Category Archives: Birds

THE Garganey- A Rare Duck

garganey4

Friends, Crex Meadows was full of birders this weekend and this duck was the object of their affection.  This is a garganey that has never been reported in Wisconsin or Minnesota.  He sure is handsome but moves constantly, today was our first sunny day since he arrived about a week ago.  I guess he wants to stay awhile enjoy while you can til Tomorrow MJ

Bluebills and Redheads

bluebill male

Friends, while watching a huge flock of bluebills (greater scaup) another small flock of redheads landed in the middle of the bunch then they all continued on their merry way.  They (redheads) acted like they were scared to death and hiding among the bluebills.  My new header shows the combined flock, although just a small sampling of all the birds together. til Tomorrow MJ

Spring is for the Ducks

shoveler male

Friends, this duck is called the shoveler because his bill is shaped in a shovel, very broad and black.  He is a dabbler and his head is wet from trying to eat water plants, i was going to clone out the weed hanging from his bill, but it is part of him, he is what he eats.  hope you like til Tomorrow

Spring Ducks

buffle pair3wp

Friends, these friendly ducks are a very tiny pair of buffleheads, lots of white on the male makes him difficult to photograph while keeping the dark details intact.  They were very close to shore thanks to a fish kill and melting icepack so i made the most of a great opportunity. hope you like til Tomorrow MJ

Sharptails

 

Friends, tomorrow morning we are going grouse hunting, with our cameras of course, this image was taken last year in the Namekagon Barrens of Northwestern Wisconsin.  He is moving but that is the best i was able to get, but this year is another chance to fix the problems and come up with a winning image, it is spring, time to get to work til Tomorrow MJgrouse jump

Owlets have flown

best two owl 11x14

Friends, the dilemma, two images, one with open eyes on mama bird and the other with open eyes on the owlet, solution: combine two images into one for an official portrait of both birds, hope you like my artistic treatment, as of yesterday, both owlets have left the nest and are roosting in nearby sites, til Tomorrow MJ

No April Foolin

spring crane4

Friends, on April 1st we saw some Sandhill Cranes in Crex and they look great after being absent for the last four months.  But this morning, we had 14 inches of new snow on the ground, hope they can find enough to eat.  This boy was turning to see if he could see what was making that strange clicking noise (my camera) so his eye was very sharp and although i have thousands of images of cranes, i always thrill at seeing them for the first time in the spring, til Tomorrow MJ

One more Owl

owlet horned owl under the watchful eye

Friends, this is a little better image of mama owl and the baby is out of the nest hole and sitting on the ledge with her on Friday when i again visited the city owl.  Above is a portrait of the baby owl,  as he discovers that there are people and cameras looking at him, til Tomorrow MJ

Owl Portrait

mama hoot owl

Friends, this is a little closer view of the mama owl watching over her chicks, i cropped it from the original view and did not get closer physically.  I wanted to see the eyes and the feathering on her breast up a little closer, til Tomorrow MJ

Great Horned Owl

horned owl 3

Friends, this great horned owl is keeping a sleepy watch over her young in the nest.  I shot 200 images on this shoot, but only one image had both subjects with open eyes, and mother only had a half opened eye, but you get what you get, considering myself very lucky this morning, til Tomorrow MJ