When I realized one of the owls was coming right at me, my heart rate certainly went up. But now that I have been doing this for a while, I realize that one of things experience teaches you is how to not freak out under pressure (at least not to the extent that you miss the shot - there is always some level of freaking out!). As this owl approached, I knew I would likely only get one chance, and fortunately this time I managed to pull it off.

A purple sandpiper in Indiana?! Certainly that justifies blowing off work for the afternoon, doesn’t it?

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.

A point of clarity in an ambiguous world on this Thanksgiving day.

While 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.

Just a few images from a spectacular October morning.

Happy October!

Meet my birding nemesis.

What is so unusual about this pileated woodpecker?

How does this downy woodpecker know where to peck?

One of the rarest animals I have ever photographed…

Do you see this monarch butterfly’s little friend?

There 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.

You probably know about a murder of crows, but what do you call a group of herons?