Monday, August 13, 2018

The Days of Summer - Day Forty-five through Day Fifty-one

This is part seven of my Days of Summer photography project.   Beginning with the Summer Solstice (21 June 2018) and ending with the Fall Equinox (22 September 2018), I am making it a point to get outdoors and photograph something every single day.  One photograph from each day is being selected for this project and shared here.

The previous installments of this project can be found at the links below:

Part Six
Part Five
Part Four
Part Three
Part Two
Part One

I hope you enjoy the photos from this past week - one of them might be quite a surprise.

Day 45 (04 August 2018) - A Banded Bird


The first image of the week was taken at Forest Hill Nature Area.  If you look closely at This female Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) you might notice that her left leg sports a band.  Between this picture and several others of this bird I was able to make out a couple numbers on the band.  With that information, I contacted Mike Bishop at Alma College - he is running a banding project at Forest Hill.  With the numbers I gave him, Mike was able to narrow it down to one of two birds that he banded on June 28th of this year.  We both thought this was pretty cool.

This photograph has been cropped into a landscape format - taking some off the top and bottom of the image.  I just thought it was the most appealing of all the different crops that I tried.  I like how the bird looks like she is about the launch herself at the goldenrod to the left of the image.

Day 46 (05 August 2018) - An Owl Out of Place


Yes, this photograph was taken on August 5th.  Yes, it was taken Mid-Michigan.  Yes, it is a Snowy Owl.

Driving home from a visit to Dow Gardens, we spied this Snowy Owl atop a utility pole in rural Midland County.  After turning around at the next intersection, we drove back to photograph this bird for about ten minutes.  The owl was aware of our presence, but seemed quite unconcerned.

Why is this owl hanging around Michigan instead of migrating north to the Arctic?  I have no idea.  It's one of two reported in the state on eBird this summer.  I had no idea that either of these birds were hanging around, I was just lucky enough to drive down the right road at the right time.


Day 47 (06 August 2018) - Red-spotted Purple


This Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis) was photographed near the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy's Williams-Blackburn Preserve.  This butterfly was the only thing that I photographed on that day.

Day 48 (07 August 2018) - Bumble Bee


This bumble bee was photographed at my home in Alma as it gathered pollen and nectar on the native plants in our garden.  Right now it is not unusual to have more than a hundred bees buzzing around our flowers at any given time of the day.

Day 49 (08 August 2018) - A lonely Mallard hen


This image of a single female Mallard was taken on a foggy morning at Mill Pond Park in Mt. Pleasant.  I like the simplicity of this image and the monochrome feeling created by the fog.

Day 50 (09 August 2018) - Mission Point Light at sunset


We visited northwest Michigan this past week for a couple days.  One of my favorite photo subjects in the region is the Mission Point Lighthouse.  This photograph was taken near sunset.  Despite several dozen visitors, I was able to get a few pictures of the light without any people.  I like the beech grasses and shadows in the sand in this image.

Day 51 (10 August 2018) - Going to the beach...


This picture also comes from the Lake Michigan shoreline.  The beach at Peterson Park, near the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula is one of the best places to collect rocks in Michigan.  In fact it is one of only a few rocky beaches along the Lower Peninsula's Lake Michigan Shoreline.  Just be aware that if you plan to collect rocks at this beach, you will have to carry them up 114 stairs to the top of the bluff overlooking the beach.

I took several photos of dry rocks higher up the beach, driftwood, and wet rocks along the edge of the water.  My favorite image was this one of bubbles as a small wave receded back from the shore.

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