Montana Farm Potpourri

Whenever I visit the northwest Montana farm where I grew up I feel like I’m returning home. It’s been 50 years since I actually lived there but I don’t think that feeling will ever leave me.

Continue reading

Highs And Lows – Killdeer And Bicycles

Yesterday morning didn’t begin well.  I was up at 4 AM to give me time to finish my daily blog post so I could leave for Antelope Island by 6 to take advantage of the early morning light on one of those relatively rare recent days where no morning clouds were forecast.  After an hours drive to get there I discovered that most of the island was closed to vehicular traffic to accommodate the Collegiate National Cycling Championships (unannounced on the Antelope Island State Park Facebook page).  I made one pass of the north loop road and headed for home – an unhappy camper. But we decided to pay Farmington Bay an impromptu visit on the way home and I’m glad we did.  We were able to visit with a friend we hadn’t seen in many months who we found walking the refuge road (a regular routine that she enjoys) and I got some Killdeer images that may turn out to be some of my favorites of the species in some ways.  This photo is an example.    1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light Admittedly, it’s not a very dynamic shot – no interesting behavior and the pose is unremarkable (though perfectly acceptable).   But I like the rock it chose to perch on, the light angle was good, it’s a very small crop so the detail is excellent (especially in a larger version) and I simply love the background. So thank you Mr. or Ms Killdeer (and friend Carol) for improving my mood, which was considerably better from Farmington to home than it had been from the island to…

Continue reading

Killdeer Chick With An Extra Dose Of Personality

Well, yesterday may have been the first day of spring but so far I’m not impressed – it’s been dreary and wet and it’s supposed to be very cold through the weekend.  I’ll even have to turn the heat on in my de-winterized camping trailer to keep the plumbing from freezing,  Ugh… So I’ve been stuck in the house and was going through some older images when I came across this series of a very young Killdeer chick at Farmington Bay WMA.  It was in the grasses near a parking lot and it was just as curious about me and my pickup as I was about it.    1/800, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not set up or called in I’d taken a few shots of this chick just after the sun came up but it was so buried in the grasses that the images weren’t very good but when I came back to the parking lot 51 minutes later it was in an area where the grasses weren’t quite as thick.   At first it just watched me and didn’t do much.   One of the parents was nearby but neither bird seemed nervous about my presence in my vehicle.       1/500, f/11, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not set up or called in  And soon it walked closer to me to check me out.      1/500, f/11, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not set up or called in  Then it decided to do some posing for…

Continue reading