Posts in Category: Favorites
Parthenon
Mackinac Bridge
Family trip to the upper peninsula in Michigan over the July 4th holiday. Crossing the Mackinac Bridge has always been on my bucket list. It is also special to me for another reason. Growing up, there was a photo of my father and grandfather with the Mackinac Bridge in the background. I wanted to duplicate that photo with my daughter who is now 3 years old. My father died 25 years ago this coming August, I was never able to have the same photos taken with him.
Avian silhouette
Early birds get the worm. This house sparrow is sitting on a shepherd’s hook waiting to dig into the morning meal of seeds.
White-handed gibbon
Gibbons are apes, not monkeys. Also called the lesser apes, gibbons differ from great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans) in being smaller and in not making nests. Gibbons are masters of their primary mode of locomotion, brachiation, swinging from branch to branch for distances of up to 50 ft, at speeds as high as 35 mph. They can also make leaps of up to 26 ft, and walk bipedally with their arms raised for balance. They are the fastest and most agile of all tree-dwelling, non-flying mammals. Depending on species and gender, gibbons’ fur coloration varies from dark to light brown shades, and anywhere in between black and white. It is rare to see a completely white gibbon.
SuperMoon
Tonight the moon was at its perigee, closest to the Earth, and appeared 14% larger and 30% brighter than normal. The full moon at its perigee will not occur again until the year 2029. Unfortunately, a slight haze formed and resulted in a not as sharp photo as hoped for. Taken with a Tamron 500mm lens with a 1.4x extender, effectively making it a 700mm shot. Used the mirror lockup and a wireless remote trigger to minimize vibration.
Cardinal returns
After an absence of almost 2 years, a cardinal has returned to the corkscrew willow tree and the feeders. It is always a welcome sight to see the bright red color of a cardinal in the winter. Hopefully this male will stay around through Spring and find a mate.