripod. Despite the long lens, I had to crop the photograph hard. That meant the image quality suffers a bit but is still usable on the Internet.

Munk

EASTERN CHIPMUNK, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 24, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/1000 sec. f7.1
ISO 400

The summer wouldn't be complete without at least one portrait of Tamias striatus, a species so common hereabouts that most people barely notice them. So far this is the best one I've managed to capture.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

MALE RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 6, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax F* 300mm f4.5
1/180 sec. f10 with on-board flash
ISO 400

Our cabin is swarmed all day by ruby-throats, male and female, but so far this year I haven't yet been able to capture one in the right light to show the ruby red of the male. In the wrong light they can be mistaken for black-chinned hummers.

Mourning dove

MOURNING DOVE, GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 5, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax F* 300mm f4.5
1/400 sec. at f10
ISO 400

Most of the other birds are nesting and haven't been around our feeders for a while, except for four doves that waddle in every evening to scavenge the seeds scratched out of the feeders by chickadees and goldfinches.

Geese on ice

CANADA GEESE AND ICE FIELD, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 28, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/2000 sec. f8
ISO 400

Hard to believe, but on Memorial Day leftover winter ice still choked the inshore in front of our cabin on Lake Superior. For a week the doughty geese had picked their way through and around the floes to get from Point A to Point B.

Oriole No. 3

BALTIMORE ORIOLE, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 20, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 210mm
1/180 sec. f6.3 with on-board flash
ISO 800

Can I help it if I love orioles? Even if they're perching on a hummingbird feeder instead of a twig in the forest?

Oriole No. 2

BALTIMORE ORIOLE, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 20, 2014

Pentax K-01
Pentax F* 300 f4.5 plus Kenko 1.5x converter (450mm total)
1/200 sec. f8
ISO 400

This one was shot in the late evening through the plate glass window of our cabin's great room. I just wish that twig hadn't got in the way.

Chickadee

BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 4, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/500 sec. f7.1
ISO 400

Photographing these quicksilver little birds takes both patience and fast reflexes, but since they hang around the feeders all summer, a little perseverance pays dividends.

Today's jay

BLUE JAY, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 24, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/500 sec. f7.1
ISO 400

The blue suit these birds wear is so natty I often wonder where the phrase "naked as a jaybird" came from. For two weeks they have been bullying the smaller birds in our back yard, but they will move on soon and not come back until late September or early October on their migration south.

Swainson's Thrush

SWAINSON'S THRUSH, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 22, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/320 sec. f8
ISO 200

Also known as the olive-backed thrush, the shy but vocal Swainson's is more often heard than seen while skulking close to the ground in pine forests. It is generally a Western species, the bird books say, but often migrates as far east as Newfoundland in the summer.

Pileated woodpecker

PILEATED WOODPECKER, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 29, 2014

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 at 300mm
1/160 sec. f8
ISO 400

This woodpecker lives around our cabin but is more often heard than seen. The odd vertical striations in the background (better seen when the photo is clicked to larger size) apparently come from shooting through a double-pane window at an angle. Though the photo thus is flawed, I'm happy with the result. It was a quick and lucky grabshot without time to think.