Tuesday, June 30, 2015

05/31/15 Spring Wildlife

A red-headed woodpecker enjoying a spring afternoon in Edwards, IL

Over the spring months, I ventured out and about near Edwards, IL to shoot some more wildlife photos with my Canon 5D Mark III and Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.0-5.6 II L IS telephoto-zoom lens. Several of the birds I photographed I've seen earlier this year during the winter months, but I also was able to capture some new "visitors" including some Baltimore orioles, rose-breasted grosbeaks, and American goldfinches as well. I've added some photos of the birds I photographed in the last few months below:

 This cardinal is a frequent visitor!
An American gold-finch
A male Baltimore oriole enjoying some grape jelly
I've captured several good photos of red-headed woodpeckers this year!
 The female Baltimore oriole about to take-off...
 Another neat shot!
 A shot of a rose-breasted grosbeak
 Love the blurred background!
 Another close-up of a cardinal...
 An American goldfinch enjoying a snack...

That wraps up this post. Stay tuned for more posts as I venture out more outdoors over the summer months...

Monday, June 29, 2015

05/05/15 Princeville, IL Thunderstorms

A funnel cloud forms as a thunderstorm briefly latches onto a warm front east of Princeville, IL

On May 5th, I took a quick "gentleman's chase" into northern Peoria County, IL and southern Stark County, IL to intercept some thunderstorms intensifying along a warm front north of my apartment. During the early afternoon, cumulus could be seen "bubbling" in the northern horizon. By mid-afternoon, I headed north on IL Rt. 91 through Dunlap, IL and found a good spot to watch and observe an "interesting" storm that was developing northeast of Princeville, IL. I ended up viewing a nice wall cloud on this thunderstorm at this time. This area along the warm front featured 2,000J/kg of CAPE, 0-6km shear at 30kts, and a moist boundary-layer with dew points near 65°F. While observing the wall cloud this thunderstorm also briefly dropped a nice funnel cloud to my north that I captured before dissipating. Once the storm weakened I headed back home to Peoria, IL during the evening. I've added a couple photos from the day below:

Wall cloud to my northeast!
Wide-angle shot of the storm's structure from the backside including the brief funnel cloud!

That wraps up this chase day. This past spring I took I guess what could be called a "storm chasing hiatus" choosing only to chase local over the last two months. With that being said, it sure was nice to observe Mother Nature and view some storms again to say the least. I'll update once again with more posts that I'm currently working on in the coming days. Stay tuned.