Flycatchers

Eastern Kingbird

Great Crested Flycatcher

Eastern Phoebe

Willow Flycatcher

Four of the flycatchers flying around at Heinz NWR.  There's also apparently and Acadian Flycatcher but I haven't spotted him yet. 

Extinct Animals, The Dodo

In between job applications I've been brushing up my graphic design skills.  This is my first design made entirely in Illustrator.  I made it for the Spoonflower weekly design competition the theme for which is extinct animals.  And, if my calculations are correct, today is the first day you can go over to Spoonflower and vote for my design.  As I'm writing this before I leave for Germany I don't have a live link for you.

So please go to www.spoonflower.com and 

along the top banner find CONNECT 

and then click on "weekly contest."  

The designs come up in random order and you can vote for all the ones you like.  

The top image shows you exactly what it will look like on the voting page.  Below is a slightly larger file that shows off a bit more detail.  I'm thinking this fabric would make the cutest jammies for a little boy I know. 

White

Red Bellied Turtle

I wonder if each type of turtle lays her eggs at a different time.  First the snappers were out, then the red-eared sliders, and today a red-bellied turtle.

Red-winged Blackbirds

Red-winged Blackbirds remind me of Ohio.  They were one of the first birds of which I was very fond.  Lots of noise and activity and they are ever so changeable, a beautiful deep black and a gorgeous flash of red.

Baltimore Oriole Nests

A Touch of Red

Yellow

A bright sunny day with lots of bright yellow which reminds me of a story.  Way back when in the early days of our relationship Matt declared himself to be 87% in love with me.  And that was not even the first time that a guy had declared his love by percentage.  Both times I thought the weirdest part was that neither of them used a round number, like say 90.  They were both very specific.  This could happen to you if you date engineers.  Anyway after throwing out the number 87 Matt wanted to know what percentage I was in love with him.   As if...  So I told him that I didn't think like that and said that I was in love with him "yellow."  And then I refused to explain what that might mean.

Shades of Green

New Jersey Wildflowers

Scale

Painted Lady

Before I went on the Skimmer Boat Trip back in May I stocked up on memory cards.  I bought enough to (hopefully) last through my two week trip to Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and France.  I think I can do it.  Especially if I take it off RAW.  I took 2,382 photos on May 12 in New Jersey.  That didn't fill up the one card (I bought 4 cards) so I think...I can do it.  But it's hard to say.  One photo (per view) of a castle is usually enough but I took 5, for example, of this butterfly and hundreds of each individual moving bird. 

Weed

I cannot remember the name of this plant.  It grows in Michigan as well which is where I first saw it.  I'm always drawn to it's stately structure but I guess, strictly speaking, it's a weed.  It seems like a masculine flower.  Very appropriate for Father's Day!

Wood Ducklings

I've developed quite a fondness for Wood Ducks since hanging out at Heinz NWR.  I've spent a lot of time this spring trying to get a close enough for a good photo.  They are pretty shy.  But it was exciting the other day to see so many mamas and their young.  I saw at least four different broods, families of all sizes. 

Orchard Oriole

It's always a treat to watch a bird feed their young.  This is especially true when the birds are as beautiful and colorful as the orchard oriole!

More Least Bittern

I know I already posted images of this guy but just look at how awesome he is.

My Worst Idea Ever

Here's the latest update on this piece.  I'm thinking of it as a cross between a couch and a Lee Bontecou work.  I saw her retrospective at MCA in Chicago in 2004, way before I was cutting and sewing things.  At the time I was equal parts fascinated and repelled but obviously it made a huge impression on me.  And here we are 8 years later, an idea that started out being motivated by a friend's photos of lava has morphed into this big blobby form.  As it's coming together I'm pretty excited but I have to say this is my WORST idea ever.  This thing is a major pain in the butt not to mention hands, knees, and face.  Just ask Olivia who helped me with it on Monday.  I need to make a video of what it takes to maneuver these pieces through the sewing machine.

Least Bittern

If you look at this Least Bittern's throat you can actually SEE him making noise.  It was a very cool sound.  It was also very exciting to get so close to him.  Last year this was as good as it got.

An Osprey Grows Up

I first starting watching this nest when the chick was 3 days old.  It wasn't much bigger than the eggs (siblings that never hatched) and it couldn't hold it's head up for more than a second.  Now it's growing into a big sturdy bird.  You can see by the eggs how much bigger he's gotten.