Wild
Read MoreCrane Impressionism
This is a tight crop from an out-of-focus background from a much larger image. It was a frustrating day because of excessive heat radiation, which made even properly focused pictures appear soft due to atmospheric distortion, you know, the heat waves you sometimes see when looking into the distance? So, what to do? Embrace the look and turn lemons to lemonade!
On Watch
An advantage in winter is the easier spotting of birds of prey as they perch in leafless trees, on power poles, etc., looking for their next meal. While driving from Hastings to Blue Hill, I spotted this eagle (noticed him out of the corner of my eye as a large black silhouette in the tree) about a mile north of where Highway 281 crosses the Little Blue River in south-central Nebraska. He stayed long enough to allow me to turn around, find an advantageous spot to park, get my camera and long lens out and fire off a number of shots through my drivers side window. It was a dull, cold, grey day, but I'm still happy with the end result.
Where Next Mama?
Near the summit of Black Elk Peak, a nice hike by the way, this mountain nanny goat and her kid came by, obviously looking for a drink of water. Unfortunately, there were people (not us) at the pool of water who wouldn't move. Such are the tribulations of life if you're a goat, I guess.
Black HillsRapid CitySouth DakotaAnimalNatureWildMountain GoatBlack Elk Wilderness AreaBlack Elk PeakGoatGoatsNannyDoeKid
Peaceful Prairie Coexistence (Extra Wide Panorama)
This is composed of three shots stitched together side-by-side.
AnimalBuffaloPrairie DogPrairie Dog TownNaturePrairieWildCuster State ParkSouth Dakota
Peaceful Prairie Coexistence (Wide Panorama)
This is composed of two shots stitched together side-by-side.
AnimalBuffaloPrairie DogPrairie Dog TownNaturePrairieWildCuster State ParkSouth Dakota
Peaceful Prairie Coexistence
Prairie dog town foreground, buffalo herd background = Peace on the prairie.
AnimalBuffaloPrairie DogPrairie Dog TownNaturePrairieWildCuster State ParkSouth Dakota
Spooked
I was watching these birds from a good distance away (parked alongside the road) when all of a sudden they all seemed to panic. Initially I thought I may have somehow spooked them, but soon realized there was an eagle flying overhead that surely was the culprit. I was able to get a picture of the eagle, but it was quite far away and not worthy of posting here.