For My Mom

Other than my wife, my mother is most likely to know of photography projects I might be working on. The same goes for my conservation-style efforts. Mom keeps track of what I am up to.

For several years I have attempted to get butterfly weed established….

Sadness and Cautious Relief

A family situation the past days has generated a roller-coaster of emotions - from sadness to cautious relief. Prayers have worked repeatedly and for that we are so thankful.

As regular readers know, I maintain some semblance of a healthy mental state via daily nature moments. This past week the time has been minimal, but still I managed to get out.

Following are photos from the past couple of days.

Killdeer Update

Yesterday I shared how a killdeer I have been watching tends to her eggs, regardless of the adversities coming her way. I wondered how she and her nest of eggs weathered yesterday’s heavy rain.

Very early this morning I checked on her and the nest. From what I can tell, all is…

Life Challenges

Over the past days I have spent time watching as a killdeer has been dropping eggs into her shallow depression in gravel otherwise known as a nest. This bird faces threats from vehicles, predators, and the elements - like today’s heavy rain. Still, she returns to her simple nest where she will face whatever comes her way until her eggs hatch.

We humans could stand to learn a lesson or two from this killdeer. In our family we are facing serious challenges. It would be easy to throw in the towel and give up, but why? If the Good Lord isn’t ready yet, why am I living with a “glass is half empty” mindset? Like the killdeer, I need to…

Seen Today -

For a few hours today I was blessed with time to be out on the water looking around with my camera. I explored several areas and was treated to a number of interesting compositions. Some need an explanation, others do not.

Much More Than Sport Mode

On my drone controller I have the option of “Sport” mode flight. Sport mode disables my obstacle detection and allows for faster flight, quicker turns, and much livelier (risky) travels in the sky. I do, on occasion, fly in sport mode. No matter how zippy my flight might be, I am not even close to what dragonflies and damselflies can do in the air. Today I was humbled by…

One Picture

Even though I recorded a number of images since yesterday’s flowers, one picture in particular resonated with me. This simple photo of a false sunflower composed from the backside captured my mood - peaceful and ready to consider the day complete.

Until I shoot something I like better, this picture is now the image on my screens. We will see how long it stands the test of time.

A Display Worthy of A Visit

Near the Red Entrance to Linden Place/Eichhorn House at Bartels Lutheran Retirement Community is a flower garden maintained by resident volunteers. Today my brother and I checked out the blooms for the first time and were…

Purple Flowers Making White Flowers - It Gets Really Deep

In our prairie I have found one white purple coneflower and several white purple prairie clovers. Seeing what I considered pigment anomalies, I did a little research. If what I found was….

Turtle Talk (and more)

This morning a question I have had before came to me again. How do turtles communicate, as in when multiples gather to sun in the same spot? As I was photographing the painted turtle completely out of the water I noticed the head of a second turtle. I watched as the upper turtle looked…

In the Rain

Feeding in the rain/drizzle of this afternoon was this whitetail deer (doe). I cannot imagine what the biting bugs must…

Purple Cows

I recently learned of the “Purple Cow” concept - about how successful endeavors stand out from the ordinary. I thought of that as I looked at my images from my very early morning prairie walk. Rather than shooting ordinary compositions, I attempted to feature views of common plants in an uncommon way. I think my efforts worked - at least on some plants.

Complex Beauty/Simple Beauty

During my early morning prairie walk I found common milkweed blossoms with dew. As I was photographing the blossoms, a lone…

Pre-loaded Mental Health Therapy

For some folks, like me, outdoor activities are mental health therapy. Seldom do I miss my nature time each day. Sometimes my therapy ends the day or like today, my therapy was very early.

I am thankful for what time I had outside this morning. From late morning on the day was emotionally challenging beyond….

Catching Up With Random Pics

Every now and then I fall behind when it comes to posting pictures. Maybe my recent posts have had a theme, or possibly there were just too many images for one day. Regardless, today I am playing catch-up with a few images.

Switching Gears

Far and away most of my photography is nature-based - either wildlife or natural scenes. However, there are times when I shoot pics and videos of other themes. Last night my wife and I returned from the Bike Fest (Red Bull) in Bentonville, Arkansas where I photographed bike races and stunts. This morning things slowed down a bit when I enjoyed the 2026 Eastern Iowa Tractorcade.

More than 350 farm tractors were gathered at the Bremer County Fairgrounds where drivers than toured Northeast Iowa. The long line of tractors of various brands was quite impressive (unless you happened to be in the impacted traffic zone). The drivers were friendly and polite. From what I observed, this was a very pleasant event.

From what I observed, Waverly and the Bremer County Fairgrounds worked well to host this event.

I put together a video along with still images recorded. View the video at this link:

Eastern Iowa Tractorcade at the Bremer County Fairgrounds.

From Stingray Bicycles to This!

We spent the past few days in the Bentonville, Arkansas area watching the activities at Bike Fest. From competitors of all ages we saw wins, losses, crashes….

A First For My Swan Photos

Of all of my swan photos, this was the first time I captured a spinning swan head with water flying off the feathers while the body was sharp. This was a benefit of….

First Light

Prairies are an interesting habitat. Each day presents a different scene as some colors fade as others appear. As this morning’s rising sun slowly climbed over the horizon I wandered our pollinator habitat (our prairie) to enjoy the many colorful blossoms.

After our prairie burn this spring I was not sure what to expect. Would grasses dominate? Might wildflowers be plentiful? Maybe I would have weeds? Time has shown we have a mix of flowers and grasses. Yes, there are some weeds (thistles), but we are getting them under control.

Following is a sampling of blossoms from this morning’s prairie wandering.

Fish and Damselflies

Knowing more people are likely to be interested in fish pictures than damselflies, I am beginning today’s post with a couple pics of today’s angling efforts. This fish are….