Female purple finch

FEMALE PURPLE FINCH, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 29, 2016

Pentax K-5
Pentax F* 300mm f4.5
1/800 sec. f5.6
ISO 1600

This specimen is likely pregnant and slow-moving, hence allowed me to get close enough to fill the frame with the 300 millimeter lens. Any closer and the photo would have been out of focus.

Indigo Bunting

INDIGO BUNTING, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 23, 2016

Pentax K-5
Pentax F* 300mm f4.5
1/400 sec. f6.3
ISO 1600

Looking just like a goldfinch dipped into a pot of Washable Blue, this little bird is a rare visitor to our feeders. I hadn't seen one for two years when he paid a brief call to get some nyjer seed late one evening when the sun was low and gave his color a special glow.

Song sparrow

SONG SPARROW, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 17, 2016

Pentax K-3
Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 with Pentax 1.4x converter (420mm)
1/1600 f7.1
ISO 1600

This ground-hopping little sparrow crept right under the feeders while I was photographing finches and paused nicely for its portrait.

Grosbeak No. 1

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 11, 2016

Pentax K-5
Pentax F* 300mm f4.5 with Pentax 1.4x converter (420mm)
1/800 f6.7
ISO 1600

The more colorful birds have at last returned to our cabin on the shore of Lake Superior. I used a high ISO to ensure a decent shutter speed while hand-holding the camera and long lens combination in the overcast light.

Fuzzlings

CANADA GOSLINGS, LOVELACE PARK, WILMETTE, ILLINOIS, APRIL 23, 2016

Pentax K-3
Pentax 55-300 with Pentax 1.4x converter (322mm)
1/2000 sec. f10
ISO 1600

This is really a lens test photograph. I wanted to see how sharp the 55-300 and 1.4x converter combination would be, and it isn't bad at all when the 55-300 is stopped down short of the full 300mm extension. Lovelace Park is usually of limited interest to a photographer because, except for rare instances during migratory season, the waterfowl usually is humdrum—just mallards and Canada geese. But this season there happily was a breeding pair, and they produced six goslings.