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  • Palisade Head is a large rock formation on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota. It is within Tettegouche State Park on scenic Minnesota State Highway 61 in Beaver Bay Township. The shear cliffs at Palisade Head is one of the states most challenging climbs in the state.
    Palisade Head Cliffs.jpg
  • Palisade Head Cliffs Edge.jpg
  • Come to Tettegouche for a great sense of the North Shore: the spectacular overlooks at Shovel Point; rocky, steep cliffs and inland bluffs; the cascading 60 ft. High Falls of the Baptism River; and the historic Tettegouche Camp where visitors can stay the night.<br />
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This is a hiker's paradise with miles of trails that overlook the Sawtooth Mountains and wind down to inland lakes accessible only by foot.
    Palisade Head - Tettegouche State Pa...jpg
  • A Bald Eagle Head Shot With A Bit Of Intensity
    Eagle Intensity.jpg
  • A Bald Eagle Head-Shot Profile Closeup on a textured blue backdrop
    Baldy On Blue.jpg
  • Matson Station Trail-head along the Katy Trail in Matson, MO. A Point of Interest, With Parking, Restrooms, Tables and Benches, and Wineries and Breweries Withing Walking And Riding Distance in Defiance and Augusta.
    Matson Station.jpg
  • Double-crested Cormorants are large birds, growing over two feet long, with a wingspan of four feet.<br />
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They are mostly black with an orange throat. They have a long neck and webbed feet.<br />
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During breeding season, males have two curly black crests on their heads.<br />
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Cormorants are water birds, and are found at lakes, rivers, streams, marshes, bays, and coasts. They are great swimmers and divers, as well as good flyers.<br />
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Double-crested Cormorants usually travel, feed, and roost in groups.<br />
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In breeding season, cormorants gather in colonies and build nests out of sticks, twigs, feathers, grass, bark, and trash. They have been known to also include pebbles and parts of dead birds.
    Cormorant Speckle.jpg
  • A Wood Duck swims towards the camera casting reflections in the warm water below.<br />
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The wood duck is one of the most beautiful of the North American ducks. In the early 1900s, the species was considered in danger of extinction throughout its range due to market shooting, habitat loss, and hunting seasons that extended into the breeding season. <br />
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With the implementation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918 between the United States and Canada, market shooting was outlawed and judicious hunting season lengths and bag limits were instituted. These changes, together with the construction and placement of nest boxes during the last seven decades, have resulted in a dramatic comeback of wood duck populations.<br />
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Wood ducks are among the most productive egg layers of all the duck species. This evolutionary adaptation occurs because wood ducks experience very high duckling mortality rates. If the first nest fails, the female will attempt up to 2 re-nests to raise a brood.
    Incoming Woody.jpg
  • When an eagle appears, you are on notice to be courageous and stretch your limits. Do not accept the status quo, but rather reach higher and become more than you believe you are capable of.
    Bald Eagle Power.jpg
  • A floral assortment topped by a prominent orange gerber daisy with bleached and muted color tones against a white backdrop.<br />
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Daisies belong to one of the largest families of plants in the world, that of vascular plants, i.e. those which circulate goodness around their systems, making up almost 10% of all flowering plants on Earth.
    Achromatized Assortment.jpg
  • Peacock Headshot.jpg
  • Peacock Headshot BW.jpg
  • Excuse me, but does anybody have a comb I could borrow?
    Baldy Needs A Comb.jpg
  • A Vibrant Wood Duck Swims On A Flash Of Green Water
    Wood Duck Flash.jpg
  • Divided into a 12 year cycle, each Chinese lunar year is represented by an animal. Similar to western astrology, the characteristics of the animal that rules a particular year will define a person from that birth-year. Celebrate the Year of the dragon with our dragon statues.
    Year-Of-The-Dragon.jpg
  • Looking at a Bald Eagle Straight On
    An Eagles Majesty.jpg
  • Bow Your Head and Prey.jpg
  • Bad Hair Day Molting Cardinal On Lime Bokeh
    Ruffled Head Cardinal.jpg
  • Viper Head On.jpg
  • A Wood Duck Hen Preens Along The Shore of the Lake.<br />
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Wood ducks pair up in late winter and they begin breeding in early spring. The males attract females with their call and attractive, colorful breeding plumage. <br />
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Female wood ducks have grayish-brown bodies. The back is dark gray-brown and the sides are a lighter shade. The most noticeable characteristics of the females are found on the head. The head is gray with a white eye-ring around each eye. The head also has a crest of feathers at the back and white feathers on the throat and chin. <br />
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Wood ducks will 'tip up' and dip their heads under the water to find the standard wetland fare to eat like wild rice, smartweed, pondweed, bulrush, and lotus seeds, but they love to eat "out," of the water that is. They love fruits and nuts found in the woods like beechnuts, wild acorns grapes, and one of their favorites, acorns.
    Preening Wood Duck Hen.jpg
  • A customer at Maynard's tossed a piece of bread in the lake for the geese when it landed right on this carp’s head as it was surfacing. All of a sudden this goose swam over and ate the bread right off of the carp’s head.
    allow_me_to_help.jpg
  • Yes even a robin can have some majesty and prowess.<br />
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The quintessential early bird, American Robins are common sights on lawns across North America, where you often see them tugging earthworms out of the ground. Robins are popular birds for their warm orange breast, cheery song, and early appearance at the end of winter. Though they're familiar town and city birds, American Robins are at home in wilder areas, too, including mountain forests and Alaskan wilderness. <br />
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The American Robin or North American Robin is a migratory songbird of the thrush family. It is named after the European Robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not closely<br />
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A distinctive, potbellied bird. Forages on lawns and other areas of short vegetation for earthworms and other invertebrates in a run-and-stop pattern typical of terrestrial thrushes. Adult: depending on sex and subspecies, head, with white eye arcs, varies from jet black to gray, with white supercilia and throat, blackish lores and lateral throat stripe. Underparts vary, often in tandem with head color, from deep, rich reddish maroon to gray-scalloped, peachy orange. Males tend to be darker, females grayer, but overlap makes determining sex of many problematic.
    Majestic Robin Blues.jpg
  • A robust, drought tolerant perennial, native to the midwestern and southeastern United States.
    Coneflower Heada.jpg
  • The Snow Goose has two color plumage morphs, white (snow) or gray/blue (blue), thus the common description as snows and blues. White-morph birds are white except for black wing tips, but blue-morph geese have bluish-grey plumage replacing the white except on the head, neck and tail tip. The immature blue phase is drab or slate-gray with little to no white on the head, neck, or belly.<br />
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Outside of the nesting season, they usually feed in flocks. In winter, snow geese feed on left-over grain in fields. They migrate in large flocks, often visiting traditional stopover habitats in spectacular numbers. Snow Geese often travel and feed alongside Greater White-fronted Geese; in contrast, the two tend to avoid travelling and feeding alongside Canada Geese, which are often heavier birds.<br />
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The breeding population of the Lesser Snow Goose exceeds 5 million birds, an increase of more than 300 percent since the mid-1970s. The population is increasing at a rate of more than 5 percent per year. Non-breeding geese (juveniles or adults that fail to nest successfully) are not included in this estimate, so the total number of geese is even higher. Lesser Snow Goose population indices are the highest they have been since population records have been kept, and evidence suggests that large breeding populations are spreading to previously untouched sections of the Hudson Bay coastline.
    Snow Goose Flight.jpg
  • The East African Crowned Crane (Grey Crowned Crane) gets its name from the distinctive golden crown of feathers on its head. The Grey Crowned Crane is a bird in the crane family Gruidae. It occurs in dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara, although it nests in somewhat wetter habitats.They can also be found in marshes. This photo was taken at the Saint Louis Zoo<br />
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This species and the closely related Black Crowned Crane are the only cranes that can roost in trees, because of a long hind toe that can grasp branches. This habit, amongst other things, is a reason why the relatively small Balearica cranes are believed to closely resemble the ancestral members of the Gruidae.<br />
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The body of the Grey Crowned Crane is mainly gray. The wings are predominantly white, but contain feathers with colors ranging from white to brown to gold. The head is topped with a crown of stiff golden feathers. Cheek patches are white, and a red gular sack is present under the chin. The gular sack is similar to a wattle, except that it can be inflated. Legs and toes are black. The bill is short and dark gray. <br />
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West African crowned cranes are monogamous birds that form pairs for life. Pairs can be seen together even in the middle of a large flock, which suggests an exceptionally strong pair bond. Adult cranes reinforce their pair bond by dancing for and with each other. They perform ritualistic dance displays that include bows, leaps, runs, wing flapping, short flights, jerky bouncing, running, and stick tossing. Cranes of all ages dance. Among younger birds, dancing may serve to reduce aggression with other cranes, provide physical exercise, and possibly relieve anxiety.
    Crowned Crane Consistency.jpg
  • Adult male Hooded Mergansers are black above, with a white breast and rich chestnut flanks. The black head has a large white patch that varies in size when the crest is raised or lowered, but is always prominent. Females and immatures are gray and brown, with warm tawny-cinnamon tones on the head.
    Male Hooded Merganser.jpg
  • A Black-crowned Night Heron in Green Waters. The Black-crowned Night Heron, commonly abbreviated to just Night Heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, except in the coldest regions and Australasia. Black-crowned Night-Herons are stocky birds compared to many of their long-limbed heron relatives. They're most active at night or at dusk, when you may see their ghostly forms flapping out from daytime roosts to forage in wetlands. In the light of day adults are striking in gray-and-black plumage and long white head plumes. These social birds breed in colonies of stick nests usually built over water. They live in fresh, salt, and brackish wetlands and are the most widespread heron in the world. <br />
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Black-crowned Night-Herons often spend their days perched on tree limbs or concealed among foliage and branches. They forage in the evening and at night, in water, on mudflats, and on land. In flight they fold their head back against their shoulders, almost making the neck disappear.<br />
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These are social birds that tend to roost and nest in groups, although they typically forage on their own. Look for them in most wetland habitats across North America, including estuaries, marshes, streams, lakes, and reservoirs.
    Black-crowned Night Heron 2.jpg
  • The common yellow dandelion flower head can change into the familiar, white, globular seed head overnight. Each seed has a tiny parachute, to spread far and wide in the wind. <br />
The thick, brittle, beige, branching taproot grows up to 10" long. All parts of this plant exude a white milky sap when broken.<br />
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Dandelions are generally easily recognizable in all seasons.  The growth of leaves from the basal rosette, the leaf shape with its characteristic multi-toothed edges (although some dandelions exhibit less toothiness and a smoother, broader leaf - these are generally found in shady areas) is easy to spot even in winter.  If unsure, break a stem or leaf and the characteristic milky sap will emerge. When in bloom, dandelions are bright yellow and hard to miss. <br />
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The genus name of the dandelion comes from the Greek word taraxos, which means disorder, and akos, which means remedy. The species name, officinale, means that it is used medicinally.  The common name may come from the Greek word leontodon, which means lion's tooth. Other sources claim the word dandelion comes from the old French word Dent-de-lion or from the Latin dens leonis, both also meaning lion's tooth or teeth.
    Irish Dandelion.jpg
  • Friday, March 1, 2013 was a beautiful snowy day so the husband and I decided to take a break from everything and head out to relax and see what kind out photos we could capture. ..This winter scenery was photographed along one of the lakes at the August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area in St. Charles County.
    busch_wildlife_winter_scenery.jpg
  • The Douglas Aster is an Rhizomatous perennial wildflower with much-branched stems and light purple aster-like flower heads. It has Ray flowers are blue to purple and disk flowers are yellow. The flowers are 1-2 cm long. A distinguishing characterisitic of Douglas aster is its thick overlapping bracts beneath each flower head. Also, outer margins of thegracts have a thin, transparent (waxy/papery) look.<br />
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The Painted lady butterfly, red admiral, spring azure, orange sulphur, and woodland skipper butterflies are attracted to the flowers.<br />
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The Douglas Aster (Subspicatum) is generally described as a perennial forb/herb. This is native to the U.S. (United States) has its most active growth period in the spring and summer . The Douglas Aster (Subspicatum) has green foliage and inconspicuous purple flowers, with an abuncance of conspicuous brown fruits or seeds. The greatest bloom is usually observed in the late summer, with fruit and seed production starting in the summer and continuing until fall. Leaves are not retained year to year. The Douglas Aster (Subspicatum) has a short life span relative to most other plant species and a rapid growth rate.
    Douglas Aster on Amber.jpg
  • The Bald Eagle has been the national emblem of the United States since 1782 and a spiritual symbol for native people for far longer than that. These regal birds aren't really bald, but their white-feathered heads gleam in contrast to their chocolate-brown body and wings. Look for them soaring in solitude, chasing other birds for their food, or gathering by the hundreds in winter. Once endangered by hunting and pesticides, Bald Eagles have flourished under protection. <br />
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The Bald Eagle dwarfs most other raptors, including the Turkey Vulture and Red-tailed Hawk. It has a heavy body, large head, and long, hooked bill. In flight, a Bald Eagle holds its broad wings flat like a board. <br />
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Look for Bald Eagles near lakes, reservoirs, rivers, marshes, and coasts. For a chance to see large Bald Eagle congregations, check out wildlife refuges or large bodies of water in winter over much of the continent, or fish processing plants and dumpsters year-round in coastal Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.
    Eagle With an Attitude.jpg
  • The Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) is a member of the ibis and spoonbill family (Threskiornithidae). Birds in this family are wading birds with long, downward-curved bills that they use to probe in mud or grass for invertebrates and other prey. Sacred Ibises are larger than Florida's native ibises. <br />
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They have very distinctive long, black feathers or plumes on their rumps. During the breeding season the feathers on the sides of their chests and on the outer wings (near the edge when folded) may have a yellowish (or reddish) tinge, and their lower legs may be tinged with reddish-copper; bare patches of scarlet-red skin may also be visible under their wings. The heads and necks of young Sacred Ibises are covered with black and white feathers, giving the head and neck a mottled appearance.<br />
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Sacred Ibises look very similar to the native Wood Stork (Mycteria americana), a member of the stork family (Ciconiidae) that is federally listed as an endangered species.<br />
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Sacred Ibises are native to sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Madagascar; historically, they were also found in Egypt, where they are now extinct. These large birds are often depicted in Egyptian hieroglyphs as the earthly representation of the god Thoth (also shown as an ibis-headed man) and were considered sacred?hence the common name. They are very similar in appearance and so closely related to the Black-headed Ibis (T. melanocephalus) in South Asia and the Australian White Ibis (T. molucca) that many scientists consider the three a "superspecies," and some believe they may actually all be the same species. In their native range, they inhabit coastal estuaries, lagoons, marshes, and other inland wetlands such as flooded agricultural fields and urban retention ponds.
    Sacred Ibis.jpg
  • Male Mallard Duck was running for his life from all the little kids on a hot humid day at the zoo.  ..The male birds (drakes) have a bright green head and are grey on wings and belly, while the females are brown all over.
    mallard_duck.jpg
  • A Yellow-crowned Night Heron Closeup Head Shot Against A drop Of Bright Forest Green
    Heron Up Close.jpg
  • March 1st on a snowy afternoon the husband and I decided to head out and see what kind of photos we could capture while it was still snowing.  ..We came across 2 fields along Hwy D in New Melle, Missouri were hundreds of what I believe to be Snow Geese were making themselves at home.  I took this shot as I thought it was unique and interesting. They are beautiful.
    new_melle_snow_geese.jpg
  • Grand Marais is a city in Cook County, Minnesota, United States. The harbor village of Grand Marais, Minnesota on the North Shore of Lake Superior offers you fishing, lodging, shopping, dining, art galleries and much more...The Seagulls in Grand Marais are beautiful and just make themselves at home. Gulls are birds in the family Laridae. Gulls are typically medium to large birds, usually grey or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They typically have harsh wailing or squawking calls, stout, longish bills, and webbed feet.
    grand_marais_seagull.jpg
  • Most of the country drives during an eastern North American summer will turn up a few Eastern Bluebirds sitting on telephone wires or perched atop a nest box, calling out in a short, wavering voice or abruptly dropping to the ground after an insect. Marvelous birds to capture in your binoculars, male Eastern Bluebirds are a brilliant royal blue on the back and head, and warm red-brown on the breast. Blue tinges in the wings and tail give the grayer females an elegant look.
    Bluebird Watching.jpg
  • Watching huge flocks of Snow Geese swirl down from the sky, amid a cacophony of honking, is a little like standing inside a snow globe. These loud, white-and-black geese can cover the ground in a snowy blanket as they eat their way across fallow cornfields or wetlands. Among them, you might see a dark form with a white head?a color variant called the ?Blue Goose.? Snow Geese have skyrocketed in numbers and are now among the most abundant waterfowl on the continent. <br />
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The Snow Goose, also known as the Blue Goose, is a North American species of goose. Its name derives from the typically white plumage. The genus of this bird is disputed. Snow Geese don't like to travel without the company of another couple dozen geese and can form flocks of several hundred thousand. Family groups forage together on wintering grounds, digging up roots and tubers from muddy fields and marshes. In flight, they are steady on the wing with even wingbeats.
    Snow Geese Over New Melle.jpg
  • The Cardinal is probably one of the most recognizable and popular backyard birds because of its brilliant red color and crested head. It is a great bird to admire year-round. The color contrast of the brilliant red against fresh white snow really is a high point during the winter months. Early settlers were said to have named this bird after the Cardinals of the Catholic Church who wore red robes.<br />
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Both sexes are accomplished songsters and may be heard at any time of year. Cardinals will mate for life and remain together throughout the entire year. That's why you will usually see a male and female together at your feeding station.<br />
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Male and female Cardinals both sing. Songs are loud, beautiful whistled phrases. Some songs you may hear sound like "whoit whoit whoit" and "whacheer whacheer." These songs are used in forming territories and in courtship. Male and female cardinals use "chirps" as contact calls and alarms. They also have many visual displays such as "tail-flicks" to signal alarm. The crest may be raised and lowered. Strongly territorial, males will fight other males, along with their own reflection in windows!
    Chubby Winter Redbird.jpg
  • Insects in the Diptera family Asilidae are commonly called robber flies. The family Asilidae contains about 7,100 described species worldwide. All robber flies have stout, spiny legs, a dense moustache of bristles on the face (mystax), and 3 simple eyes (ocelli) in a characteristic depression between their two large compound eyes. The mystax helps protect the head and face when the fly encounters prey bent on defense. The antennae are short, 3-segmented, sometimes with a bristle-like structure called an arista.
    339A0748.jpg
  • Mr. Squirrel Playing Around On My Swing-set, Pokes His Head Out For A Quick Photo
    Peekaboo Bokeh Squirrel.jpg
  • I think the white-tailed deer finally had enough vegetation and bird seed. Now time to head to another location.
    white_tailed_doe15.jpg
  • Fluffy head, dimples deeply in a few spots, pretty much bone white, tight weave overall with good retention, the lacing comes in thick stripes, tends to move like flexible metal mesh. Bright, vibrant orange colored liquid, inclines more to red-brown than yellow, very clear and crisp looking, you see a fat bubble here or there.
    Clown Shoes Tramp Stamp.jpg
  • Harriet is the oldest eagle ambassador and arrived at the National Eagle Center in 2000. In 1998, a vehicle collision left her left wing badly dislocated and part of it was subsequently amputated.<br />
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Although she was fully adult at the time of her injury, we know that she hatched in 1981. Harriet was banded as an eaglet in her nest in northern Wisconsin. A researcher placed a small aluminum band on her leg, and she lived in the wild for 17 years before her accident in 1998.<br />
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Harriet has a feather tuft atop her head that makes her easy to identify. We can't be certain, but suspect that this distinctive feather growth is the result of scar tissue and damage to feather follicles.<br />
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As an eagle ambassador with the National Eagle Center, Harriet has made appearances across the country. She's been featured on the Today Show and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In 2007, Harriet was in Washington DC to celebrate the removal of the bald eagle from the endangered species list.<br />
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Much of Harriet's work over the years has been with veterans. She has visited VA hospitals and been a part of numerous veterans honor ceremonies. Harriet is the eagle featured on the Minnesota Support Our Troops license plate.
    Bald Eagle Eating Fish.jpg
  • A Female Red-Crested Cardinal Taken in Maui, Hawaii. The red-crested cardinal gets its common name from its prominent red head and crest. Some disagreement exists as to whether this bird species belongs in the tanager family or the Bunting family
    Red-Crested Cardinal Female Closeup.jpg
  • Most of the country drives during an eastern North American summer will turn up a few Eastern Bluebirds sitting on telephone wires or perched atop a nest box, calling out in a short, wavering voice or abruptly dropping to the ground after an insect. Marvelous birds to capture in your binoculars, male Eastern Bluebirds are a brilliant royal blue on the back and head, and warm red-brown on the breast. Blue tinges in the wings and tail give the grayer females an elegant look.
    Bluebird Midnight Highlight.jpg
  • A fly stops buzzing around my head to pause for a shot on a weed
    IMG_0536.jpg
  • The beetle species Popillia japonica is commonly known as the Japanese beetle. It is about 15 millimetres long and 10 millimetres wide, with iridescent copper-colored elytra and green thorax and head
    339A9884.jpg
  • No doubt about it - the flamingo is a curious-looking bird. Its body is extremely slender, its head small, its bill strangely curved and hooked. And then there's the matter of color - how many animals can you name that are HOT PINK?<br />
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Flamingos are social birds. They live in large groups, sometimes up to tens of thousands of birds, an undulating ocean of pink. The sound of a large flamingo flock is also impressive (they're often mistaken for geese) and can be heard a great distance away. The birds are very vocal and use a wide variety of honks, alarm calls and other vocalizations.<br />
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Flamingos in a colony feed together, breed together, and fly together. They eat by day, but when a feeding area no longer provides enough food for the flock, the birds move to another location at night.<br />
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The birds are quite distinctive looking in flight. They stretch out their long necks and legs and spread their wings so the black undersides are visible. A flamingo's wingspan can range from three to five feet, depending on the size of the bird.
    Flamingo Speaks.jpg
  • The Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) is the largest of the North American diving ducks. The adult male (drake) has a black bill, a chestnut red head and neck, a black breast, a grayish back, black rump, and a blackish brown tail. The drake's sides, back, and belly are white with fine vermiculation resembling the weave of a canvas, which gave rise to the bird's common name
    Canvasback Drake.jpg
  • A member of the tribe of 'stiff-tailed ducks', the Ruddy Duck has a spiky tail that it often holds straight up in display. Female ruddy ducks have grayish-brown neck and body plumage. The sides of the head and neck are dull buff-brown with a single dusky horizontal stripe crossing a pale-gray cheek patch. The bill is dark gray and the legs and feet are grayish. Females are relatively silent.
    Adult Female Ruddy Duck.jpg
  • The Wood Duck or Carolina Duck is a species of duck found in North America. It is one of the most colourful North American waterfowl. Males are iridescent chestnut and green, with ornate patterns on nearly every feather; the elegant females have a distinctive profile and delicate white pattern around the eye. These birds live in wooded swamps, where they nest in holes in trees or in nest boxes put up around lake margins. They are one of the few duck species equipped with strong claws that can grip bark and perch on branches.<br />
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In good light, males have a glossy green head cut with white stripes, a chestnut breast and buffy sides. In low or harsh light, they'll look dark overall with paler sides. Females are gray-brown with white-speckled breast. In eclipse plumage (late summer), males lose their pale sides and bold stripes, but retain their bright eye and bill.<br />
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Wood ducks breed across most of the central and eastern United States, southeastern Canada and along the Pacific coast from California to British Columbia. The highest breeding densities occur in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. In recent decades, the breeding range has expanded westward into the Great Plains region following development of wooded riparian corridors. Wood ducks prefer riparian habitats, wooded swamps and freshwater marshes.
    Wood Duck Flap.jpg
  • The East African Crowned Crane gets its name from the distinctive golden crown of feathers on its head. It lives in open areas and grasslands, where it feeds on grass seeds, insects, frogs and lizards. Crowned cranes usually mate for life. Both the male and female cooperate in building the nest, and in defending the eggs and the chicks. Crowned crane parents often pretend to be injured to lure predators away from their nestlings.
    Flowing Crowned Crane Profile.jpg
  • This bird gets its name from the distinctive golden "crown" of feathers on its head. It lives in open areas and grasslands, where it feeds on grass seeds, insects, frogs and lizards. Crowned cranes usually mate for life. Both the male and female cooperate in building the nest, and in defending the eggs and the chicks. Crowned crane parents often pretend to be injured to lure predators away from their nestlings.
    East African Crowned Crane 2.jpg
  • This is a macro shot of a resin dragon head well under exposed, with what was really some minimal processing after the fact.
    Dragon-Scales.jpg
  • A Tufted Titmouse Tucking it's head, Backed By Autumn Bokeh
    Titmouse In The Tree.jpg
  • Hooded Mergansers are small ducks with a thin bill and a fan-shaped, collapsible crest that makes the head look oversized and oblong. In flight, the wings are thin and the tail is relatively long and rounded.
    Male Hooded Merganser - Color.jpg
  • Off in my own head and thoughts
    Away In Thought.jpg
  • A Black and White Bald Eagle Side Profile Head Shot
    From The Eagles Eye.jpg
  • Pours golden brown with 1 finger of white head. More malty sweetness in the nose and flavor than I'm used to in a lager. Rye, caramel, and subtle lager bitterness. This is a really impressive lighter beer. I don't normally seek out lagers, but this will be the exception.
    Hoss - Great Divide Brewing.jpg
  • The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus Leucocephalus) is found only on the North American continent. Adult male eagles generally weigh about 9 pounds. Adult females weigh in at between 12 and 13 pounds. Adult eagles have a wing span of up to 7 feet. Immature eagles are mottled brown and white. The distinct white head and tail of the mature bird is developed between 4-5 years of age. In the wild, bald eagles live to between 30 and 35 years. In captivity, they have been known to live up to 50 years.<br />
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Eagles do not live in isolation! Because they are near the top of the food chain, they become an irreplaceable indicator for measuring the health of the entire ecological system in which they live. After being listed as an endangered species in 1978 following a dramatic drop in population that began at the turn of the century, the Bald Eagle's status was upgraded to Threatened on August 11, 1995. Although efforts to replenish populations of the Bald Eagle have been successful, it continues to be protected under the Endangered Species Act, the Bald Eagle Protection Act, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
    Spread Eagle.jpg
  • The beetle species Popillia japonica is commonly known as the Japanese beetle. It is about 15 millimetres long and 10 millimetres wide, with iridescent copper-colored elytra and green thorax and head.
    Jap Beetle.jpg
  • Common Grackles are large, lanky blackbirds with long legs and long tails. The head is flat and the bill is longer than in most blackbirds, with the hint of a downward curve. In flight, the wings appear short in comparison to the tail. Males are slightly larger than females.
    Grackle On Golden Grass.jpg
  • An Eagle grabs a fishy snack to cure a powerful appetite. The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle.<br />
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The Bald Eagle is an opportunistic feeder which subsists mainly on fish, which it swoops down and snatches from the water with its talons. It builds the largest nest of any North American bird and the largest tree nests ever recorded for any animal species.<br />
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The plumage of an adult Bald Eagle is evenly dark brown with a white head and tail. The tail is moderately long and slightly wedge-shaped. Males and females are identical in plumage coloration, but sexual dimorphism is evident in the species in that females are 25 percent larger than males. The beak, feet and irides are bright yellow.<br />
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There are two subspecies of bald eagles. The "southern" bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus, is found in the Gulf States from Texas and Baja California across to South Carolina and Florida, south of 40 degrees north latitude. The "northern" bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus alascanus, is found north of 40 degrees north latitude across the entire continent. The largest numbers of northern bald eagles are in the Northwest, especially in Alaska. The "northern" bald eagle is slightly larger than the "southern" bald eagle. Studies have shown that "northern" bald eagles fly into the southern states and Mexico, and the "southern" bald eagles fly north into Canada. Because of these finding, the subspecies of "northern" and "southern" bald eagles has been discontinued in recent literature.
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  • A blooming Redbud Tree Abstraction. A Redbud is a small tree with a sturdy upright trunk which divides into stout branches that usually spread to form a broad flat head. Found on rich bottom lands throughout the Mississippi River valley; will grow in the shade and often becomes a dense undergrowth in the forest.
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  • Bald Eagle Head-shot Closeup
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  • A closeup Head-shot Of A Female Mallard Duck
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  • My Other Good Side - A closeup Head-shot Of A Female Mallard Duck
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  • An Extreme Head-Shot Close-Up Of A Bald Eagle
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  • he Brown-headed Cowbird is well known--and widely disliked--for its practice of laying eggs in the nests of other species. Males are black birds with dull brown heads. Adult males are shiny black, while first-year males are duller black. Females are much smaller and solid brown with a whitish throat and light streaking on their undersides. Juveniles look similar to females, but are more heavily streaked with lighter bellies and light edging on their wing feathers. Cowbirds have more finch-like conical beaks than other blackbirds.
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  • Both black and white rhinoceroses are actually gray. They are different not in color but in lip shape. The black rhino has a pointed upper lip, while its white relative has a squared lip. The difference in lip shape is related to the animals' diets. Black rhinos are browsers that get most of their sustenance from eating trees and bushes. They use their lips to pluck leaves and fruit from the branches. White rhinos graze on grasses, walking with their enormous heads and squared lips lowered to the ground.<br />
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The black rhinoceros or hook-lipped rhinoceros is a species of rhinoceros, native to eastern and central Africa including Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Angola. <br />
Black rhinos boast two horns, the foremost more prominent than the other. Rhino horns grow as much as three inches (eight centimeters) a year, and have been known to grow up to five feet (one and a half meters) long. Females use their horns to protect their young, while males use them to battle attackers.
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  • It is said the eagle was used as a national emblem because, at one of the first battles of the Revolution (which occurred early in the morning) the noise of the struggle awoke the sleeping eagles on the heights and they flew from their nests and circled about over the heads of the fighting men, all the while giving vent to their raucous cries.
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  • Take 270 to the Page/364 exit, heading west.  Once you're on Page, the second exit is Maryland Heights Parkway.  Exit here and go north.  The second stop light is Creve Coeur Mill Road; take a right.  Just after crossing over the railroad tracks, there is a park entrance on the left.  Proceed through the gates and up the hill.  You will see several parking lots next to the soccer fields.  There's also parking on the other side of the lake; to get there, follow Maryland Heights Parkway to Marine and go right
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  • A male Wood Duck rocks in the water mimicking a rocking horse, putting on a vibrant show.<br />
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Wood Ducks forage in the water by taking food from the surface and up-ending to reach food underneath. They also graze on land. Pairs form on the wintering grounds, and males attract females by showing off their brightly colored plumage. Females demonstrate strong fidelity to the sites where they hatched (philopatry), and they lead their mates back to those sites in the spring.<br />
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Male Wood Ducks are flamboyant in breeding plumage, practically unmistakable with their brightly colored chestnut and yellow bodies, green droop-crested heads, bright red bills, and bold white barring on their faces and bodies. Females are drabber, with subtle iridescence on overall grayish-brown bodies, spotted flanks, and a white teardrop surrounding each eye. Juveniles appear similar to females, as do non-breeding males in eclipse plumage (from June to September), although they have the red bill and white facial markings.
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  • Heading northeast on Highway 61 from Grand Marais, MN. will lead you to the Canada border.  This is a very scenic drive along the North Shore with stunning views of the landscape and Lake Superior the entire way.
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  • Adults have a long, square-tipped brown tail and are a brown or dull-brown color across the back with some shading into deep gray on the wing feathers. Breast and belly feathers may be streaked; the flanks usually are. In most cases, adult males' heads, necks and shoulders are reddish. This color sometimes extends to the belly and down the back, between the wings. Male coloration varies in intensity with the seasons and is derived from the berries and fruits in its diet. As a result, the colors range from pale straw-yellow through bright orange (both rare) to deep, intense red. Adult females have brown upper-parts and streaked underparts.
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  • With its long, earlike tufts, intimidating yellow-eyed stare, and deep hooting voice, the Great Horned Owl is the quintessential owl of storybooks. This powerful predator can take down birds and mammals even larger than itself, but it also dines on daintier fare such as tiny scorpions, mice, and frogs. It's one of the most common owls in North America, equally at home in deserts, wetlands, forests, grasslands, backyards, cities, and almost any other semi-open habitat between the Arctic and the tropics.<br />
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Great Horned Owls are fierce predators that can take large prey, including raptors such as Ospreys, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie Falcons, and other owls. They also eat much smaller items such as rodents, frogs, and scorpions. Great Horned Owls have large eyes, pupils that open widely in the dark, and retinas containing many rod cells for excellent night vision. Their eyes don't move in their sockets, but they can swivel their heads more than 180 degrees to look in any direction. They also have sensitive hearing, thanks in part to facial disc feathers that direct sound waves to their ears.
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  • A Soft Deep Red Tulip Contrasted Against A Rough Textured Backdrop.<br />
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This is one of the world's most easily recognized and loved flowers. Tulip Flowers are voracious sun seekers (like the sunflower) and will sway their heads in crazy contortions seeking out the best angle for light. This makes them a symbol of opportunity, adjustment, advancement, and aspiration. They are commonly thought to represent attainment of spiritual awareness too. Because they are from bulbs, and return every year (like the daffodil) tulips are symbolic of resurrection and determination. The immediately identifiable shape of their colorful blooms make them a comfortable flower.<br />
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A Turkish legend may be responsible for the red tulip's symbolism. The story goes that a prince named Farhad was love struck by a maiden named Shirin. When Farhad learned that Shirin had been killed, he was so overcome with grief that he killed himself - riding his horse over the edge of a cliff. It's said that a scarlet tulip sprang up from each droplet of his blood, giving the red tulip the meaning 'perfect love.'
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  • A banded Wood Duck Hen (female) swims ever so gently throught he stream with a display of vibrant plumage.<br />
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The Wood Duck is a medium-sized perching duck. The female, less colourful, has a white eye-ring and a whitish throat. Both adults have crested heads. Females line their nests with feathers and other soft materials, and the elevation provides some protection from predators. Unlike most other ducks, the Wood Duck has sharp claws for perching in trees and can, in southern regions, produce two broods in a single season--the only North American duck that can do so.<br />
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Female Wood Ducks breed during their first year. The breeding season begins in April in the southern portion of the range. In northern areas, Wood Ducks arrive on the breeding ground soon after the ice thaws, usually in early May. There are, however, reports of Wood Ducks in Canada beginning to nest as early as the second week of April.
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  • The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger.<br />
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Lions are the only cats that live in groups, which are called prides. Prides are family units that may include up to three males, a dozen or so females, and their young. All of a pride's lionesses are related, and female cubs typically stay with the group as they age. Young males eventually leave and establish their own prides by taking over a group headed by another male.<br />
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This shot was taken at the Saint Louis Zoo in Big Cat Country. Sinewy muscles, beautiful fur, shearing teeth, padded toes, supple body, all describe the inhabitants of Big Cat Country. This spectacular natural outdoor setting for tigers, leopards and other big cats was constructed in 1975. Dramatic, simulated rock formations provide realistic backdrops for the handsome felines. Big Cat Country takes the form of a large wheel. Three large open yards, almost one-third of an acre each, have trees and shrubs, boulders and a pool. The center yard has a 27-foot-high waterfall. There are four smaller yards that provide excellent viewing or photographing of the climbing cats. From a safe distance, of course!
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  • A sunflower plant of the genus Helianthus having large flower heads with dark disk florets and showy yellow rays. A very tall plant that has large yellow flowers with a round brown center. Sunflowers produce seeds that are used for making cooking oil.
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  • Immature bald eagles have mostly dark heads and tails; their brown wings and bodies are mottled with white in varying amounts. Young birds attain adult plumage in about five years.
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  • A View From Under The Page Bridge Missouri River Crossing.<br />
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The Creve Coeur Park Connector is now open!  This 3.6 mile long bike lane enables cyclists to use the Page Avenue / 364 bridge to cross the Missouri River, totally separate from automotive traffic.  On the west end, it connects to the Katy Trail at mile 42.8, just south of the Family Arena. On the east end, it connects to the Creve Coeur Park trails at the park's southwest corner.  It mostly runs parallel with hwy 364 (Page Ave). <br />
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Take 270 to the Page/364 exit, heading west.  Go 6 miles to exit 14, Upper Bottom Road / Arena Parkway.  Go right (north), and take an immediate right on Hemsath.  Follow Hemsath for 0.3 mile, and take the right turn into the parking lot just after Hemsath curves left.
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  • Angel came to the National Eagle Center in 2000.  She had been found on the ground with a broken wing near Grantsburg, WI in 1999. She was just a fledgling and had been surviving on scraps of fish from nearby herons' nests.<br />
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Angel was treated at the University of Minnesota's Raptor Center in St. Paul, where she underwent surgery and realignment of the broken bone in her wing. Though repair of the bone was successful, the damage to the musculature could not be repaired. Angel is unable to sustain flight as she would need to survive in the wild.<br />
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Angel seems to have adjusted quite well as an eagle ambassador. She has matured from a dark headed juvenile to a fully mature, white-headed female bald eagle. Angel's loud vocalizations can be heard when a wild eagle passes by the windows of the National Eagle Center. Angel got her name in a naming contest by a 4th grade student from St. Felix School in Wabasha.<br />
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Angel's regal appearance has made her a favorite guest at many Native American ceremonies and countless educational events for schools, scout troops and communities.
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  • Male B-Head Cowbird Perch.jpg
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  • A squirrel is just a rat with a cuter outfit!
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