Baby Stretch
Friends, this baby loon is about six weeks old and is starting to get his flight feathers on his wings, time to get started on strength training by flapping and flopping about on the surface of the water. He is getting strong enough to fly south when the weather goes south 🙂 as it does in our country. This baby and his sibling came within ten feet of me while i sat in my vehicle blind quietly, but when another car drove by, they headed out to sea and out of telephoto range. Just enough time to snap his portrait. til Tomorrow MJ
Mature Bald Eagle
Friends, this mature Bald Eagle is staring down at me, Against the clear blue skies that we get sometimes in the early spring, he is a regal image. I had to work hard at getting the exposure right as his white feathers often overexpose and the details are lost. I had no blinkies in this image so the exposure must be right, Is there right and wrong in art? A question of taste, but technically must be right. The scientist in me must be satisfied and also the artist, both sides of me are satisfied by this image. til Tomorrow MJ
Weekly Photo Challenge:Create
Friends, I certainly did not create this beautiful Mallard duck but I did create the image from the hundreds of images that I shot sitting above this waterhole. This is one of my all time favorite images of my short nature photographer career. The morning that i took this image, was one of the first nice spring mornings and i was on my way to my previous career. I just had to stop and I was late for work. One has priorities in life, when I was sitting at my desk dreaming of birds flying, I knew it was time to retire from this work and move onto another life. Maybe I was sent this image to convince me that another life awaits after my real job came to an end. til Tomorrow MJ
Bald Eagle Chick
Friends, this eagle chick is about two months old and ready to fly away, but today he is back in his safe house waiting for breakfast. This nest is along a road but high in a tree, so lots of telephoto was needed to reach him. His beak is gray with little hints of the golden color that will predominate when he is an adult. When we visited the nest yesterday, no eagles were seen, but when we pulled up to look closely, he rose up from the bottom of the nest where he had been napping. til Tomorrow MJ
Hiding in the Grass-Late Nester
Friends, this Common Loon in Crex Meadows is just now sitting on her nest. Two other Loon couples have chicks that are six weeks and 3 weeks old already, will be interesting to mark her progress. Another opportunity to map the chick progress if they hatch and make it through the summer. This day in June was pretty hot, 88 degrees F, so she was panting a little. til Tomorrow MJ
The Wild Lily
Friends, In Crex Meadows the wild Lilies are blooming here and there on the prairie grasslands. Their bright orange attracts the eye and my camera. These are a bit different than the domestic day lilies in that the cup where the petals meet are not closed and each petal is separate from the others, six beautiful orange petals with spots. I didn’t like the glare from the full sunshine so i used the Orton effect to soften the image. Thanks to Denise Ippolito and her book “The Softer Side of Macro”, well worth the read for you wildflower fans. til Tomorrow MJ
Ready to Fly, but not today
Friends, this is a Bald Eagle chick that is about ready to fly from his perch. When i arrived at the nest where i have been following the progress of this chick, he had worked his way out of the nest and was perched about six feet above the nest on a small branch that is sagging a bit under his weight. He was talking frequently and his mother was sitting in an adjacent tree watching silently. He seemed ready to fly, but maybe not today. til Tomorrow MJ
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New Experiment
Friends, this is the Indian Paintbrush flower, getting tired of my mundane flower shots so I am experimenting with radial blurs. This effect can be captured in-camera by twisting the zoom barrel while exposing. Since I had already taken this image in the field, I chose to add a radial blur in photoshop. I really love photoshop and learning new skills. What do you think?, you can sign up for this newsletter in the column at the right, I blog every day and try to photograph every day, especially in the warmer months. til Tomorrow MJ
Blue Flag Iris, Traditional Approach
Friends, this blue iris or blue flag iris is difficult to photograph for two reasons. One is that nearly always is perched in a complicated green background and two is that the blooms are ravaged by bees, butterflies, dragonflies and hummers as soon as the blooms open. This unusually fresh bloom was found early in the day against a water background. What a find!! for a flower person. How do you like it ? You can subscribe to my blog in the column on the right. I blog every day so stay tuned, til Tomorrow MJ
Introducing Christine from Australia, her photos of the local wildlife, flowers and local geology are not to be missed. thanks MJ
Emus are the largest Australian bird, reaching up to two metres in height. Normally they are not seen on the east coast, but almost twenty years ago a wealthy businessman who developed a showy retreat island near Tuross introduced some Western Australian birds to his island. He thought they would look grand decorating his lawns and landscaping on the 80 hectare Horse Island. Gradually the emus decided to move on, either swimming or wading to the mainland, where they began to flourish. Now emus are a common sight around Bodalla and Potato Point. After meeting a friend for a very delicious lunch at the Blue Earth Cafe in Bodalla, we drove out to Potato Point, and had our first close up experience with the now-local emus.
Like to know more? Read this story by James Woodford about the Horse Island emus.
MJ Springett 