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Gull Morning

Walking out to check our freezer beef cattle, a group of geese came in for a landing. I am so fortunate that my kids can wander our fields and have first-hand encounters with all the wildlife here.

While photographing geese on a small pond near my home, I suddenly hear the familiar jackhammer sound that can be made by only one living thing: a pileated woodpecker. I swing my 500 mm lens around and there he is atop a power pole. Fortunately for the power company, the woodpecker soon moved on to find a better place to peck. F4.5 at 1/1000, ISO 400, 500 mm lens at 500 mm

Emerald Lake

I love seeing the red-winged blackbirds in the Pere Marquette River flats south of Ludington. This male sings what I imagine is a springtime love song while swaying in the breeze atop a cattail. F5.6 at 1/2500, ISO 800, 500 mm lens with 1.4 extender at 700 mm

Panorama Resort

Today is my dad’s 78th birthday. We celebrated with him at the farm, and afterwards I took a winding drive through the woods along the Pere Marquette River. To my surprise, I saw a sandhill crane in the water. I grabbed my camera and big lens and climbed halfway down the steep bank. I waited until she walked into the clearing and her reflection showed in the calm river.

I grew up listening to the mourning doves on the farm. Today, they were fighting over dropped grain in our freezer beef field. I love the combination of sharpness in the sitting dove, and movement in the fluttering one.

I am fortunate to live in an area where it doesn’t take much to see wildlife around you. I am not sure what type of bird this is, but it sure is a beauty.

When I look upon the heron rookery that Don and Mary Klemm told me I could find along US 10 west of Clare, all I can think is how eerily beautiful the scene looks. This great blue heron stood out among the many herons we watched. F4.0 at 1/1250, ISO 400, 300 mm lens at 300 mm

Color Coordinated

Eric Riggs bought this brown duck when it was only a few weeks old and released it into the wetlands near his home. The duck is technically a wild critter now, but he is very friendly and curious. Julia, Ethan, and I got a kick out of his honking abilities as well. F5.6 at 1/400, ISO 1000, 70-200 mm lens at 200 mm

Brad and I are floating a stretch of the Pere Marquette River in avid fly fisherman Larry VonDrasek's drift boat when I spot an osprey perched in a treetop as we round a bend. Fortunately, I have my camera settings ready for "jump shots" because within seconds the osprey dives off the perch and soars right over our heads. I find the fast-flying bird in my viewfinder, swing with it like a duck hunter, and pull the trigger. My digital playback shows I was right on target.

This tom turkey displays its full regalia while strutting amongst a flock of turkeys in the morning light. How can a bird that often looks ugly look so magnificent looking when it wants to? I was glad to have shot him (with my camera) during turkey hunting season. F5.0 at 1/125, ISO 250, 80-200 mm lens at 165 mm

Dotties Delight

This is my first good photo of a Caspian tern. I have not seen many of these birds around West Michigan until recent years. They are beautiful, agile and incredibly nimble in the air. Just after I made this photo, the tern dove head first into the water and came out with a nice treat for dinner in its beak. F5.0 at 1/2000, ISO 640, 70-200 mm lens at 200 mm

Have you ever seen a pelican in Michigan? I had only ever seen one in the past. Today we had over a dozen of them hanging out in the Ludington harbor. These fishermen got an up-close view of them as they took flight off the south pier in Ludington.

Ludington Loon

Ludington State Park June

A redheaded woodpecker stands out in golden evening light in the front yard of John and Susan Persson's home along the Lake Michigan shoreline north of Summit Park. I was looking for wildflowers to photograph when someone else spotted several woodpeckers. F4.0 at 1/250, ISO 800, 500 mm lens at 500 mm