Bubble Remnant at 10 Below Zero

 Bubbles only seem to freeze on my deck when I do not have my camera phone with me.  This is what was left when I had to go upstairs to get my camera after a bubble froze and stuck around on the deck.  

Getting Caught Up

 This one was taken in mid-May.

Robin

 I took this picture on Mother’s Day at Wood Lake Nature Center. 

Owl Hunting

Based upon a Facebook post of a friend, we had a tip about the general location of a barred owl’s nest fairly close to our house.  Sometime in the first week of May, we went there at dusk and my camera immediately ran out of batteries, because it was the one time I did not check them first.  We did not see any owls, but we did see a turkey roosting in a tree and a raccoon.  

We did not make it back until the evening of 05/13 and 05/14 a little before sunset.  The first night, we walked around and were richly rewarded.  Mostly we saw the one adult barred owl.

It wasn’t until the very end that we saw the other adult and the juvenile. These two practically flew over our heads.  They were quiet but we sensed the air movement or something, so we barely got to the see them fly and land. 

We went back the next night an hour or so before sunset and we saw one of the adults and the juvenile.  We didn’t walk around much.  Once we spotted one owl, we stayed in that location and they did too.  Both started out fairly deep in the forest, too deep and obstructed to take a decent picture, but the juvenile kept flying out closer to us.  It also was constantly chirping or vocalizing.  We figures that we weren’t stressing it, since we stayed in one spot and it kept getting closer to us. 

When it landed on a tree in the open, it became even more rewarding to watch.  The juvenile owl started playing with some dead leaves hanging from the branch below it. 

I took a number of pictures of the owl playing with the leaves.  Many of them turned out blurry.  I almost never take videos with my camera, because I just don’t think about it but this time I did!

Northeast Bird Rookery

PT and I met up yesterday morning to go to the bird rookery.  When I look at the photos that I took, I think I was playing around with different types of framing.  Note to self - - Next time, remember to look at your notes from the photography classes you have been taking and pick an area for focus and practice.  

Almost all of these were taken at or close to full 60x zoom in automatic mode. 

I like these two photos together.  It’s subtle and you have to really look, but they capture careful stick placement and a job well done. 

This is one of the two islands where the birds are nesting.

In addition to the herons, there are cormorants, different types of ducks, and, or course, geese. 

Here are several pictures where I was trying to frame things in a certain way.  A lot of this involves just taking a lot of pictures, since the birds move so quickly. 

The first one suggests how crowded the trees, but not really since it’s capturing an edge.  It’s even more dense in the middle.

I got to witness a confrontation between two herons through the camera lens.  While the shots are not that clear it was thrilling to see and hear.  

I am taking a photo editing class later in the month and I hope I learn how to edit out the pipe or whatever it is in these last two shots.  

Last thoughts……One of the things that I’m exploring overall is what is a good photo?  Not surprisingly, I think I started with a rather narrow, internal definition in that I like crisp, clear, close shots of the thing I am photographing.  That means I’ve been approaching photos from a portrait-taking perspective, like this one.  

It’s been fun to explore broadening from that point to try and tell a story with picture, use a picture to better remember an experience, focus on “the whole” rather than one subject, and a bunch of other things.  I’m not sure I am doing this deliberately.  It just seems to be happening. 

Last Saturday

Last Saturday, SS and I went to see the bird rookery in Northeast.  It was part of an event with the National Park Service.  The Park Service had two view scopes set up and in one of them I could see a cormorant nest.  After that, I did snap a picture of the next. 

It was cold so I did not take many pictures. 

Great Horned Owl

The spouse and I headed out to the park where a pair of great horned owls nest every year.  We just found about it last year.  On Sunday, we went searching and found the male sleeping in a tree.  From talking to people at the park, it sounds like the pair was nesting, but that they lost the nest after the last big rain (not the rain from today).

We were there in the middle of the day and I was also shooting into the sun. 

We also heard spring peepers in a more open portion of the park. There was no way to get a picture of them, but I did snap a shot of the location they were singing from as a way to remember. 

Bridal Veil Falls Mississippi River

 Yesterday, we went for a walk from campus past the Franklin Avenue bridge on the east bank of the river.  We stopped and saw an ice climber at Bridal Veil Falls.

We also saw a flock of winter robins.  It was too hard to get more than one bird in a picture. 

Trip Cut Short

Here are several pictures from spending several days in Evanston in November.

The trip got cut short.  On the way back, we stopped at Dr. Evermore's Sculpture Park. 

Trip To Hawk Ridge

 In October, P and I went up for a 1-day trip to Hawk Ridge. 

Door County

 These are from a trip to Door County for a family-related event. 

The Curiosity of Youth

Or maybe it's foolhardiness.  These two got closer to a couple of humans than is wise.  Fortunately, the humans were only armed with cameras.

Here's an abstract footprint, from the same place, just because.

Motherhood

 Taken at Crex Meadows Wildlife Area.

Alley Photos

 It’s just a turkey in the alley on March 17th. 

My Feet Are Right Where I Left Them

 Taken with the good camera and cropped.

Afton State Park

Tree, Roots, and Rocks

 

Interstate State Park - 01/28/21