Birds

Camera: Chinon Genesis III Ducks, on the pond at Meijer Gardens, on a grey day in 1997.

Joan and I walk the Ledges Trail from Fitzgerald Park to downtown Grand Ledge a couple times a year. It's a pleasant walk, and we typically wander around Second Island for a while before returning. The geese are a valuable part of the experience. This particular goose was a rather anti-social critter, and wanted nothing to do with us, or my camera. Got 'im!

Leland, Michigan. Joan parked the car in the parking lot at the Bluebird. I got out, saw the ducks all lined up for me, and reached for my camera. I particularly like the straying bird, to the left. Camera: Nikon N90s

Joan told me yesterday she'd seen baby geese out by the pond, so I set out to get a picture during today's lunch break. I found them in the grass between the parking lot and the marsh. The adults saw me coming and began herding the goslings to the pond. Three of the little ones followed mom into the water; three more hit the water with dad. The seventh waited until he was personally convinced I was a threat. In a few weeks the parents' strategy will change . -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Working beside a wildlife refuge has its attractions.....

This youngster was outside our window on Sunday. She needed a break from the bird feeder squabbles and took refuge on the neighboring sunflower.

When it rains, I generally find birds hiding under my truck. This little guy was peeking out the wheel well one day in June. Camera: Nikon N90s

All primped up & posed; to all appearances these birds wanted their picture taken. This is Port Huron's waterfront park--Pine Grove Park, more precisely, though several parks run together along the St. Clair and you can easily walk for several miles without getting far from the river. Note the fishermen in the foreground and the waterfront homes--no longer shacks, I notice--in the background. Dobrush is sneaking around the bend, and the Coast Guard's new bouy tender, Hollyhock, seems to be parked on the sidewalk. Neat place. Camera: Nikon N90s

I'm not welcome, and he's not shy about telling me. This photo is cropped, but otherwise unretouched.

Straits of Mackinac. Camera: Nikon N90s

I'd worked late on the day I took this photo, and there were geese all over the parking lot. Grabbed the camera, and started snapping pix. Evidently I got too close to this family for papa's comfort zone. Sometime in the spring, 1991. Camera: Minolta Freedom 100

Found at work this morning.... The goslings are growing up, and they've taken to parading around the campus.

Explored! #58 on Flickr [September 1, 2007] Thanks! South Padre Island, Texas. This is one of those terrific photographs almost anyone could have taken, given a camera and the same opportunity.... We (Mom & "the kids") spent part of 1992's Texas ballpark vacation visiting Mom's sister Violet in Corpus Christi. Besides touring the town and sampling the restaurants, we spent nearly a full day on the beach, where the amusements included really cute crabs and really annoying gulls. Both types of critters, apparently, live off the sunbathers.

Camera: FujiFilm FinePix F10

Momma & Poppa Goose herd their flock in the shadow of the mighty Mackinac Bridge--I've annoyed them, and they're about to leave. Photo taken June 22, 2003. This photo was the next shot after one I published last spring, and demonstrates what a change in framing can accomplish. Though the pictures were shot from the same location and share many details, they tell different tales, and require different captions.

The local ducks hold their morning coffee klatch while a couple sandpipers look on. That's Old Mission Point in the background and the east arm of Traverse Bay in between. Photo taken in late September, 2004, at Pointes North Inn in Traverse City. Camera: Nikon N90s Scanned from a negative. Grainy; probably mostly because it was a fast film.

A gull floats over the water at Grand Haven's pier lights on November 13, 2004. Shot from Grand Haven State Park. Scanned from a negative.