The last ten days of birding have been fairly remarkable. Many of the sightings have been distant and fleeting. The resulting photos are unremarkable at best. The remarkable part is that I have photos of these birds at all, because none of them should be anywhere near Kentucky.
Read MoreA point of clarity in an ambiguous world on this Thanksgiving day.
Read MoreWhile the country held (holds) its breath, I sat outside in the crisp November air. I watched the bright moon rise over the trees. I felt the warmth of the glowing embers of a fire. I listened to the yips of coyotes carrying through the clear night. I enjoyed good company and conversation, and I waited for owls.
Read MoreSnoqualmie River | Near Snoqualmie, Washington
Find out what can happen when you let go of the idea that wherever you are is not enough.
Read MoreJust a few images from a spectacular October morning.
Read MoreAmerican Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) in Fall Plumage | Cherokee Park | Louisville, Kentucky
500mm | 1/800th second | f/7.1 | ISO 1600
I somehow know what a bird is before I know that I know. How does that work?
Read MoreHappy October!
Read MoreMeet my birding nemesis.
Read MoreWhat is so unusual about this pileated woodpecker?
Read MoreHow does this downy woodpecker know where to peck?
Read MoreNorthern Parula (Setophaga americana) | Cherokee Park | Louisville, Kentucky
500mm | 1/500th second | f/5.6 | ISO 1400
As close as I’ve been to a tiny northern parula.
Read MoreCarolina Mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) | My Front Yard | Louisville, KY
92mm (70-200 f/2.8 with extension tubes | 1/200th second | f/11 | ISO 200 | Flash
A mantis in the living room.
Read MoreOne of the rarest animals I have ever photographed…
Read MoreDo you see this monarch butterfly’s little friend?
Read MoreFemale Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) | My Backyard | Louisville, Kentucky
500mm | 1/250th second | f/5.6 | ISO2500
These little guys and gals will be departing soon, headed south for their winter homes. This tiny little bird, which weighs about as much as a penny, two pennies at most, will fly all the way to Central America, including a 900-mile non-stop flight across the Gulf of Mexico.
Read MoreThere are eighty-eight species of wren; this cute little sedge wren - a tiny little ball of alertness - is my seventh, along with the Carolina, house, marsh, Bewick’s, rufous-naped, and cactus wrens.
Read MoreOsprey (Pandion haliaetus) with a freshly caught crappie (Pomoxis annularis)
Falls of the Ohio State Park | Jeffersonville, Indiana
The osprey’s family of one, and the tragic story of the daughters of King Pandion II.
Read MoreYou probably know about a murder of crows, but what do you call a group of herons?
Read MoreWe found twelve of these least sandpipers yesterday morning at Falls of the Ohio State Park, directly across the River from Louisville in Jeffersonville, Indiana. In the birding world, little sandpipers like this are called “peeps,” for obvious reasons. This group is passing through on their southerly migration. Wading birds like this migrate north through Louisville in late April and early May, stay just long enough for their chicks to fledge, then head south again. As the name suggests, the least sandpiper is the smallest of the sandpipers. This was as close as I had ever been to one, and they are tiny - barely bigger than a sparrow!
Relax with one minute of video of these little guys and gals peacefully preening themselves with the sounds of the rushing water in the background.
TIL insects are harder to identify than birds.
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