Window on the lake

WINDOW OF LAKESHORE COTTAGE, SILVER CITY, MICHIGAN, APRIL 22, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/500 sec. f16
ISO 400

This window treatment is typical of the simple and rustic architectural decoration on the houses along the windswept wilderness shore of Lake Superior. This house is well kept and in good repair, needing only another coat of barn red and a touchup of white to appear spic and span, but the weatherbeaten cedar shakes just seem natural.

Goldfinch No. 1 of 2009

AMERICAN GOLDFINCH, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 26, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
Sigma APO 135-400 at 340mm
1/60 sec. f8
ISO 400

Even seen through a long lens this bird, one of the most colorful in the American bestiary, is tiny, smaller than a sparrow. But I was delighted to capture it, even at a distance on a dull, rainy day, because of its brilliant spring breeding colors. (Click the photo for a larger version.)

Squirrel No. 7

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 16, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/750 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

Like sparrows, squirrels are simply there, and in goodly numbers. Often they'll pose prettily, especially when they have their eye on birdseed just out of reach. This one stayed on the backyard fence just long enough for me to train the long lens and squeeze off a shot.

Sparrow No. 4

ENGLISH SPARROW (MALE), EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 18, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
Sigma 135-400 at 340mm
1/350 sec. f8
ISO 400

English sparrows are so common that one wonders why a photographer would be interested, but I like them because they often perch on one place for long seconds, cocking their heads in saucy poses, enabling me to rattle off several shots before they depart. And sometimes I get a good photo. These birds are wonderful subjects for an amateur photographer seeking to polish his wildlife technique. Click on the photo for a slightly larger version.

Storm-blasted trees

HICKORY TREES, SILVER CITY, MICHIGAN, APRIL 22, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
Sigma 17-70 at 17mm
1/750 sec. f11
ISO 400

These stunted, broken and windblown but durable hickories on the treeline of Lake Superior will leaf out by the end of May, but still denuded from winter they looked like "a father, a stepmother and her two stepdaughters," as a visitor called them the day they were photographed. Click on the photo for a more detailed version.

Rare visitors

RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, APRIL 17, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300 mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/1000 sec. f11
ISO 400

These mergansers are often seen on coastal salt water and rarely on fresh water, but this matched pair stopped at the Chicago Botanic Garden on their way north to God knows where. They're much more colorful than the drab common mergansers we see every day on the shore of Lake Superior. Click the photo for a larger version.

Garden path

WOODEN WALKWAY, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, APRIL 17, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
SMC Pentax-DA 18-55 at 50mm
1/500 sec. f11
ISO 400

Deborah Abbott photo

Trumpet daffodil

TRUMPET DAFFODIL, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, APRIL 17, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
SMC Pentax-DA 18-55 at 33mm
1/750 sec. f11
ISO 400

Deborah Abbott photo

It's a bird, isn't it?

ROBINSON R-22, WESTOSHA AIRPORT, WILMOT, WISCONSIN, APRIL 18, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-DA 50-200 at 200mm
1/3000 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

A whirlybird, that is. The Robinson R-22, a $250,000 two-seat utility helicopter, has been around for almost three decades serving as a trainer (as this one is), a cowboy steed and cop eyes in the sky. Boeing sells an unmanned version for military spies in the sky. It's fun to watch, but not when it blows stuff into my open hangar while I'm trying to sweep it out.

Squirrel No. 6

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 12, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
Sigma APO 135-400 at 400mm
1/125 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

Going through the raw photos of the last week's backyard expedition, I found a shot that, cropped tightly, seems to make a fair formal head-and-shoulders portrait of Sciurus carolensis. For some reason every closeup I've taken shows the squirrel with his mouth full.

Walkway

WALKWAY, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, APRIL 17, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/750 sec. f11
ISO 400

I happened to be panning with the long lens hoping to pick up a bird in flight when this view of a walkway across a lily pond appeared in the finder. The extreme foreshortening of 300mm, in my opinion, gives the unusual lines, angles and textures some added interest.

Mallard No. 1 of 2009

MALLARD, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, APRIL 17, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/500 sec. f8
ISO 400

The mallard is the most common duck in the United States -- it's the sparrow of waterfowl -- but the male of the species inevitably makes for a colorful photograph. I took this closeup portrait yesterday at the Chicago Botanic Garden, always a good place to carry a camera.

Coach

ROBIN AND SPARROWS, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 15, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/750 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

"You call that a backstroke, kid? You look like an outboard motor that ain't going nowhere. Reach and pull, don't flail. Now get back in there and give me 20 laps."

Flicker No. 1 of 2009

NORTHERN FLICKER, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 12, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/180 sec. f6.7
ISO 400

This is the first shot I've ever captured of a northern flicker, a variety common on the prairie but rarish in the Chicago suburbs. The bird books say it can peck wood like the woodpecker it is, but that it prefers to hop over the ground looking for ants to hoover up through its long bill.

Squirrel No. 5

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 12, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
Sigma APO 135-400 at 250mm
1/90 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

My quest for the Perfect Squirrel Photo has not yet been fulfilled, but this one seems acceptable for a Cosmosquirrel cover shot -- provocative studio pose, bushy tail prominent. Can you just see the headline "Sex Secrets of Naughty Squirrels"?

Grackle No. 1 of 2009

COMMON GRACKLE, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 12, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
Sigma APO 135-400 at 400mm
1/90 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

The grackle, a member of the icterid family (blackbirds and orioles), is a thief and a bully, chasing other birds from the feeder and out of the birdbath. Its shimmering, iridescent blue headfeathers (impossible to capture in a single photograph) can be beautiful in the sun, however, and those piercing yellow eyes are right out of Edgar Allan Poe.

Squirrel No. 4

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 12, 2009

Pentax *ist DS
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/250 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

One of these days I will get a really, really, really good squirrel photo, but this one of a fat fellow will do for now. It required post processing in Lightroom and Photoshop Elements to bring out the fur detail almost lost in the heavy shadow of late afternoon.

Sparrow No. 3

ENGLISH SPARROW, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 9, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/180 sec. f6.7
ISO 400

This one was shot through the back window of the Lady Friend's office, which we had just washed and polished in anticipation of some inside jobs. The grass needs a little fading in Photoshop Elements so that the bird stands out more, but I haven't learned that trick yet.

Squirrel No. 3

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 10, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/250 sec. f8
ISO 400

The strong vertical angle of the board fence perhaps adds visual interest to what might have been an ordinary squirrel shot. I snapped the photo from inside the hunter's blind set up on my backyard patio. It is paying off, although it gets hot in there under the afternoon sun.

Sparrow No. 2

FEMALE ENGLISH SPARROW, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 9, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/350 sec. f6.7
ISO 400

This is one of the first photos taken from the hunter's blind I set up yesterday on our backyard patio. Sparrows are a dime a dozen around here, however -- what I'm really hoping for is the cardinal that visits now and then but never sticks around long enough for me to run in and get the camera and get back in time.

Robin No. 1 of 2009

AMERICAN ROBIN, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 8, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 EF (ID)
1/350 sec. f8
ISO 400

This isn't the best bird portrait I've taken -- the robin is looking directly at me instead of off to the right dreamily -- but it is the first robin I've captured this spring, so here he is. Click on the photo for a larger version and more feather detail.

Cowbird No. 1 of 2009

BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 7, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm ED (IF)
1/1000 sec. f6.7
ISO 400

The parasitical cowbird, which lays its eggs in the nests of other species, is considered unmannerly trash in the avian world. It has the virtue, however, of being generally unafraid of human photographers and perching nearby long enough for sharp close-in shots.

Nuthatch No. 1 of 2009

WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 3, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
Both pictures 1/1000 sec. f8
ISO 400

Nuthatches aren't all that common, though hardly unheard of, in Midwestern backyards. (They're seen mostly in boreal forests.) They're tough customers to photograph, because like their cousins, the sparrows, they suffer from avian ADD and never perch in one place for long. Luckily I already had the long lens aimed at the feeder when this specimen came to call, and grabbed a few shots.

Sparrow No. 1 of 2009

ENGLISH (HOUSE) SPARROW, EVANSTON, ILL., APRIL 1, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/180 sec. f6.7
ISO 400

At this time of year dozens of sparrows flit about our back yard. This early in the season they are unused to our presence, hence whenever we appear they scramble for safety high in the trees, making close-in shots difficult, even with a long lens. This one hung around on a low branch long enough for me to capture his portrait.