Category Archives: Badlands
Looking Up
Friends, in my heart i am always in the badlands, when i can’t sleep at night, i count the erosion patterns that run down the slopes into the Little Missouri River. Guess that is why this image appeals to me and why i am sitting low and looking up. For my friend, kirk and his family, keep looking up. In the journey ahead keep looking up, til Tomorrow MJ
Sagebrush Goldfinch
Friends, I often struggle with backgrounds that conflict with my subject or are too distracting. This little goldfinch is a good example of this problem. All the little branches and twigs were helpful to describe his habitat but distracting cause they all lead out of the frame. So I am using a sepia toned background to dull the background and bring the little bird and his dinner plate as the undisputed subject of the image. Do you like? til Tomorrow MJ
Cedar in a Cedar
Friends, this cedar waxwing was posing from a dead cedar tree in the badlands of North Dakota. This spring, we found a dead tree with 25 cedar waxwings perched from top to bottom. I had never seen these birds in the badlands, but my mother who lived there in her younger years said that they were often present and were not a rare sighting. til Tomorrow MJ
A Blue Bird in the Badlands
Friends, not sure of the id of this bird, but loved the blue feathers on his back and tail, since it rained much of the time that we were in the badlands this summer, i took a lot of birdie pictures. Some are immature birds and some are females and all are birds that i don’t normally see in Wisconsin. til Tomorrow MJ
Badlands Bluebird
Friends, this wet bluebird is in some stage of molting, not sure if he is juvenile or adult bird but something is going on with his chest feathers. I love the pink and blue together and his hunched up posture. The rain had stopped momentarily and he was hanging out on a branch to dry. til Tomorrow MJ
Badlands Spotted Towhee
Friends, this spotted towhee was caught out in the rain hence his ruffled feathers. In the North Dakota Badlands, rain is not expected in the month of August, but it rained the whole week we were there. The rain was great for the plants and animals but not so good for photographers who wished to do some hiking. I am not afraid of a few drops on my head, but the slick gumbo under my feet is heavy to haul around, kind of like mud snowshoes. And did I mention that it is slippery, my camera has chunks of muck on it from the last spill I took trying to chase down a pincushion cactus. So this was taken from the safety of a pickup blind, and i learned that these birds like to perch on dead sagebrush rather than high in a tree. til Tomorrow MJ
Badlands Harrier
Friends, had to take some time away from this blog to visit the North Dakota badlands. Twice in one year is an unusual event, but also attended my 50th high school reunion then it is only another 150 miles to the badlands. This is a Northern Harrier gliding over a hilltop and i was able to grab four focused images, i combined them for this composite image. I would never been able to identify this bird without my experiences on Hawk Ridge last fall. His brownish feathers say he is an immature bird and f you look closely you can see his owl face. til Tomorrow MJ
Storm on the Horizon
Friends,his storm was photographed in May when the girls and i visited the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We are heading there again on Sunday to sit among the hoodoos and maybe a hike into the petrified forest. Hot weather is predicted so maybe we will have a rest and relaxation with photo runs at sunrise and sunset. til Tomorrow MJ
Turn Around
Friends, this is a picture of my friend at sunset, she is also shooting the sunset. We girls went to the badlands in the last week of May and had a glorious trip. When in the North Dakota Badlands you can often have the whole hillside to yourself. I shouted at her to turn around to see what was happening behind her, 🙂 til Tomorrow MJ
Peek a Boo
Friends, this shy fellow is one of the foals of the wild ones in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I love his bald face and his mane standing up on end. He was curious but very shy. til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 