covers - 2006-2008
Bigeastern's masthead photos for 2006 and 2008 - for earlier cover images, all the way back to 2001, use the menu at the right.
March 20, 2008
A fine American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) at Warren Woods nature preserve, a small but ancient forest near Union Pier, Michigan.
March 6, 2008
Rain, snow, drizzle, sleet, freezing rain, heck why not some grauple?
February 11, 2008
As winter drags on, a house plant offers a hint of longer, warmer days to come.
January 25, 2008
Zabriskie Point in Death Valley National Park, California, January 2008.
December 12, 2007
One of the bas relief limestone panels on the Pulaski County courthouse in Winamac, Indiana - this is the happy one - there's another with an alarmed expression. Litigants, most likely.
November 21, 2007
Some of the wonderful variety of carrots from the Green Acres Produce CSA in North Judson --it's Thanksgiving, and at my house we're thankful to have first class, organically grown produce locally available. If you love good food, join your local CSA, learn about and enjoy the abundant varieties of vegetables they grow.
November 15, 2007
Autumn in moist woodland at Lena Park Indiana. The black sand support white oaks, hill's oaks, red maples and nyssa sylvatic trees. This photograph was taken November 10, 2007. For a closer look, download a large image from the same lovely afternoon.
October 18, 2007
A thunderhead on the late afternoon of October 18, 2007, part of a series of strong storms that rolled across northern Indiana, including some with tornadoes.
October 3, 2007
A buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia, photographed at Lena Park, southeast of North Judson in Starke County Indiana, September 28, 2007. These are common in the southern US, but most often seen in at the end of summer the far north. The midsummer form has less vibrant colors, this is the late summer/autumn rosa form.
September 20, 2007
The Indiana shore of Lake Michigan near Chesterton, September 2007.
August 7, 2007
Summertime in my garden in the old house section of North Judson, Indiana. This August bigeastern.com celebrates its 11th year online -- it launched on August 1, 1996. And yes, it's still completely handcoded
July 26, 2007
A sailboat on the shining waters of Lake Michigan, off the shore of South Haven, Michigan.
July 2, 2007
storm clouds
June 12, 2007
A great spangled fritillary feeding on a butterfly milkweed.
June 2, 2007
Fresh strawberries from my garden.
May 1, 2007
A wood frog in a rivulet at Warren Woods near Union Pier, in extreme southwestern Michigan, photo 4.29.2007.
April 26, 2007
Rain on a window pane.
April 3, 2007
A limestone lion at the courthouse in Rochester, Indiana.
March 23, 2007
An early springtime view along the Nickelplate Trail, near Peru Indiana.
February 26, 2007
Frost on a window during February's cold snap.
January 24, 2007
A Red-bellied Woodpecker, photographed at the Cabin at Lena Park near North Judson Indiana
January 16, 2007
Comet McNaught photographed by Gary Soper on January 10, 2007 in Kankakee County, Illinois, used by permission. For lots more photos by Gary, including some great shots of a snowy owl taken in Livingston Illinois on Christmas Eve, visit his website Wildlife in Nature.
January 3, 2007
Starlings on an old oak on a gloomy (but mild) midwinter day.
December 12, 2006
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, please grab some carbon for me!
November 27, 2006
Eastern sandhill cranes glide to a landing at Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area near Medaryville Indiana.
October 18, 2006
A praying mantid in my garden in North Judson, Indiana.
September 28, 2006
On September 28, 2006 I prepared this image for posting on the morning of the 29th. That night, the Nautilus Commercial Data facilities in Iola KS were utterly destroyed by fire (along with an indoor paint ball arena and a host of antique cars and WWII memorabilia). After two weeks of herculean efforts, NCD's owner Robin Boyer came fully online again and so this became the bigeastern.com's lost cover. It's also the first cover with my new Nikon D80 DSLR, and shows flower heads of Indian Grass at one of the CRP prairie restoration areas at the corporeal Big Eastern, at Lena Park in Starke Co. Indiana.
September 9, 2006
Above, 'Indian pipe' (Monotropa uniflora) blooming along the blue trail at Lena Park, Starke Co. Indiana, September 2, 2006. Photo (c) M.Lucas all rights reserved.
Monotropa uniflora is an odd sort of flowering vascular plant - it lacks chlorophyll, and is sometimes called 'the ghost plant'. It's parasitic on mycorrhizal fungus, which in turn has a mutualistic relationship with vascular plant, typically a tree or woody shrub. These were found growing under white oaks and among huckleberries, an ericaceous plant similar to blueberries in an area rich in woodland fungus. The genus Monotropa is also considered part of the Ericaceae, the heath family. The stems were pinkish. For some additional reading about this remarkable plant, try Tom Volk's website. If you're lucky enough to find a colony of these interesting plants, please don't touch them, they are easily damaged.
August 21, 2006
the confluence of Hook Creek and the Bogus Run on the corporeal Big Eastern, near Lena Park in Starke Co., Indiana.
August 7, 2006
Above, a scan of a piece of an native american ceramic pot collected from the surface of a field near the Kankakee River in Indiana -- it probably dates from the early middle Woodland period.
August 1, 2006
Your editor, Marty Lucas, at home in beautiful North Judson, Indiana.
July 17, 2006
Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) is a native mint with showy flowers that blooms under the hot summer sun in prairies and on roadsides. The photo is from a CRP prairie restoration at Big Eastern, in Starke Co. Indiana.
June 27, 2006
Fritilaries on a butterfly milkweed at Lena Park, Indiana, June 2006.
May 16, 2006
An old photo of the Indiana Dunes, possibly the Central Dunes, long since dozed down and hauled away. Photographer unknown.
April 19, 2006
'Indiana: Retire your engines' is (c) M. Lucas, but I'll license it for $90,000.00.
March 14, 2006
Early spring on Hook Creek, Lena Park Indiana.
February 20, 2006
Late winter, a roadside in Jasper County, Indiana.
January 13, 2006
Fresh snow in an old field at Lena Park, Indiana.
View Cover Art for 2005
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