I took these this afternoon. I'm learning a new technique for sharpening pictures in Photoshop, so these are processed in a different way from my normal routine.

I love these pictures of the red bellied woodpecker, but they're still not the one I'm trying for. When the sun hits the red patch on the red bellied woodpecker's head, it shines brilliantly like a beacon, and I want to catch that flash, but still I think these are the best RBW pictures I've ever taken.

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Beautiful capture. One of my favorite species.

I bought my first digital camera in 2005. It was a point and shoot Kodak. It wasn't expensive, less than $100 if I can remember. I think maybe 6mb sensor size, but I was hooked. I took lots of pictures with that little Kodak.

Not long after I started, in the end of May I went to a little nature preserve not far from my home. It was a glorious spring day. . .sunny. . . perfectly warm. . . trees and flowers blooming. Way off the usual trails, there is a little wetland section of the nature preserve. I've been back there many dozens of times and have never seen evidence of another person.

There is this tall swamp grass. When in full summer growth, it is six feet tall or more. At the base of one of these swamp grass clumps, I spotted a box turtle doing something. I got on my belly and took a few shots of him, while laying there I noticed how wonderfully soft and dry the old swamp grass was. I could have easily been comfortable taking a nap there.

I thought to myself, what a perfect spot this would be for a deer to have a fawn. I stood up, walked a few paces, and kicked up a doe. She ran maybe 25 yards and turned around and just stared at me. . . and I knew. . . I walked where she had come from, and a most magical. . . holy. . . moment.

I found twin newborn fawns laying on the old swamp grass. I was overcome with emotion. I literally began weeping, as I snapped a few pictures before quickly departing. I felt so very privileged to see something like that. . . I will never forget it. . . It's been 14 years, and I still revere those moments spent with those twin fawns. . . <3

That is a good idea. I don't have a cable release, but I'm going to get one. That would solve the problem of one cold hand.

Yes. I don't regret the time spent at all. Much of this behavior I've never seen before. To me observing the wildlife is primary, recording it and sharing it is secondary. It was funny. . . keeping my eye to the camera eyepiece all that time, expecting any second for the bird to burst into flight, and have him clean and clean and scratch his head endlessly it seemed like, was funny to me. And I am so lucky. These were taken from my front yard. This is a dream come true. I don't have to travel far to take wildlife shots, so I don't begrudge anything. . .

I appreciate all the comments and views.

This is a series showing my efforts yesterday afternoon. I spotted a heron sitting on a dead tree across the lake from me. Flight pictures are my passion, and I set up my tripod and camera with what I thought was the pretty certain hope of getting some pictures of him taking off.

When I began this series it was cloudy, and about 45°f. A cold front was coming through bringing rain, and even the possibility of snow later in the day. . .

Here's a series of shots showing my efforts. . .

[I only uploaded these in a relatively low resolution, as they are more documentation than great wildlife shots]

Here is the scene as I started watching him at 12:16


. . . This bird must have cleaned every feather on his body 2 or 3 times and scratched his head many dozens of times. . .


. . . a fisherman in a bass boat came by. . . surely that would scare him off. . .


But no. . . back to cleaning he went. . .


It's now 1 p.m. I've had my eye to the eyepiece for 45 minutes and the temperature is dropping and I'm getting cold. The heron begins this feather fluffing. I thought sure he was getting ready to take off. . .


Then he began a period of wing flapping. . .


Surely this meant he was ready to take off. . . but no, back to cleaning he went.


. . . then the bird has this glorious bowel movement. . .


. . . which went on and on. It was amazing. . . by this time I'm taking both hands off the camera and warming them. . . I'm wondering about hypothermia. . . surely he was lightening his load before taking to the air. . . .


It is 1:46 p.m. 90 minutes after I began. Still cleaning and scratching his head. Now it begins to rain, and I give up. . . chilled to the bone. I went into the house. 15 minutes later or so, he did depart, but I wasn't there to document it. . .

Thank you. Button bush, and swamp milkweed

I've never seen that before. I posted some of these on our Lake's FB group page, and a lady a few doors down from me said that she had 50 or so that roosted and nested on her back lot. He said they came back near dusk. I will be down to her house to try to get some shots. . . not this evening though. It's supposed to rain this afternoon, changing over to snow this evening. . . Winter hasn't completely departed here in Northern Indiana.

Thanks everyone for the nice comments.

I was hoping and praying for herons, eagles, hawks, or egrets, and what I got was lots of turkey vultures. Can't fight that, you can only take pictures of what you see. They surely are graceful in flight, with such little apparent effort riding the thermals, and supremely needed in function. . .

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There is a little nature preserve not far from my home, where a little transient pond of maybe 5-10 acres in size. . .is there in the winter/spring, dries up in the late summer/fall. . . is ringed with button bushes. Yes, they have wet feet for much of the year. I don't know about their root system. . . maybe you could bury a large closed container for them to hold the water in. They're not huge in size.

In the past I have kept bees. They are the most fascinating critters. It is a most enjoyable hobby. Unfortunately at this time, it is a very difficult hobby. Keeping bees alive today, with all the various things they have working against them, is very difficult. Please be aware of your use of pesticides, etc.. Avoid spraying your fruit trees, or even your lawn, when nectar and pollen sources are in bloom. . .

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Thank you. I am a beekeeper, and honeybees also love the button bush. In mid-July around here, when they are in bloom, the the button bushes are almost alive with critters drinking nectar from the flowers. I'll post some honeybee pictures.

Thank you very much.

That is very nice. Wonderful sharpness, color, and perch. I like this much.

Wow. I saw this occur once, but had no camera to record it. Amazing shot.