Phriday Photo – Whooping Cranes at Nygren Wetlands
Despite a heavy fog we were finally able to view a group of five Whooping Cranes that had stopped over at Nygren Wetlands in the northern part of Winnebago County here in Illinois. Here are the best shots amongst the fog. All images were digiscoped with our new Swarovski 25-50x eyepiece. Oddly enough, I was shootin

Six Months of Searching…Dixie FOUND!!!
Six months ago, our aunt was visiting from northern Wisconsin. Her dog Dixie got out and took off. The entire family and an astonishing number of others helped with the search. We put up posters anywhere we could and e-mailed shelters within a hundred miles. Days turned into weeks and finally, we pretty much had given up. November 24th, a woman called and said she had found Dixie and had her in her

Bella Says “Happy Thanksgiving!”
I adopted Bella in May of this year so this will be her first Thanksgiving with us. Last year she was at a shelter (where she spent over a year at) so I’d like to think she’s pretty thankful of her new home. I know I’m thankful I adopted her. Not only that, I met the woman of my dreams also in May and will be spending Thanksgiving with her. “Thankful” hardly covers it.

Morton Arboretum in High Dynamic Range (HDR)
High Dynamic Range (HDR) involves processing three (or more) photos of varying exposures to get a single shot with somewhat exaggerated details. The technique requires a steady hand (or tripod) and a bit of post-processing but can produce some really interesting shots. Here are some from our trip to the Morton Arboretum.

Studying Trees at the Morton Arboretum
In our new quest to become more well-rounded naturalists, Stacia and Birdfreak made a trip to Morton Arboretum located in Lisle, Illinois (southwest of Chicago). Here’s a recap of our first of what will most likely be many trips to this incredible place. Morton Arboretum is open every day of the year with special seasonal events. We visited on what could be consi