Category Archives: Birds
Flying Above Me
Friends, this mature bald eagle flew over my lawn chair while i was sitting on hawk ridge waiting for the raptor migration. This was a wonderful warm sunny day and now the weather has changed to cold, snow and wind. Maybe we will get a very short Indian summer to enjoy the end of the raptor migration. til Tomorrow MJ
His Environment
Friends, this baby pied billed grebe is begging food from his mom, and in the bottom image he is grown and no longer using the lily pads for cover. Now he is swimming on the big water and getting his own food. I love these little birds as they are always around on Phantom Lake, constantly fishing for food. I am experimenting (again) with a crop that includes his water trail and his eye. Do you like this kind of crop? til Tomorrow MJ
Cooper Blur
Friends, this Cooper’s Hawk is still protesting his capture and banding, or maybe the loss of a feather, floating in the lower middle of this image. Hawk Ridge is an exciting place to be in the fall, lots of birds migrating and some are caught, banded, adopted and released back into the wild blue yonder. But I have a question, is this a pleasing blur?? til Tomorrow MJ
Crane Overhead
Friends, this Greater Sandhill Crane is taking flight at sunrise. In Crex Meadows, the cranes come into Main Dike at sunset and roost for the night. People also come by the dozens to watch the nightly display. In the morning, the cranes are noisy on the roost and all talking at once just before they take off and go back to the fields to spend their day. They usually fly in large flocks or smaller family groups and this single crane was actually part of a larger group. As they passed overhead, I was able to isolate a single crane in flight. til Tomorrow MJ
Green Heron Fishing
Friends, this green heron is fishing from his favorite perch just a mile from my house. In the early morning fog, he is back lit by a diffused light. Again i am experimentingwith a vignette, green this time. I like this pose, always alert for small critters below him in the water. til Tomorrow MJ
Hatch Year Swan
Friends, this is a juvenile Trumpeter Swan, this years young called a hatch year bird. They are gray with a pink beak, that is turning black as they mature. There were four immatures with their parents on Main Dike when we were on a sunrise shoot at Crex Meadows. I was experimentingwith vignettes other than black, do you like? til Tomorrow MJ
More Feathers
Friends, under this wing of wood duck, we found layers of feathers, brown and white. A contrast to his brilliant blue feathers of wing top. I find their wing feathers very interesting with all the tiny details. til Tomorrow MJ
Wood Duck Feathers
Friends, these wood duck feathers look like brush strokes,; the overlapping, fine details , and iridescent colors. The blue color is not a pigment but rather a structural color, the light is reflected as the full spectrum, that results from the light being bent by microstructure within the cells. Perceiving the color is dependent on the angle from which one views. If you stand ninety degrees from this angle, the iridescence is gone, til Tomorrow MJ
Red Shoes
Friends, I often see Common Merganser females in Lake Superior, but have not noticed their pretty red shoes. This one was resting on the banks of the Yellow River just a few miles north of our home. Enjoy, til Tomorrow MJ
Hawk Eye
Friends, this sharp-shinned hawk is looking for prey as he cruises above. Actually this image is the result of a little Photoshop magic. His bright yellow eyes tell us that he was a baby this spring and is a hatch year bird. When he is grown, his eye color will shift to orange and then to red. His beautiful chocolate coloring will shift to gray, oooo I could use some chocolate for breakfast, til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 