Inscapes and Outbacks

American white pelicans
Goose Pond FWA
near Linton, Indiana
26 September 2020

In January 2015, an excellent Indiana birder suggested that my enjoyment of trumpeter swans probably meant that I'd enjoy seeing and photographing American white pelicans too. Having grown up about 45 miles due west of Goose Pond, I found it hard to believe that pelicans would ever be in this part of the world. Anymore, though, Goose Pond is a standard stop on their spring and fall migration routes. If you're in the area at the right times, do stop in and give them a look.

Jeff

Goose Pond Fish & Wildlife Area
near Linton, Indiana

Here, two pics and a pano of the same lake in the “Thousand Islands” area, a ~1,000-acre area added to Goose Pond since I was last here a few years ago.

Without hesitation, two knowledgeable local sources identified this area as the best place around here to have a chance of seeing bobcats, which are relatively common anymore in southwestern Indiana. There’s a hint of a lane behind the lone snag on the right side of the second photo. Planning to see where it might lead over the next few days.

Graffiti abstract
Blickman Trail Park
Indianapolis, Indiana
25 March 2018

Excellent recent long piece in the real-estate section of the Washington Post on why and how to hang art -- including framed photography prints -- in your home. Go beyond works that have personal or sentimental value, and your home becomes not just a living space, but your own private art gallery, a place that enhances both the aesthetics and the value of your home.

h/t Indianapolis's Amy Ward studio for sharing this article

Jeff

Enhancing the value of a house with art Art embellishes a home, adds color and rhythm and adds value, experts say. Here's how to properly display it.

Three views of a Common raccoon
Henry County, Indiana
16 February 2020

Between mid-July 2014 and the last week of March 2019, my goal of "one good shoot per week" pushed me so effectively that I actually averaged two shoots per week in that period (after averaging in extra shoots and the number of shoots on week-long vacations). As in so many things, the value of "just showing up" is essential in photography, particularly wildlife photography, when you're either there when the subjects are going about their days or you're not.

After one less-than-satisfying trip in May 2019 back to my hot spot for a female American mink in Henry County, I had not shot at all until yesterday's trip back to the mink spot. The mink didn't make an appearance yesterday -- I'm hoping that she or at least one of her relatives still claims that territory -- but this average-sized raccoon eventually lumbered into the scene about 2 1/2 hours into my shoot.

On a crisp, calm, fairly warm (temps around 40F), mostly sunny morning yesterday, it was good to be back in the field.

Jeff