Journal

Mark’s journal of photographic projects, thoughts, and commentary.

Backyard Birds – Red Headed Woodpecker

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I realize not everyone has the good fortune of having a wooded backyard.  But many folks do have the opportunity to photograph some very interesting and beautiful birds somewhere close by.

There is a community park not far away from where we live, and they do have feeders there with a viewing blind available most of the time…so perhaps there’s something like this close to where you live.

I’m fortunate in that I feed a lot of birds year round and one of my favorites is the Red Headed Woodpecker.  They like to eat suet, sunflower seeds, and during the summer, a decent amount of insects.  

They are hard to miss as well…bright red head, pearly white belly and undersides and coal black on the back.  I was happy this year to see they had a successful nesting so hopefully we’ll have these beauties for years to come.

Iowa Farm At Sunset

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As the sun sets behind this farm in Iowa, not far from where I live, I can’t help but think it’s symbolic of our times.  There’s no question that over the years, particularly those from the early 1980’s on, we’ve seen a notable reduction in the family farm.  It’s hard to make ends meet in farming.  When you rely on things as fickle as the weather, and commodity prices…well, you’re working with some pretty volatile things.

Some of my high school friends, their families, more specifically, ran small farms.  I worked on a few…bailing hay mostly…it didn’t seem all that fun then.  But it was purposeful.  And although the work could be hard, hot, sweaty, and dusty…you knew you accomplished something at the end of the day.  It was the first place I learned, that with every day, there was always something productive that could be done.  

I miss these family farms.  I think our country is the lesser for them not being here in great abundance.

Game Winner – Salvador Perez Of The Kansas City Royals

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I don’t get to shoot sports all that much but that’s not to say that I don’t enjoy it.  Being a long time fan of the Kansas City Royals baseball team, we make a point to try and attend a game or two every year.  Sometimes we settle for some local, minor league action, which my family enjoys just as much.

One major difference though photographically is the lighting.  The major leagues, as you might guess, have excellent lighting throughout the parks.  In this particular case I had the Olympus EM1 Mark II camera along with the Panasonic 100-400 lens.  This is a good, light, long-reaching, versatile lens, but I wish I had brought along my Olympus 40-150 2.8 instead.  I think it would have suited the situation as well or better and been sharper.

Nevertheless, I came away with some images that I liked, including this bottom of the ninth, two out, full count, game winner from catcher Sal Perez.  He put it out over center field and the crowd went wild.  As a Royals fan, it was a great way to end a very competitive game!

Snowy Owl Portrait

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During the winter of 2017-2018, we were blessed here in Iowa to have an invasion of Snowy Owls.  Although these winter visitors could never be called numerous here, ever handful of  years, conditions up north on the arctic tundra and around Hudson Bay, get rough so many young owls head farther south.  

It would be hard to say how many owls in total are seen here in the midwest during an invasion…most birds aren’t tagged or marked in anyway so you don’t know if you’re seeing the same bird just moving around or if there are multiple birds in an area.  The latter was proven in the Davenport Iowa area when 3 birds were spotted on the same day in different locations, almost simultaneously.  

This particular female spent a lot of time around the airport grounds…as many of these owls tend to do, because the property is flat and wide open, much like their native tundra.  On this evening, my wife and I spent about 20 minutes in close proximity to the bird…she was at ease the entire time as we stayed in the vehicle and used that more or less as a viewing blind.

I’m sad to report that several months later, this bird was found injured, either from a vehicle strike (there was a terribly busy intersection nearby), or perhaps from an impact with a fence or post…but her wing was injured and became infected before she was picked up.  She was ultimately euthanized to end her suffering.  Although she had faired well enough through several months here, she unfortunately did not depart for her northern home soon enough.

For the winter season Iowa, over 30 owls were found dead or injured, many from vehicle strikes.  That certainly indicates that on invasion years, Iowa can see quite a few snowy owls come in….and unfortunately most are not well equipped to deal with all of the hazards of modern life here. 

Mitchell B-25 Bomber – “Show Me”

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I’m a fan of aircraft and airshows.  I don’t find myself biased in terms of modern day jets or old prop driven antiques…I like them all.  In my youth though, I must admit, I had an affinity for the planes of the WWII era.  And few stood out more than the Mitchell B25.

This medium sized bomber is well known as the platform that Billy Mitchell used in a surprise attack on the Japanese mainland…taking off from an aircraft carrier.  It was a monumental feat at the time.

There are still a fair number of B25’s still flying today.  One great example is this one…”Show Me’ from the Missouri arm of the Commemorative Air Force.  It is always a treat to see her fly.