As the largest native waterfowl in North America, and with a wingspan of up to 7 to 8 feet, these elegant swans need a lot of room to take off . . . on water that is: Trumpeters cannot take off on land, only on water. . . .

Watching short-eared owls on the hunt is one of life's little joys along the journey . . .

A short-eared owl dive-bombs for a vole in the Illinois prairie. They can change directions on a dime, and truly a joy to watch them as they float, hover, dive and then move on with their moth-like wing flaps.

A Double-crested Cormorant strikes a pose against a beautiful October sky.

Instead of a golden hour, it was more like a few golden minutes. Tom Skilling said the clouds might break toward the end of the day, but they held tight until the very end when the sun finally emerged from the main cloud layer only to sink into another layer of clouds before it disappeared into the horizon . . .

The beautiful and agile short-eared owl, giving the look before it floats and swoops above the prairie. Don't worry, I'm not hunting for voles, they're all yours . . .

Back in September the bumblebees had become quite active around the flowers, and I was watching this one in particular as it collected some pollen from this finch-plucked flower, and then it crawled out onto these two petals and it stopped moving . . . for about 8 to 10 minutes. Then it started its wing machine . . .

Here's something you don't see every day, a Leucistic Sandhill Crane. This fall while watching the sandhills come in waves from the northwest to circle and land in the marsh, one really stood out as the sun highlighted its white wings . . .

A few more Short-eared Owls in flight over the Illinois prairie.

When we pick our spot at the edge of the prairie in anticipation of the evening's Short-eared Owl show, you just don't know if their hunts will keep them on the far side or perhaps close enough to grab a few frames. Fortunately, one picked up the sound . . .