In the mid 1980s I switched my primary photographic focus (pun?), from sports to nature.  My percentage of good days went up!  Forever!  I do consider myself to be “the lucky one”.  No matter what fate deals me I can always (and always do) return to nature for the uplifting view of perfect grace.  It has never failed me.  I am a part of what I find and it is a part of me. The best of relationships.

For several years running the annual event to signal the start of the bird nesting season was a matched pair of Great Horned Owls once again raising babies in the cavity of an old tree, as you see below.  It is very satisfying to spend time with a wild family right through the fledging process.  I definitely miss this owl family.

I have had the best of times photographing male Bufflehead ducks.  A myriad of colors can appear around their head and these guys are often comical and entertaining.  I always photograph the males and females of every species if at all possible.  In the duck world sexual dimorphism is common, which makes sense when you realize that the females do all of the egg sitting and need to blend in.  With geese and the many types of birds that both sexes take turns with incubation you will find little or no differences between males and females.

I love trees!  Much of my autumn photography is a matter of composing one or two really nice trees.  I also have made no small amount of tree silhouette photos.  An interesting tree shape, some nice color and I am a totally satisfied photographer.

Despised by many birders but always abundant and easy to photograph.  A female and a male House (English) Sparrow.

You never know what lurks around the next corner.  It often pays to be born to wander.  I cruised the countryside one day and found a flock of escaped, semi-domestic, Guinea-fowl.

The two most common woodpeckers in southeastern Wisconsin were (are) the Downy and the Red-bellied.  The male Downy in the top photo was having a great time placing bird seed in the crevices of this wood and then cracking it open.  The male Red-bellied is busy excavating a new nesting hole in hopes of finding a lady WP to join him in the family life.

The secret to finding a great photo location when you are in the mountainous areas of Colorado is to stop your car and shoot.  I found this mountain meadow with Alpine Sunflowers in the San Juan region.

I want to thank each of you who are once again frequenting the Earth Images blog.  I will keep it up for as long as possible and like before all of the many posts that live here will remain.

 God Bless