First goslings of the year

CANADA GOOSE AND GOSLINGS, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 20, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/2500 sec. f7.1
ISO 1600

Honkers are considered golf-course pests back in Illinois but are a valued part of the wilderness scenery in Upper Michigan, where they belong. Normally we see five or six goslings in a clutch, leading us to think that an eagle or an owl might have picked off a few siblings of this lonely pair photographed the other day in front of our cabin on Lake Superior.

Mr. Chips

EASTERN CHIPMUNK, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 16, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/640 sec. f14
ISO 3200

I had set the ISO of the camera at an extremely high 3200 for dusk shots the previous night. The next evening my spouse, Deborah Abbott, always on alert for good photos, spotted this fellow just outside our front window, picked up the nearest camera and snapped off several portraits before he scampered away. I'm always amazed at the image quality the K-5 yields at high ISO.

What's that?

HOGAN ON THE BEACH, GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 7, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/2000 sec. f8
ISO 1600

How do you get a half-Lab to strike a noble pose for the camera instead of sniffing around aimlessly for olfactory curiosities, paying no attention to the photographer? Just say sharply, "Lunch!" and he'll go on full alert. It helped that the sun was low in the sky, casting bold shadows to mold the subject.

Chipmunk a toilette

EASTERN CHIPMUNK (TAMIAS STRIATUS), GREEN, MICHIGAN, MAY 6, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/5000 f8
ISO 1600

At our cabin in Upper Michigan, chipmunks are even more ubiquitous than squirrels back home in Illinois. This one felt confident enough to spend several minutes grooming itself in the sun rather than skulking nervously in the shadows, hyper-alert for predators. I photographed him from behind a freshly washed front window.

Deep in the palm of luxury

NEIGHBOR FELINE IN SCULPTURE CHAIR, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 30, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/800 sec. f10
ISO 1600

This is Jinx, a cat from down the block that has taken up residence with my immediate neighbor to the west. She is absolutely fearless and, when in my back yard, simply ignores the snarling charges of our large dog Hogan. Who in turn is flummoxed by the cat's refusal to play the role of prey and slouches away pretending the encounter never happened.

The early bird

AMERICAN ROBIN, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 24, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/1600 sec. f8
ISO 1600

It's beem rainy all week, and the robins in our back yard are having a turkey shoot with the earthworms, as you can see from the soil-bedecked beak of this specimen. It's standing tall, almost on tiptoe, to better hear its quarry wriggling under the grass -- or perhaps to keep an eye on the cat that lives next door. Click the photo for larger version.

Bursting bud

YELLOW MAPLE BUD, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 24, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/180 sec f8 with on-board flash
ISO 800

I stepped out on the backyard deck on an overcast day this morning to see if any squirrels or interesting birds were about, but none were. Then I noticed that the buds on the yellow maple tree my elder son and I had planted in 1975 were opening, a sure sign that spring is here to stay. The versatile Pentax 55-300 zoom lens focuses closely enough to be used as a semi-macro.

Steady now, just a few more feet . . .

CONDUCTOR SPOTTING HIS TRAIN AT LA PLATA, MISSOURI, APRIL 5, 2011

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 at 70mm
1/125 f4.5
ISO 400

Some experienced engineers know instinctively where to stop their trains to put a desired car right in front of the station, but most need the radio guidance of a conductor for precise car-positioning. This conductor was in charge of Amtrak 3, the westbound Southwest Chief, when it stopped at La Plata, Missouri, late in the evening on a sunny April day.