Scruffy youngster

JUVENILE HOUSE SPARROW, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, JULY 12, 2020

Pentax K-3
Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 with Pentax 1.4x extender (420mm)
1/200 sec. f8
ISO 400

Adolescents of every species in the world always look unkempt, as if they've been out all night. This one is a female house sparrow about six weeks old.

Hooligans

JUVENILE HOUSE SPARROWS, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, JULY 12, 2020

Pentax K-3
Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 with Pentax 1.4x extender (420mm)
1/640 sec. f8
ISO 400

At about six weeks of age, these young house sparrows have graduated from fledgling to ill-mannered hooligan stage. All day they fight frantically for a perch on the feeder in the Three Crowns Park garden.

Tiger swallowtail

TIGER SWALLOWTAIL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, JULY 12, 2020

Pentax K-3
Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 with Pentax 1.4x extender (420mm)
1/400 sec. f8
ISO 400

Normally I'd be equipped with a 90mm macro lens to shoot butterflies, but the 300 and extender were on the camera when this butterfly came along in the Three Crowns Park garden, and the rule is to make use of what you have. The blossom seems to be either an allium or an eastern waterleaf.

Adult robin

ADULT ROBIN, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, JUNE 30, 2020

Pentax K-3
Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 with Pentax 1.4x converter
1/1000 sec. f8
ISO 1600

Robins are so common that I never think about photographing them, but today they were the only birds that came to the Three Crowns garden on a warm and sticky day. I was able to get in close and capture plenty of detail.