A tree frog I shot in June at my Dad’s place in southeast Iowa.

There have been quite a few white-lined sphinx hummingbird moths on my lilac bush just after dark.

A couple shots from when I burned weeds the other night.

A spot of color for ya.

The trees in my yard.

The West Nishnabotna bridge on the Wabash Trace.

I used a B+W 093 (87C) infrared filter for these photos.

A few more from last month.

A foggy morning at Glenwood Lake Park. I shot these last September.

A couple from last summer. This storm produced a small tornado near Elliot, IA.

I think it’s a Cooper’s Hawk. It looks too big to be a Sharp-shinned.

Interesting stuff to look at, but that’s about all I can say for it.

Autumn in Mills county.

“Help !! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”

I found this very large wolf spider in my basement yesterday morning. I believe it’s taken up residence under the dryer. It’s a beauty !! Hopefully, I’ll get some more photos of Smiley.

There were about 200 Monarchs roosting in the mulberry trees here last night. The most I’ve ever seen in one spot. It was very calm. The second photo is a 30 second exposure shot as the twilight was rapidly fading away. Hopefully there will be even more butterflies this evening.

A night shot on the Lake of the Ozarks near Sunrise Beach, MO.

I found this tiny frog on the back of my shed last night. It’s the first tree frog I’ve seen here in several years. It’s been a wet year, though the immediate vicinity could use a good shower about right now.

A floating seed that was temporarily stuck on a very thin strand of web which is barely visible in the full-size version of this shot.

Getting some photos of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo was my number one photographic goal for the summer. I often hear the thrilling call of these elusive birds, but rarely do I catch more than a glimpse as they fly about my yard and the surrounding area.

Last Sunday I had the most wonderful sighting a birdwatcher could ask for - but the camera was just out of reach, and the bird flew when I moved. I moved to a new location in my yard and sat down for an hour of mosquito swatting. Curiosity eventually got the better of the Cuckoo and it had to come see what I was doing & scold me (the second photo) for good measure.

I’ve heard them around alot this week and I’ve been out a few times with the camera, but the birds have not been cooperating. I hope to set up my blind and stake-out some large clusters of web worms later in the summer, as cuckoos love to eat fuzzy caterpillars.

A storm cell from about 100 miles away.

Look out bunny !!

This is the same bunny featured last month. It moved out from behind my garage several weeks ago and I’ve seen it around the yard a couple of times.

I was taking some empty jars down to the basement the other day when I heard a peeping sound coming from behind one of the boarded up windows in the back room. I did’nt give it much thought, but when I heard it again a few hours later I went outside to check it out. I found this baby sparrow - just out of the nest - stuck in the window well. I got ahold of it and turned it loose after a few pics.

A tiny morel mushroom forces its way through the leaf litter.

I was burning last year’s sunflower stalks when I made this photograph.

A Brown Thrasher on the sidewalk outside my house.

Some people actually try to kill these things !!!

I just want to say thanks to those of you who still stop by here to check out my work. Once I get off this slow dial-up connection I’ll get back to visiting everyone’s blogs & websites more often.

I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. Cheers !!

Some Downy Phlox I saw when I was out mushroom hunting.

This little bunny was born and continues to spend its nights under the overhang behind my garage, where I park the old mower. I’ve been trying to earn its trust, but it’s very suspicious. Hopefully I’ll get a few more nice shots before it grows up too much and moves on.

The first was done using Adobe Lightroom’s Split Toning feature.

The second was converted to B&W with the patented Russell Preston Brown Tonal Conversion Technique (at the bottom of the page).

A morel mushroom at an undisclosed location

Another one from last weekend.

Water spills into a pool from a culvert near my house on a sunny afternoon.

A Mourning Cloak butterfly feeds on tree sap.

I found this small tree yesterday at Foothills Park that was scraped by deer and the sap had attracted Mourning Cloaks, Question Marks, a Red Admiral, and several flies.

This young Red-tailed Hawk battled high winds to catch the tiny snake.

Another shot from when I burned weeds last month.

I was burning weeds yesterday when I snapped this shot with my Canon Powershot SD1000. It has no manual controls but I was able to manipulate the shutter speed by varying the amount of sky in the frame.

Another spider from my basement. I was going to post another ice photo, but I just could’nt do it…

Not very exciting…I know.

A doe munching on last year’s flowers at The Davies Amphitheater at Glenwood Lake Park.

A field near the West Nishnabotna river.

A White-breasted Nuthatch flies off with a sunflower seed.

A Dark-eyed Junco scratching the ground.

There it is. 2007 reviewed. Carry on.

A flock of Meadowlarks in my yard on a cold morning.

A Rusty Blackbird. I don’t see many of these birds.

Not much going on in February but some birds.

The snow drifted so deep we had to dig a trail for the chickens. Sadly, all but two chickens were killed by raccoons over the summer.

Inside the snow cave.

An early spring sunset in southwest Iowa.

Pokey resting in the grass.

An Eastern Towhee at Foothills Park in Mills county.

Canada Geese at Glenwood Lake Park.

A swarming school of bullheads.

A weather-beaten Mourning Cloak, recently emerged from hibernation. It amazes me how these butterflies are able to sleep through the winter without being frozen to death.

April was especially nice after enduring a tough couple of months of winter weather.

April was also the month I said goodbye to my Blogspot login woes and started up this Wordpress blog. Wordpress is so much more enjoyable to use. I wish I had made the switch sooner.

This was the first Monarch I saw last spring. I posted an open-wing photo last May. I’ve wanted a photo of one of these tattered travelers for a long time.

The lens was partially obscured by a tree branch blowing in the wind. That’s why it looks green. Not exactly the effect I was going for, but I like it anway.

Terry, crowing his little heart out. He’s a nice rooster. He hardly ever attacks people, and even then they’re mostly just scared. Mostly.

I thought it was a puffball growing by my compost bin - until it popped and there was nothing inside. I’ve never seen anything like it.

A strange little puffball-type mushroom I found in my yard. If you know what it is, let me know.

I found this one when I was out mushroom hunting last May. It appears to be from the previous summer.

May 2007 was a very photographically diverse month for me - a grass fire, flooding, fighter planes, plus all the usual stuff. And I almost got a funnel cloud too !!

A line of storm clouds approach as the sun sets.

A Red-winged Blackbird giving me the business.

Here’s a tip for the aspiring gopher photographer: Get between the gopher and the late day sun and it won’t see you (as long as you don’t move) when its head is out of the hole.

June was a great month. Three of the photos I entered in the Glenwood Chamber of Commerce photo contest were chosen for the stone coaster set. The winners were the public library, post office, & Davies Amphitheater photos.

The Avery Pyramids were constructed in 1939 by Axel Peterson, editor of the Avery Boomer newspaper. They are located in Hickory Grove cemetery in Monroe county, Iowa.

A mean looking katydid in my yard.

The catbirds are always pestering me when I’m out with the camera. I’ll pick a shady spot to hold still for a while and I usually don’t have to wait long for the harassment to begin.

I got some fantastic photos of the Avery Pyramids in July. Some great bird & butterfly photos as well. I had a hard time choosing which ones to include here.

A Mourning Cloak feeds on an old banana.

A Monarch butterfly on a milkweed plant.

A Question Mark butterfly takes a break from feeding on tomato peels in my compost bin.

August was a great month for butterflies last year. Even though I never got around to posting any, I got quite a few nice photos.

A Fiery Skipper on a Mexican Sunflower.

Life isn’t all nectar & sunshine for little butterflies. Quite a few garden spiders set up housekeeping in the row of zinnias I planted along the edge of my garden.

I spent several evenings earning the trust of this young bunny, who usually did’nt leave the cover of the tall weeds until after sunset.

A spot of color along a dirt road in the Loess Hills.

One of the many bridges along the Wabash Trace bike trail in southwest Iowa.

October is my favorite month for cruising the backroads of southern Iowa.

A Sharp-shinned Hawk in my yard.

A Blue Jay preparing to land at the bird feeder.

November was a busy month but I still managed to get some nice bird photos. This Sharpie has been keeping the little birds nervous all winter.