Sunday, July 9, 2023

Common Raven

SONY A7C, TAMRON 70-300 AT 300MM, 1/1000 SEC. f8, ISO 1600

This burly raven, photographed at our cabin on the shore of Lake Superior at Green, Michigan, had to work hard at getting suet from the feeder, and after 10 minutes of trying had barely dented the supply.


Saturday, July 8, 2023

American Robin

SONY A7R3, TAMRON 70-300 AT 300MM, 1/200 f11, ISO 1600

The tiny pool of the waterfall garden outside Three Crowns Park in Evanston, Illinois, is a magnet for birds of all species that fly in for a drink and a bath. 



Tuesday, July 4, 2023

English Sparrow

Sony A7Riii, Tamron 70-300 at 300mm, 1/1000 sec. f8,  ISO 800

The exceedingly common bird struck an almost perfect pose atop an almost perfectly colored stone in the Waterfall Garden of my retirement community home of Three Crowns Park in Evanston, Illinois.


Monday, July 3, 2023

Crow

Sony A7Riii, Tamron 70-300 at 300mm, 1/400 sec. f8, ISO 800

This crow objected vociferously to the sight of Trooper, my little schnoodle service dog, as we approached it on a path in the campus of Three Crowns Park, the retirement community where I live in Evanston, Illinois.



Sunday, July 2, 2023

Goldfinch

Sony A7Riii
Tamron 70-300 at 300mm
1/250 sec. f8
ISO 800


One of the few good bird shots I've been able to get away from a feeder, this portrait of an American Goldfinch was taken in the Waterfall Garden of Three Crowns Park, the retirement community in Evanston, Illinois, where I live.

Sunday, September 4, 2022

Afloat in Lake Superior


DEBBY SWIMMING IN LAKE SUPERIOR, GREEN, MICHIGAN, SEPTEMBER 1, 2022

DJI Mini 2
DJI 4.49mm lens (24mm equiv.)
1/500 f2.8
ISO 100

Camera drone photos can be aesthetic as well as fun, and I think this is the best one I've taken yet. I hovered the Mini 2 at about 100 feet above Debby as she swam with a pool noodle. In post processing I doubled the image resolution from 4000 x 3000 pixels to 8000 x 6000 for a little better detail, which really cannot be seen here.



Monday, August 29, 2022

Juggling nuthatch

RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 23, 2022

Sony a7Riii
Sigma 100-400 at 333mm
1/1260 sec. f8
ISO 1600

This quicksilver little nuthatch seems to be shaking cayenne pepper off a sunflower seed plucked from a feeder. The hot cayenne discourages rodents from raiding the feeder but does not affect birds. The image was cropped hard from a much larger photograph.

Thursday, August 25, 2022

Chippie on a pole

CHIPMUNK, GREEN, MICHIGAN, AUGUST 17, 2022

Sony A7Riii
Sigma 100-400 DG DN at 400mm
1/400 sec. f8
ISO 1600

Even the lowly and extremely common chipmunk can make a good backyard wildlife portrait when captured in an unusual pose, like a pole dancer in a honky-tonk. This one dashed up a bird feeder standard before stopping to make sure I wasn't a threat.