Continuing to test the Olympus EM5 Miii and Zuiko 300mm f4 Pro combo. Distance 164 feet. 

Distance 256 feet. 

Deer Season

Deer gun season was in full session yesterday. I was surprised to see do many deer out with the sounds of shots being fired in the public hunting areas of Buck Creek State Park. 

This girl was in the no-hunt area, in a strip of woods sandwiched between a prime feeding lot and the state park main road. The rising sun nicely backlit her. I love the steam from her breath and the icy whiskers. This was shot with the Olympus EM5 Mark III and Zuiko 300mm with 2x converter. 

Some Winter Birds

   I am trying a new mirrorless system....the Olympus EM5 Mark III combined with the Zuiko 300mm Pro lens. The weight of this combo is a fourth of the weight of the Canon DSLR and 500 F4 combo I've used for many years. 
   In addition, the Olympus body has IBIS (in-body image stabilization) allowing sharp images as low shutter speeds....a real boon for hand-holding while tracking little birds.  
   Another bonus of the Oly camer is that it is a micro 4/3 system...meaning that it has a 2x crop factor...making the 300mm lens a 35mm equivalent of 600mm. I added the 1.4x and 2x converters, but most likely won't need them for much of my imaging. 
   Yesterday, here in Ohio, we had a beautiful, sunny day. Cold, but great light for testing out the new combo on winter birds. I headed to Buck Creek State Park at the Overlook area. Here's some of my walk around images. 

Golden-Crowned Kinglet

White-Breasted Nuthatch

Tufted Titmouse

Carolina Chickadee

Golden-Crowned Kinglet

Downy Woodpecker

Buck Creek State Park Re-do

We hit the road this morning at a bit after 7am....light was beginning to improve. Crossing over Robert Eastman Rd, it was amazing to see a frozen mist over the surface of the lake. The 45+ degree drop in air temp combined with the lake's warmer temp created a lake effect in essence. As we headed down the slope toward the marina, this is the view we caught....the full moon getting ready to set and hiding behind the clouds of mist over the lake. It was amazing and beautiful!

After driving out of the marina, we saw a couple of bucks battling....we weren't able to get clear shots, but enjoyed watching them!

After following our regular route through the park, we stopped back in the area where we saw the battling bucks earlier, and found the apparent winner spending time with his lady. 

He didn't get by without some wounds...note the abraided area on his foreleg, and some blood. 

Buck Creek State Park Deer Quest

An early snowstorm moved in yesterday, breaking records for temperatures and snowfall for this date in November. We watched the snow coming down and planned to be out at daybreak in the morning to catch some views of bucks at Buck Creek State Park. 
When the alarm clock sounded, we checked the weather outside and snow was still coming down fairly heavily. So....we just stayed in bed and planned on heading out for some late afternoon looks. 
I'm glad we did, since we captured this gorgeous sunset at the Buck Creek State Park Marina. 

As we drove throughout the park, we did see a few deer....mostly does, and one skittish buck.

Jumping Spiders

Found a couple of Jumping Spiders today in the yard. They have so much personality!!

Friday the 13th Full Moon & More...

We started out watching the sunset tonight at CJ Brown. 

Then went to the boat ramp area and watched some amazing heat lightning over the marina.

Finally, to the Overlook, where we did some full moon gazing. 

Theridula

Moth-a-palooza!

    The last week of July provided lovely evening for checking out moths in our yard. 
We set up an old black light fixture that the boys had for Halloween years ago, and waited for the show. 
    Within minutes, the critters were arriving! First were the small fellows...mostly gnats and tiny moths. Later, about an hour after dark, the larger moths began to arrive. Here's a collection of my favorites.

Cedar Bog Moth Night