FAVORITES OF THE 2021 YEAR

 

Ah, the end of another year has arrived.  As I typically do, I choose my favorite images of the year and explain why they made the top ten. 

 

# Ten:  Certainly not a natural setting for these Chipping Sparrows, but such a tender image with this young one waiting to be fed by its parent. 

 

# Nine:  I love the smell of freshly cut hay!  Moreover, when the hay is baled and left in the fields, the scenes created are among my favorites.  

 

 # Eight:  This drooping sunflower reminded me of the fields of these beauties that grew along the highway to Elk Rapids during the late summer.  

 

 # Seven:  Fall was late arriving this year, but its vistas were exquisite once they got here.  I like how this one stretched on and on.

 

 # Six:  I love the surprises that nature brings, such as a pack of fox kits I came upon under a porch in Williamsburg.  This one is adorable!

 

 # Five:  And then there’s the majesty of the American Eagle!  I chose this image because it showed the bird’s huge wingspan in flight and those dangerous talons it uses to catch prey.

 

 # Four:  Of course, there would be Sandhill Crane images in my top ten!  This one was just about perfect catching the migrating cranes in flight against both a blue sky and fall color.

 

 # Three:  Gracie always makes my list of favorites as she’s my most often photographed subject, usually with my iPhone.  She loves having her picture taken too and, on this day, she let me plop my reading glasses on her face.  What fun she is!

 

 # Two:  Sunset photos are every photographer’s joy.  Usually, I take sunsets over Lake Michigan or Grand Traverse Bay, but this image in farm country, with Clous Road running through it, was just as stunning as any over water.

 

 # One:  My favorite picture of 2021!  Not a surprise, I imagine, because taking pictures of Sandhill Cranes is a treasured part of my hobby.  And this image is about the best one I got.  Sharp, red-eyes glowing, and in a field of wild flowers.  I’ve been back to this field several times over the last month and my cranes have finally migrated south.  But, they’ll be back in the spring, I’m sure.  And now, on to a new year.