I photographed this Bewick’s Wren in 2011. It isn’t the sort of Buick you expect to see in a junkyard. The juxtaposition of Nature’s perfection with Man’s…..well, not so much, made for an interesting portrait. I used the image in one of my Haiku is for the Birds calendars. The haiku:
Collected junk heap
I’m sure I will need someday
Life is not waiting
Bewick’s Wren
And that is the last of my entries for this year’s Audubon competition.
Thanks for checking them out.
I forgot to submit this one last year. I made it the header on my webpage to remind myself to do so this year.
I photographed these Phainopeplas busy catching insects from their perch atop an oak tree. When I tiled together the photo of another oak tree with the sun coming through it, it seemed like a perfect match. I added the dragonfly because I liked the title, “Phainopepla and the Dragon.”
2016 Audubon entry #8
Phainopepla and the Dragon
I have always liked this reflection, or what I call, a “puddle shot.” It was among my first captures for the purpose back in December of 2006. But, I had not found a suitable subject to work into it until this Varied Thrush showed up on my patio near sunset just a couple of weeks ago.
2016 Audubon entry #7
The Klamath Refuge in Northern California is a great place for birding. It was a pretty foggy day when I took this picture. I didn’t think it was a particularly interesting shot until I filtered up the tule weeds in the background, and changed it to black and white.
2016 Audubon entry #6
As a college student, my itinerary for exploring Europe was determined by where I could find Hieronymus Bosch paintings to view in person. When I arrived in Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands–Bosch’s home town– it just happened to be during Fasching (carnival). The train pulled into the station just as a parade was ending there. To my great amazement, many characters right out of his paintings were milling about on the steps of the depot. I made my way to his house where I found a dead sparrow lying on his front step. Whew! As a 19 yr old, that was some heavy messaging. I had no idea what it meant, but it was awesome!
Detail from The Garden of Earthly Delights
Anyway, I often see crows feasting on roadkill. When I came upon this shot, it struck me as an interesting turn of events. Graphically, I just liked the boldness of the red better than the original.
2016 Audubon entry #5
It would be a bit of an understatement to say Hieronymus Bosch was a birder extraordinaire.
When I first tiled the roots and leaves together in the photo below, it reminded me of a Persian carpet, but when I zoomed in, it was an Hieronymus Bosch-like world for sure.
2016 Audubon entry #4
The Garden of Birdly Delights
Caught in the grass, but not the least bit embarrassed.
2016 Audubon entry #3
Darts, you say? I’m out of here.
2016 Audubon entry #2:
Red-Breasted Sapsucker
It is time again for Audubon’s annual photography contest. Last year, they created a “Fine Art” category—meaning, you can manipulate the photos to your heart’s content :-). That motivated me to submit 10 images, one of which—Tapestry—made the semi-finals. Anyway, here is the first of my submissions for 2016:
Great Blue Heron