I have just a few minutes before our bus comes to take us to one of my all-time favorite spots in New Zealand, Stewart Island. Mark and I are with 22 Alma College students and another professor, and spent the first few days in the town of Dunedin doing day trips to the Royal Albatross colony and a site …
Over the course of the last week, three new critters came into our yard. Early in the week Mark photographed this male wood duck. He arrived with a female wood duck. The two have been in and out of our yard a dozen times the last two weeks to eat corn. They land on a tree, make …
This Week: Wood Ducks, Grackles and Golden Dung Flies Read More »
Last weekend, a small flock of cedar waxwings appeared in our backyard and stayed for about twenty minutes before moving on. I watched them through our bay window for a few minutes and noticed that the more energetic cedar waxwings sprung off a tree branch, flew in a fluttery, looping pattern after an insect, and returned to …
Last Friday after work, I sat down under a pine tree at the water’s edge to unwind from another week in my cubicle. About 100 yards away was a floating, feathery flotilla that my 400mm zoom lens showed were four ruddy ducks. Their heads were tucked under their wings, which meant they were napping, and a light wind seemed to be …
Every spring, Mark and I try to get out to a couple of local ponds to photograph frogs. This year, we aimed for a pond favored by wood frogs. I went out by myself after work on Wednesday, March 31, to take a few photos. From several hundred yards away I heard a bunch of frogs calling, but …
For 15 years, Mark and I have been filling a half dozen feeders with sunflower seeds to attract squirrels and birds to our deck. The list of critters we feed doesn’t change very often, so when a new critter showed up on our deck last week, we took notice. And photos. This is our latest addition. Gray squirrel. In a previous …
In addition to the geese and red-wing blackbirds, spring also means the return of the robin. Soon after robins return, it’s nest making time. Last spring I watched a pair of mute swans make a nest, and they seemed to have it pretty easy, just mounding up a bunch of cattails and muck. But a few days …
Spring mornings got even more amazing as of Wednesday last week when the red-wing blackbirds returned to our yard and nearby wetlands. After checking me out, this blackbird broke out in song. When he was done signing, he gazed upward. After another moment passed, he broke out in song again. It’s wonderful having the red-wing blackbirds …
Over the last couple of weeks, geese began calling out in the night again and song birds started waking me up before my alarm clock. When morning dawns, I can look out across the lake and see a pair of mute swans curled up on the ice. The swans resting on the ice made me wonder what …
In 1967 I stood in the middle of an outdoor skating rink in Alpena listening to “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling” while watching several kids gliding like rockets across the ice. I wore pure white skates with short blades and couldn’t go very fast; the other kids had black skates with long blades seemed to …
A Nice Time for Ice Time: Speed Skating Dream Come True Read More »