Birds

Spent my birthday weekend in Traverse City. We've never gone away for my birthday, so that was a treat. Of course, February's weather is a risk. The weekend's first two days had excellent weather, as this shot shows. Monday and Tuesday were a little less friendly. Better detail in the larger view. This is the dock behind Holiday Inn West Bay, where we roomed Saturday night before moving to Pointes North for the rest of our stay. Sunday morning found this excellent light, and this bird posed for my camera.

Seney National Wildlife Refuge, Upper Michigan. Camera: Nikon D70

Bennett Farm, St. Johns, Michigan. Camera: Olympus Camedia C50

@ Petoskey State Park.

Another gull floating above the Straits of Mackinac. Photo from our June weekend in St. Ignace.

This is kinda interesting, but obviously not the picture I intended. Port Huron, Michigan. Not that anyone really cares.

I went outside; these guys fled. Along with a couple hundred of their friends.

Explored! #103 [February 4, 2013] Thanks! Leelanau State Park, Northport, Michigan. Best in large size, methinks. Two more views of this bay.

I take lots of photos of ducks, mostly because I tend to hang out where ducks hang out. Every now and then I need to post one of those pics. I'd been photographing something else when these birds landed just a few feet from where I was watching. Obviously they're accustomed to having folks just standing around on the hotel's beach.... Traverse City, Michigan.

GL's Second Island park, a couple autumns back.

A few of the thousands of Sandhill Cranes which descended on Big Marsh Lake this evening while we were watching. Taken at Michigan Audubon Society's Baker Sanctuary , just south of Bellevue; technically I was in the Kiwanis Youth Area.... I can hint at the visual effect with a photo or two. This medium, unfortunately, doesn't capture the sound of these large, loud birds. Picture's better in the large size, of course.

Better large! Another photo from yesterday. Not all the birds in the preserve are cranes.

Feeding in our front yard.

The walkway to the Pier Light at the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal entrance in Wisconsin's Door County.

This is the best of the many photographs I took at Big Marsh Lake the other night; it shows a number of Sandhill Cranes landing. Notice all the smaller birds in flight, and the already-landed cranes wading in the water. The larger size is better. This photo pushes the limits of my camera/lens set; I was using a tripod, was setting the focus manually, and had preset most of the settings. While I'm quite satisfied with this photograph, the "grain" shows more than I'd like. I've pulled a few more photos out of the set, and will share them presently.

Photo taken at the Kiwanis Youth Area, near Michigan Audubon's Baker Sanctuary. Just south of Bellevue, Michigan. My brother published a similar photo the other day.

Joan captured this photo of a large, handsome goose in downtown Grand Ledge during yesterday's hike along the river. It's about the size of a small turkey. Can anyone identify it more closely than "goose?" None of our myriad of reference books seems helpful.

By the time I'd dug the long lens out and fetched the tripod, the Cardinal had gone. Found this nice Junco, though. Joan's not happy about the Juncos. She likes 'em, but they never get here in November. Probably doesn't bode well....