Best of 2022

Snow dance

I was snowshoeing and this gorgeous little plant stopped me in my tracks. Not sure what it is, I was in what I think is a spruce and cedar bog or boggy area, but under all the snow it was hard to tell. The lines and the curves against the snow, made me scooch around and adjust the tripod a lot to get it to flow right.

Crane dance

I spied these two in a field in Marathon county and stopped to take some shots. They were singing as you can see. Not quite the same haunting quality as loons, but arresting.

Blackpoll warbler

From the deck I noticed this cute little bird foraging for insects in the hornbeam saplings that surround the yard. This is a male and his mate was nearby and I got some good shots of her, too. They migrate about 2000 miles from winter territory in northern South America, to their summer breeding grounds in northern Canada. They have to double their bodyweight to do it. IRL they're about 5 inches - chickadee size. My first time seeing them!

How can we sleep in?

A gorgeous little meadow just as the sun was cresting the horizon. I love the path and the soft light that just picks up textures in the grass and the cliffs.

There blossoms dawn

The final sunrise for the Badlands workshop and it didn't disappoint.

Evening breeze

This heron flew in quite near to where I was actively paddling, so even though I was in a bit of a hurry to get back to the boat launch I stopped to shoot. A little breeze came and blew the head feathers up in a cute little way. I love the way the shortness of the tail shows up so nicely above the waterline. Who needs a long tail dragging in there?

A quick rinse

A tiny bumblebee with full pollen baskets cleans her tongue between visits to the flowers on my deck.

We meet again

The same log on the Somo river and look what I saw - a wood turtle. Could it be the same one I photographed last year? The timing was perfect - I watched her climb up and out of the water from the other side and paddled by her slowly as she got some sun. A pontoon boat even went by a couple times and she didn't move. Neither did the painted turtle further up the log. This time I got a great plastron shot. So orange!

Playful otter 2

A lucky encounter with a curious otter on the Somo river. So happy that they are accustomed to humans enough to be able to get photos like this. The light wasn't the best, but who cares - an otter!!

Chrysididae sp.

Not my best focus stack, but this female cuckoo wasp was quivering and vibrating ever so slightly while also letting me get very close to her. No doubt sussing out another bee or wasp nest in which to lay her eggs like the bird she's named for. Those colors are absolutely real. They are so bright and metallic it's hard to believe they are not tiny robots. IRL she is less than 2cm long.

Amanita flavoconia

Aka Yellow Patches - this specimen is about 2 1/4 inches high and has a prominent ring left by the partial veil and what looks like damage to the stipe making it look sort of like Big Bird's legs. This is a 21-image stack and features a cute little bug on top and a tiny mushroom hiding in the moss.

Standing in the light of love

could be Pluteus chrysophlebius or Mycena leaiana because the margin of the cap can become lined. Maybe Hygrocybe cantharellus, but I didn't check to see if the gills are decurrent. Cute as anything though. A 22-image stack.

Oh that face

I hadn't realized just how cute porcupines are. This is probably a young one - a porcupette - and it was just 12 feet away from me off the trail as I made my way to my car. Look at those paws!

Pseudocide

A group of Entoloma abortivum fruited on a tree that came down in a thunderstorm a couple of years ago. It's starting to be a mushroom paradise and luckily it's right next to the lawn! I love this shot for the textures and the fallen leaf and the mystery below. It's an 8-image stack.

Can't get close to you

The Pine River just above Meyers Falls - a tough composition since I was under a tree and jammed against a big rock ledge, but that bendy tree called to me so I had to try. This will be amazing once the color really comes up.

Breakwater cascade

With the river so low, I could walk out on the rocks that make up the third cascade at Breakwater Falls. Luckily I did this before a gate in the dam opened and let out a bunch of water because I would have been in trouble!

Eagle 3

A bald eagle perches in a tree on the side of the road after helping to clean up the remains of what looked like a dead deer. In this one you can see the remains of breakfast.