Solar eclipse

SOLAR ECLIPSE, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 21, 2017

Canon PowerShot SX710HS
Canon Zoom 30x15 4.5-135mm lens at 135mm (760mm equivalent)
1/1250 sec. f6.5
ISO 160

I didn't want to use my go-to Pentax K-3 and 300mm lens for fear of burning out an eye gazing at the sun, so chose an inexpensive point-and-shoot camera, composing the image on its LCD screen. The result was not bad, thanks in great part to the camera's excellent shake reduction feature.

Latest red-bellied

RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 21, 2017

Pentax K-3
Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5
1/250 sec. f4.5
ISO 1600

For some unknown reason scores of birds mobbed our feeders in the strange dusk at the height of the 71 percent solar eclipse yesterday. One of them was this male red-bellied woodpecker, a frequent visitor to our suet cages but a rare one at the seed feeders.

Hairy Woodpecker

MALE HAIRY WOODPECKER, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 21, 2017

Pentax K-3
Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5
1/320 sec. f4.5
ISO 1600

Telling a Hairy from a Downy isn't easy, but the two markers are the long and heavy bill on the former as well as completely white, not spotted, under tail feathers. This photo was taken midway during the 71 percent eclipse of the sun August 21, requiring high ISO and a wide-open aperture.