The PhotoNaturalist

The title to this post is “Feathered and Furry 500” but like my logo says, it more accurately should be the “Feathered, Furry, Finned, Frass-forming 500” …couldn’t think of a reptile/amphibian f-word until I posted the question on Facebook when folks sent me the following adjectives—flick-tongued, fossorial, funny, freaky, fearsome, flexible, furtive. p.s. “frass” is insect poop.

WHAT?
I will attempt to photograph 500 species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects during 2013. And I hope to create interesting, creative images that go beyond snapshots.

WHERE?
All photos must be taken in Minnesota (unless I don’t find another Snowy Owl and have to count my Superior, WI one!)

WHY???
This is part of my BIG HALF YEAR FOR THE BOG effort. My non-profit, Friends of Sax-Zim Bog, is making a push to raise funds to do some more land purchases and build a Sax-Zim Bog Welcome Center in 2013. We have 25 participant so far…Each one has a web page where, like myself, we will post updates on our goals and fundraising. Pledgers can either pledge on a per-species basis or a lump sum. My goal for the first half of the year is to photograph 100 species of birds in Minnesota.

You can see my progress here and PLEDGE ME AND MY EFFORT HERE.

YOU CAN SEE MY FAVORITE “FEATHERED & FURRY 500” PHOTOS FROM 2013 HERE:
http://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/111907221964958833473/albums/5835494865426053457

I ended January with 44 species of birds and 5 species of mammals (no butterflies yet!). Highlights have included MANY photos of Boreal Owls (we are having an irruption in N Minnesota this year), a diving Great Gray Owl, backlit flying Trumpeter Swans, and a sunrise backlit chickadee (even common birds can make great subjects!)

Boreal Owl, Scenic 61 between Duluth and Two Harbors, Minnesota near Lake Superior.
Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 AND stacked teleconverters (a 1.4x and a 2x!!) on a tripod and self timer to limit camera shake.