Chilly Cardinal

Our weather turned blustery on Tuesday with a strong cold front moving in. Wednesday again was cool and blustery, finally triggering rutting activity in the Whitetail herd.

While watching a field for bucks last evening I noticed this male cardinal watching from the bushes. He sat there all fluffed up insulating himself from the cold.

The Cardinal reminded me of myself all bundled up trying to remain comfortable in temperatures to which we have not yet grown accustomed to.

Canon 30D 100-400 1;4.5-5.6L

The Real Woody Woodpecker

This Pileated Woodpecker was the highlight of my day Tuesday.

He delighted me by drilling a dead locust tree near my blind. The two major obstacles to photographing him were the speed that he pecked and that he seemed to always be in the shadows. As you all know, when photographing wildlife one cannot ask the subject to move or to hold position while we obtain a better position.

I shot well over one hundred images and while many show bits of wood flying in all directions, motion blurr detracts from the overall image quality.

Note, to differentiate between the males and females look for the line that connects the beak and the throat; on males it is red while on females it is black.

Captured with a Canon 30D EF 100-400 1:4.5-5.6L

Curiosity

This Fox Squirrel became curios as I watched him from a portable blind yesterday. He had been busy gathering nuts until he spied me.

He approached with quick jerky movements for a better look. I captured this shot on his first trip in. A short time later he came in again but unfortunately was too close for the 100-400 to focus. I guess he seen all he wanted on the second trip as he scurried off and didn’t return.

Fishing, Natures Way

I was excited to have shared this moment last year with Chad. We photographed this Great Blue Heron stalking the shallows for quite some time.

Suddenly with a quick stab of its beak it speared a crappie making for this unique capture. I quickly shot this frame and then seen the sickening notice in the viewfinder that my memory card was full. While I changed cards the bird deftly flipped the fish into the air catching it head first and swallowing it whole.

This photograph is currently published in the Pennsylvania Game Commission Calendar. The wildlife photographs featured in it are all taken by agency employees or retirees. To visit the Pa Game Commissions Outdoor shop Click Here.

Captured with a Canon Power-Shot S2 IS

Angles

A dilapidated old Road House along the Lincoln Highway provided me with this image.

Vacation at last

Thanks for joining me for the count down!

Shadows

While capturing autumn foliage shots I chanced upon this shadow

Yellow Jackets are far from the top of my most favorite creatures list. I have been known to spray entire nest of them when they decide to build somewhere not to my liking.

On this day, with the Yellow Jacket posing no threat, I was pleased to catch her shadow before she hurried along her way.

Two & Counting

Sunrise and Sunset, the most beautiful times of the day. With my work schedule of late I have not had the opportunity to greet the dawn. Last evening while suffering from shutter withdraw I grabbed my camera and hurried to the top of the hill just in time for this shot.

I suppose you all can tell that I am eagerly anticipating my upcoming break. Although my job has been stressful for the last few months I fully realize that job stress is not nearly as bad as the stress one goes through when our doctors deliver bad news to ourselves or a loved one.

I ask you all to keep our friend Faye in mind through her stressful time. Faye has been a great inspiration to me. Faye posts the most stunningly beautiful photographs of Oregon and frequently takes what must be a great deal of her valuable time to drop kind notes of encouragement on her cyber-friends blogs. Let us all keep her in our thoughts and prayers as she goes through this trying time. Please take the time to drop by and offer her a kind word of encouragement as she has done for so many others.

To visit Faye Click Here

Day's End

With work currently being a mad rush to nowhere, this is nearly all of the day I have recently been able to enjoy. I watch with interest the hustle and bustle of managers trying to get the maximum amount of product to market with little or no regard for the increased cost associated. Expensive mistakes which normally are rare have become the routine with some costing thousands of dollars each.

Thankfully vacation is near, only three more days to go until I can immerse myself in the fields and forest of Pennsylvania. The raucous calls of crows will be a welcome change from the din of the factory.

Harassed

I captured this shot of what I believe to be a Red Tail Hawk while three crows were harassing it. The crows stayed far enough from the hawk that I could not capture them in the same shot. I cannot say I blame the crows for keeping their distance. If I were a crow I would stay clear of the razor sharp talons too!

Canon 30D – EF 100-400L

Turkey Tail

Turkey Tail, so named for its distinctive color banding, is one of our more common forest fungi.

Attached to the side of a decaying log, the fungi is quietly going about its important task of unlocking the nutrients contained in the dead log.

The Canon Power Shot S2 IS proved to be a good tool to capture this macro