Birds in Flight or Just Hanging There

Here are some shots from the birdfeeder in the backyard. I had my camera outside because an oriole was showing up to J's orange/jelly feeder and they usually don't stick around very long. 

Some of the below shots show "frozen" motion of birds, and I picked the best ones that were in focus. Next time I may try to get closer to the feeder, although doing that scares the birds off. 

I used the manual focus on my camera plus the burst mode, in which the camera takes 10 shots per second. Burst mode, plus a very fast shutter speed (1/2000 second) can help capture movement and sometimes get some fun shots. I sat in a chair on the patio, about 15 feet away from the feeder. My hope here was to use the camera settings to capture birds flying in to, or away from, the feeders. 

First, a few photos of the oriole...

Oriole

Birds in Flight or Just Hanging There

Absconding with a peanut

A bird that can float

Putting on the brakes...

Camera Walk - Home and Away

Some photos from Lillie Park South in Ann Arbor, and in my own backyard. Enjoy!

Pilings for a boardwalk/bridge that used to cross the water here. Some photos on this blog from last year show a green heron wandering along the boardwalk.

This photo is taken from the location where the other end of the bridge used to be, pointing back to the pilings in the previous photo.

I've seen better Goose V shapes...

I checked, and this does include hot dogs. 

The morning reflections were nice on the big pond when I was there. I wish there were more fall colors here.

There is a bat house at the end of this path. I didn't check to see if there were any bats in it.

This tree in the park near the woods was the most colorful tree I found at the park, and I got a shot of it to show it my appreciation. 

Backyard birches - the ever-peeling bark on these enhance the "falling leaves" look of autumn.

A birch in our backyard, and a few more colorful leaves from the neighbor's tree.

Up North in October

Road Trip!

We've been to Frankfort, MI and the surrounding area many times in the summer, and J and I headed up last week to see what's different in the fall. 

We took a detour through Manistee and walked along the river and visited some shops. It was a bit cold and rainy, so we didn't stay long. We stopped at at the Arcadia Overlook on our way from Manistee to Frankfort. 

During our day out touring the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore, we enjoyed some rain and sunny weather, often together. 

We hiked to the top of the bluff overlooking Lake Michigan at Pyramid Point, where we saw a complete rainbow - both ends and the entire arc were visible. I wasn't able to get a picture of it, because the lens on my camera wasn't wide enough to capture the whole thing. We also drove the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, which we had driven by many times in the past, but had never visited. 

The leaves were just starting to change in most places, so we didn't get the full-color treatment we were hoping for when we planned the trip a few months ago. But the views and cold air were new and refreshing. 

On the day we were leaving Frankfort, there was a small parade through town and we stayed to watch and hit some Frankfort shops before heading home. 

The snow fences are one difference between Frankfort in July and October.

At the Pyramid Point trailhead, there's a sign that let's you know what you should or shouldn't do. I find it a bit ambiguous - for example, if a pet is on a snowmobile, is that OK? If I need to take a nap under the trees to rest from a long hike, is that considered camping? 

The "left" part of the full rainbow. The fixed focal-length lens I had on my camera could get this much in one shot...

Here's the "right" part of the rainbow. If you put the pictures next to each other and blur your eyes, you can see the whole thing. 

You will not be the least bit surprised to know that people were indeed going way down towards the bottom. Sadly, we didn't hear any cries for help. Maybe next time. 

At the parade, the "pet costume" section featured this human dressed as a hamburger, leading some "french fry" dogs. She didn't have any ketchup, although her bun hat does appear to be sesame seed, which helps. 

Uncle Spokes the Clown displayed whimsy and expert bike navigation as he greeted his fans. At the beginning of the parade, he had seven other clowns in his basket, who exited in the classic "Volkswagen" manner. 

There's a lot to see here. Fortunately, this float remained parked in town for a while after the parade so we could read everything. There were no prizes for floats that I'm aware of, but if there were, this would be up for "Most Thorough".

An evening picture at the pier. The man on the pier has several fishing lines in the water, and there were some pretty significant waves. 

The obligatory sunset photo. Note all the benches lined up on the beach, and the snow fences ready to be rolled out. The benches are normally spread out over the beach, but they are collected before winter and stored together.

Happy Winter to Frankfort! See you next year. 

Suburban Beasts: Hummingbird Feeder Edition w.s.g Spider

So many different types of animals enjoy the hummingbird feeder that I sometimes wonder if the hummingbirds are getting a little put off. 

This woodpecker goes to the hummingbird feeder, then the suet feeder, then back to the hummingbird feeder.

A bald-faced hornet. Don't fall in! (Other bees have, in fact, fallen in, and they can't get out.)

A hummingbird sticks its tongue out at the camera. It's like when your kids are at that age that they won't smile nicely for a picture. 

Nothing quenches a hummingbird's thirst like
sugar water that's been out in the sun for days.

This furry creature was spending some time in the same tree as the feeder,
and I got some shots of it because it was posing so cutely. 

This scary but cool spider lives in the shrubs in the front of the house.
  I've been watching it for the last several weeks. When it suddenly moved once,
I may have screamed a little.

A Hornet Story

An interesting story about the bald-faced hornet: I was watching this hornet go back and forth to the hummingbird feeder, and after I took a few photos of it, I went online to look up to see what kind of bee/wasp/hornet it was. I discovered that these hornets are pretty gentle and tend not to attack people, like some other hornets do. 

The next morning after the picture above was taken, I received an email from my next-door neighbor, informing me that there was a large bees nest in one of my trees, near the sidewalk and street. The light bulb went on in my head: I bet this is the bald-faced hornet's nest. And yes, it was. 

Normally I would have just sprayed the heck out of the nest with a can of Raid, but I didn't want to make things worse or cause further problems, or just make them angry, given that dozens of people each day walk within 5 feet of the tree, and there are kids who play nearby. So I called a service who took care of it, and even hauled the nest away when they were done. If it had been more isolated, I probably would have left it alone until the cold weather, but I didn't want someone to get stung. 

Frankfort 2022: Photos

 

An evening double rainbow captured with a fisheye lens. The second rainbow is hard to see - it's above the more visible one. 

A spider whose web was near one of the doors to the condo we stayed in. This was taken with a macro lens. 

While were in town, I signed a ten-year lease for these posts in Lake Betsie. The ropes are already attached, now all I need is a boat.

Photo memories from Frankfort aren't complete without a shot of the iconic lighthouse. 

Actually, this is the lighthouse.

One evening, we had a very silvery sunset. It was not what we expected to see, but it was very pretty in its own right.

On the last night, we had the best sunset of the trip, with the trademark orange colors.

Hummingbirds

 

We have a few hummingbirds that are regular visitors to the backyard feeder. 

A wide aperture doomed some of these hummingbird bodies to not be completely in focus, and I'll work on that next time. I was aware that I was shooting wide open, and knew this might happen, but for some of the shots, I needed the light to get a faster shutter speed. It's all about tradeoffs. (See the Wikipedia article on "depth of field" for more information on how aperture impacts how much of a subject is in focus.) 

All images were taken with an Olympus E-M1 Mark II with the 60mm f/2.8 lens. The camera was on a tripod between 2-3 feet from the feeder, and I tripped the shutter with my phone, which was connected via a wi-fi signal to the camera. 

Lillie Park South - December 4, 2021

Some leaves just keep hanging on...

I like the bark on this tree, I don't know what kind it is.

I really hope that birds aren't responsible for the damage to this birdhouse. If they are, then I need to start walking in a park where the birds are more mellow.

A nice fall water scene in the early morning light.

A smaller pond with some waterfowl and some nice trees. 

You can still find some color out there!

I am post number 8! I am post number 8! I am post number 8! Who the heck are you?

This picture didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, but it's pretty good in its own right, so here it stays.

There were many of these little branch/vine wreaths all along the paths at the park. This was near one of the path entrances. I have another shot where you can see my shadow, which I would submit as evidence if my shadow needed an alibi for Saturday, December 4.