Eastern Screech Owl /  by Dave Hileman

This little guy is a denizen of Jamestown Island in Virginia along the James River. He inhabits this specific tree and likes to perch on the edge of the tree, but if you get too close he drops down into the tree. Dennis Mook of The Wandering Lensman and I were shooting photos one morning and he knew about the owl and, fortunately, the owl was home that morning.

Oops /  by Dave Hileman

Clearly I forgot to post some of the photos from the massive celebration for the 300th park. No expenses were spared on the celebration signs.

Lots of ice cream of course

Massive beverages

And a few fans (of Cadillac)

Formidable Wall /  by Dave Hileman

Hiking on the Golden Canyon trail in Death Valley National Park leads to a fork in the trail where you can go to the right and continue up to a plateau and it is the way I hiked one time when I was here before, or to the left. I chose the left route because I wanted to see “the Red Cathedral’ and we were not planning to hike the whole length of the trail up the to highway. This way the hike was just a three mile out and back. The Red Cathedral wall is impressive.And with the late afternoon sun the red was vivid. Great hike, hot even in April. This shot is a panorama with five photos merged into a single wide shot.

Ursus arctos horribilis /  by Dave Hileman

This is the first bear we spotted in Denali National Park. He was spotted from the bus at about 40 feet. I posted a shot of him a long time ago but I like the processing on this one much more. Besides, who can get enough bear? Plus you get a little Latin lesson. The educational value of this blog is unsurpassed.

Peek /  by Dave Hileman

I am woking on some older photos that have been neglected or in some cases very poorly processed and I came across this Willow Ptarmigan from the Wonder Lake area of Denali. Most of the Ptamigans we saw were on the road or in the open tundra, but this guy was a bit shy. I really like the startled look the eye ring gives to this most colorful bird.

Tree Tunnel /  by Dave Hileman

The is a portion of the Jessup Path in Acadia National Park. It is a neat area of marsh and transition trees. The birches are dying because the larger hardwoods are growing and blocking out the sun. This is natural. The area was burnt in a significant fire years ago and the birches grew quickly and now that the hardwoods have reached a more mature size the birches are losing out to them. The result for now is a neat landscape of white trunks and - in the fall - of a colorful canopy. Here the boardwalk is nearly a mile long and pretty straight. You can see, maybe, a group of people approaching deep in the trees on the boardwalk.

Meadowlark Primer /  by Dave Hileman

This is a Western Meadowlark. The songs of the Eastern and Western are distinctive and both are melodic- but the visual differences are subtile. The yellow in the Western extends past the beak toward the eye. This Western was photographed in the Badlands National Park.

Jordan Pond /  by Dave Hileman

This is a shot at Jordan Pond but not from the usual place at the end of the lake but at an inlet about 1/2 mile east of the Jordan Pond House. It gives a different perspective on the two Bubbles, South and North.

Going Fishin /  by Dave Hileman

At Lake Mary in the Ricketts’s Glen State Park. The sun was 20/30 minutes from setting and the rain cleared and the sun set the beautiful fall leaves on fire. Simply breathtaking.