Category Archives: Birds
Black Tern
Friends, working in photoshop while we are confined to the house cause of the weather, too cold with windchills in the -50 F range. This image was shot at iso 400 and the sky had a lot of digital noise compliments of my camera, so i have become very good at minimizing the sky noise. This is a black tern that hovered over the marsh in search of prey, he will hunt insects and fish, wonder what he caught. I liked the hovering pose of the bird and a small hint of cloud behind him. til Tomorrow MJ
Be My Valentine
Friends, been saving this image for a special occasion, Valentines day, happy happy til Tomorrow MJ
Sleepy Snowy
Friends, Jim and i went to Duluth on a very bright day and found the Snowy Owl sitting on the snow high above us, he posed but would not open his eyes. The eye shape was probably the inspiration for snow goggles worn in the northland to minimize the snow reflections on a bright day. Just a horizontal slit in a piece of leather served to diminish the amount of light that enters the eye. We had to follow a snowmobile track and fell into thigh high snow when stepping off the track, but we got out where we could photograph without the sun directly behind the owl. The telephoto did the rest to get us close enough, this image is also cropped greatly. Snowing today but we will return on another day. til Tomorrow MJ
Spring Bird
Friends, yesterday while looking for the Snowy Owl, I found a small flock of these Horned Larks, the birdies think spring is on the way, do you?? til Tomorrow MJ
Snowy Owl in Flight, as promised
Friends, as promised this snowy owl is flying toward the sun and sorry about the head, but you have to get what is given, as he leaped from the post perch, he revealed his underside and his killer talons, you may also see that he is banded on his right leg, can’t read the band but appears to contain a circle with a 3 inside it, others with more knowledge may be able to help with this band id. the sky was very gray and just diffuse light so this was the best that i could do that day under the circumstances, the next good day i will again be hunting. til Tomorrow MJ
Snowy Owl, my version
Friends, this snowy owl was found in Duluth and is quite the celebrity. He is in the same place every day and many photographers in this part of the country have taken his picture. Well i am certainly no exception, so yesterday our frigid temps moderated a little and i ventured northward. He was sitting a very long way away when i first arrived, but then flew to this perch above the ball fields. I was able to maneuver my vehicle to within about 30 feet of his perch. I liked this image because his tail feathers were blowing in the wind. He stayed here for about 40 minutes then flew back to his dirt pile perch that was too far for my telephoto lens. I got one image of his underside when he flew away, i will show that image tomorrow. til Tomorrow MJ
Turkeys are Beautiful ?
Friends, this beautiful turkey is part of the bachelors that visit my mom regularly. She lives in a large senior condo in the cities, and these boys walk across her lawn almost every day. I saw them again this week but because of the snow, they are using the sidewalks and roadways just like the humans. So enjoy til Tomorrow MJ
A Full Moon to Remember
Friends, night of the full moon, Jan 15 2013, yes this is a composite image, but couldn’t resist showing it on this blog, the eagle was at Hawk Ridge, and the full moon from above our house last January. Sometimes Photoshop is an artist’s best friend, do you mind??, til Tomorrow MJ
Treasures Found
Friends, this baby pied bill grebe is starting to get some real feathers on his wing and celebrating by stretching them out for all the world to see. He is kind of a drab color but i love when the natural history of the wild comes thru in an image, and i caught it for just an moment in time, however with all the images i shot last summer, i did not recognize the value in this image, but now that life has slowed and it is snowing outside again today, i now have time to peruse and process images of the past. til Tomorrow MJ
A Summer Song
Friends, this winter weather is getting me down, but here is a summer image to pick me up and wash away the blues, This adult Pied Billed Grebe is very small and baby begging is even smaller. They are brave and come within mere feet of my vehicle. The babies sit in the lily pads and wait for the adult to come near. When they are done feeding, the adult slips under the water to hunt for more food. Summer seems so far away til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 