The hummingbirds have arrived at last. This little guy has staked a claim on my zinnia garden. When he is not feeding, he sits and watches for any outsiders and promptly chases them away. Once in awhile a hummingbird sneaks in while he is in hot pursuit of another. 7.14.12

This looks "cool and refreshing" to me, as is temperature cool. We are roasting here in the Midwest with temps in the 100s, 104 today so far and rising. I applied a painting effect in Topaz. 7.5.12

Wow, it's hard to believe it's the 4th of July already. Where does the time go? Was surprised to see this butterfly in the backyard yesterday around 2. It was so hot out in the sun. I took half a dozen shots and headed for the shade. Have a great 4th everyone!!! 7.4.12

Crop dusting in deep South Texas somewhere between McAllen and Harlingen in April 2012. Not something I see everyday...7.3.12

Trying to get some relief from the heat.6.30.12

The flowers are suffering right now with the drought and heat. I have a few asiatic lillies I hope can tolerate the weather long enough for me to get some good photos. Stay cool. 6.29.12

Taken on a misty Sunday morning near Harlingen, Texas. The sun was just coming up and it had a kind of surreal feeling. The light was changing so fast I barely had time to jump out of the Jeep and snap a couple photos before the mood changed. 6.28.12

I have a whole sequence of shots as this brown pelican is approaching the brown pelican on the post. The flying pelican succeeded in his quest to sit on the post without much of an objection from the other. Taken along Shoreline Drive in Corpus Christi, Texas in April 2012. 6.26.12

I was driving home on Saturday and saw these shoes hanging from a tree off Hwy 161. Don't know why they are there, but they are, probably 20 pairs or so. 6.25.12

Some people are saying it's because of the heat and drought that the butterflies and hummingbirds are scarce around here this year. Finally saw the third butterfly in the backyard this year. That sounds unreal when we usually have them flying in and out all day long. This one's kind of beat up, but better than nothing. 6.22.12

An amazing bloom on a hen and chicks plant. 6.20.12

This is a new twist on getting to know a boy, especially if you're the shy type.

As you can see, I've been a little preoccupied with the blue jays in the backyard. There are about half a dozen of them and some young and I think they are stocking up for winter already. They went through $10 worth of peanuts in 3 days and I got a ton of photos, a pretty fair exchange. Some come and take their time and others like this more mature jay hits the feeder and off he goes. My 50D only does about 3 frames a second, so they are faster than my camera. I did manage to snap this sequence. This is shot in dense shade and thus I have a lot of noise for which I used Topaz denoise. Tomorrow I'll do something different I promise. 6.18.12

This is a followup shot to my post yesterday. There are about shots in between the 2 photos posted. Still don't understand why the older blue jay deferred to the young one. Happy Father's Day dads!! 6.17.12

Had a lot of activity at the blind this afternoon. There must have been at least half a dozen different blue jays flying in and out, sometimes as many as 4 at a time. This is a juvenile jay trying to "scare off" a mature jay which had landed on his perch. He was quite assertive for such a young bird, or at least I thought he was. Maybe this is normal behavior, I don't know, but it sure was entertaining. Will post another in a sequence of shots tomorrow. 6.16.12

I got lost 1 day driving around on the back roads in Missouri. I passed by this place and decided to turn around and give it a better look. This is what I saw. 6.15.12 Have a great weekend everyone.

I can't believe it's been 2 months since my trip to Padre Island. I still have photos to process. Ugh! 6.14.12

Actually, this is a zinna from my garden last year. I had tons of plants with large blooms on them all summer. I was expecting the same success this year, however, so far the blooms have been about, I say about, the size of a quarter. What's up with that??? I'm going to fertilize them and see if they get any bigger. 6.12.12

10.10.09

I'm not sure what I like about this, but it's something. Tomorrow I will try to post something a little more interesting. As always, thanks for your kind comments. 6.11.12

Gosh, I'm late posting tonight. Spent a couple hours in bird blind in 92-degree weather and got zip. Was hoping to see the Northern Flicker, but only heard him. When I came inside the house, this is how I was greeted. Max can sure make a person feel guilty. 6.9.12

No saturation adjustment was made on this photograph. It was just one of those spectacular evening skies. Thanks for all your kind comments.6.8.12

I haven't been in the blind in the backyard for a couple weeks, and it was pretty boring out there today. But, imagine my surprise when I heard this strange bird and peeked out the side window to see this northern flicker sitting on a branch. I saw a Northern flicker one time before last year in July and had given up hope of seeing it again. Apparently, it has been around awhile because the branch looks pretty torn up, and I don't think my usual downy woodpeckers could have done that kind of damage.6.7.12

Taken last spring in Chicago. This is "soft", but I really liked the colors. What do you think? 6.6.12

We were supposed to get some rain over the weekend and yesterday, but all we got was a few clouds as you can see here. The ground is bone dry and sure could use some moisture.6.5.12

You can imagine how excited I was when this barred owl flew into a tree right next to the tree I was standing under. Then, it hopped over to another limb which is when I snapped this shot. It is not technically the best photograph, but from where I was standing it was the best I could do. I was kind of disappointed with it initially, but it has been growing on me. What do you think? Feel free to say exactly what you think. 6.4.12

I hope the butterflies come soon. This is the one and only butterfly in my backyard I have seen so far this year. 6.3.12

Sunset over Horseshoe Lake in Illinois. 6.1.12

Ever have that itch that you just can't scratch? This white egret appears to be experiencing something like that. I am trying to cut down on my bird posts, but couldn't resist this one. Thanks for all your kind comments.

Wow, this mommy has to stay on her toes. She's got 10, yes, 10 baby ducklings. Taken at Horseshoe Lake State Park in Granite City, Illinois. 5.30.12

This was taken at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis. I had never been to a national cemetery, so was a little overwhelmed at the site of it at first, but then as we drove from section to section the beauty of it began to overtake the sadness I felt. I hope you see it, too. 5.29.12

Sixty-six years ago a young man named Elmer merely 25 years old gave his life fighting for our freedom. I wonder who remembers him. I wonder if he died instantly or if he suffered for long. I have lived 33 years longer than he and yet never done anything nearly as significant as to fight for my country.

Every year at this time I make it a point to go to a cemetery and place a flag on the grave of a soldier who died for his country. The cemetery was a lonely place last night as I walked from grave to grave looking for a veteran who made the ultimate sacrifice, yet Heaven is surely crowded with them. 5.28.12

I sure wanted to bring this puppy home, but it was already spoken for. There were 7 pups total and a real chore for my sister to manage. In addition to being too cute they were extremely intelligent. Mother was Australian shepherd and daddy was a border collie, and, yes, they need to be working dogs. Left with too much time on their hands and nothing to do and these guys could chew a house down.

I shot this last spring. I liked the detail in the starling and bright colors at the time, but I'm not so sure I like it now. What do you think? If you view this photo, I really would appreciate your opinion. Have I gone overboard in processing? Too busy? You get the idea. Once again, thanks for all your comments. Happy Memorial Day weekend.

I took this shot of green jays in South Texas. They are sitting on a drip hose. I am so amazed at the coloring of these birds. I saw a lot of them that day. I wasn't disappointed in the volume of cool birds I saw while I was wandering around Texas.

You know the saying "a penny for your thoughts," well, I would sure like to know what Hazel is thinking. There's definitely something going on in that little mind of her's. She was having a good time tearing up a catalog, but the fun ended soon after this shot. You can't eat paper you know.

This is Jordan, my friend's12-year-old grandson, and the closest thing to a grandson I will ever have. He is an amazing young man and loves skateboarding. He has no fear and therefore is very good at sports, especially skateboarding. We went to the skate park yesterday late and I got some great images of him. Oh, to be young again.

We have a lot of robins in the yard, and I don't usually pay too much attention to them, but yesterday for some reason I started watching this robin. He made finding worms look easy.

This is a scene from a cemetery near my home, Walnut Hill. I occasionally drive through there and read the names on the tombstones. Life sure has changed in the last 100 years. The sun was getting low in the horizon and casting dark shadows. Maybe i'm getting a heavy-handed with the Photoshop, but once again I kind of like the "ethereal" effect here. Your comments are always appreciated.

Where have I been? Time gets away from me so fast. Have been incredibly busy trying to put together some images to submit to stock houses. Don't know if I can make it profitable or not, but we'll see. I really played around with this image and liked the final result. What do you think? I really don't like snakes at all and this was not the technically best photo so I really didn't have anything to lose. At any rate, it's something different. Have a great weekend.

It was a stunningly beautiful day here in Southern Illinois, and I just couldn't stay inside, so I set out looking for birds. I was hoping to encounter some cedar waxwings as the mulberry trees are full of ripe berries, but came up empty on that count. There were lots of birds flying in and out of the trees. I did see a couple Baltimore orioles which was a real treat. This is basically just a snapshot of the lake, and as you can see, it was a beautiful view. 4.10.12

Missing in action again. We have had company and that always gets me out of my routine. I did get some shooting in on Saturday and was pleasantly surprised to see my target bird, the eastern meadowlark, everywhere I went. This was taken just before sunset and I really liked the golden glow. This little guy would not let me get very close and hence this shot, but I liked it and I hope you do too.

Another shot taken at Cedar Hill State Park in Texas. This was obviously at the marina. It had been a marvelous day and was an even more marvelous evening. So warm for that early in the spring, but after all, it was Texas.

Believe it or not, this rattlesnake is over 7 feet long. I showed this picture to a park ranger at Cedar Hill State Park where I took this photo, and he thought it was well over 7 feet. He said they had caught a rattler in that area before that was 7 feet 2 inches long. It was not the least bit intimidated by this truck or my Jeep. Needless to say, I kept a safe distance away from it. I camped at Cedar Hill that night and them pulled up stakes and got the hell out of there. I am terrribly afraid of snakes...

I remember Chick Hearn who was a long-time commentator for the Los Angeles Lakers saying "I'd rather be lucky than good," and this is a perfect example of that. It was getting dark and I was coming up empty photographing ducks on a pond and voila, I heard the groaning sound of this big air plane. It was landing at Scott Air Force Base outside of Mascoutah, Illinois. I hope I'm not breaking any laws by photographing it and furthermore posting it here. Since 9/11 you really never know...

"I brake for birds." Yes, indeed. There were white egrets and great blue herons every where this morning at Horseshoe Lake. The spring breeding season is in full swing. Despite the year-round population of both birds I have yet to see them raising any young. Maybe this year I'll get lucky.

Looking at this bearded dragon I have come to the conclusion that people will make pets out of almost anything. It just doesn't seem to be the cozy up on the couch kind of animal to me, but like they say "different strokes for different folks."

I pulled this out of my "archives." I have so many photos to process from my trip to Texas I am kind of overwhelmed. Anyhow, this is my attempt at saying Happy Spring to all of my fellow smugmugers. Thanks for all your kind and encouraging comments. 4.21.12