Category Archives: Lake Superior
Natural Watercolors
Friends, Hawk ridge yesterday, but no birds. The sky was almost clear when i got there, but a storm blew in and covered my car with pea-sized hail. After the storm, i shot some fall foliage cause the sumac was gorgeous up on the ridge. More experiments with moving the camera during the exposure. I think this looks like a watercolor. Below is an experiment with the under layer moved and the top layer more sharp, a paper birch changing its clothes. til Tomorrow MJ
Pièce de résistance- Red Tailed Hawk
Friends, this Red tailed Hawk is indeed the best of my hawk images to date. His crouched pose and withering stare show his predator character very well. You can be glad you are not a mouse or vole scurrying across an open grassy meadow where this bird can see you. From research data, it appears that these birds may be susceptible to the West Nile virus, so swat the mosquitos and save the redtails. til Tomorrow MJ
Smallest Falcon
Friends, this smallest of the falcons is an American Kestrel. This is a male bird having blue-gray wing feathers and a brownish back, the female has a totally brown back and lovely brown wings as seen in the image below. The female kestrel has the remains from her breakfast on her beak. Yes, I could edit it away with Photoshop, but I choose to leave it as a reminder of their struggle for food and survival. Often they will hunt from overhead wires and hover over their prey, then dive to capture a small bird or mouse. The two black slashes on their face are called the sideburns and mustache :), til Tomorrow MJ
Broad-Winged Hawk
Friends, this beautiful baby is a broad-winged Hawk and they are migrating in great numbers over Hawk Ridge. The day this was taken over 5000 passed over the ridge, and on the ninth of september over 15000 were counted over the ridge. They tend to leave the nesting area in large flocks and can form “kettles” as they circle in the air. Their diet is a varied one ranging from frogs and lizards to small birds, even on occasion they may eat a large insect. They are very numerous in the air, but they rarely visit the lower reaches of hawk ridge so this was a rare treat at the educational area. Hope you enjoy this pretty bird, til Tomorrow MJ
Young Harrier
Friends, this close-up shows the juvenile Northern Harrier facial structure. He was captured at Hawk Ridge in Duluth Minnesota and banded. While the educator had him in hand, i shot his portrait. This bird has a facial disc that helps to concentrate the sounds of prey very similar to owls. His rusty coloring will change to gray as he ages. His antics around the Crex Meadows are especially evident in the fall as he hunts the migrating birds and ducks. He circles low over the cattails looking below for prey, then dives down to catch them in his talons. Below is a Harrier hunting over Crex. til Tomorrow MJ
A Double-Header
Friends, this small hawk, the sharp-shinned is a second year bird and her eyes are turning from the yellow of a first year bird to orange. The vertical strips on the front have now turned more horizontal and her cap is starting to turn from chocolate brown to gray. Below is a more mature bird with the red eyes and more gray on her cap. You can compare these more mature birds to the sharpie from yesterday’s post of a sharpie that was hatched this spring. til Tomorrow MJ
Merlin – first year
Friends, this tiny hawk is a first year Merlin, but technically he is a falcon due to his pointed wings. He was captured and banded at Hawk Ridge yesterday, a misty morning turned into a partly cloudy day by 1pm. The hawks are just starting their migration and the smaller hawks come first. This Merlin is about the same size as a sharp-shinned hawk but the first year bird has brown eyes, and the sharp-shinned hawk has yellow eyes. They both have the vertical striping on the front. Below is an image of the first year sharp-shinned for comparison, stay tuned for second year and mature sharp shinned tomorrow, til Tomorrow MJ
Tree Abstract
Friends, this abstract is actually the woods at Amicon Falls State Park. I am experimenting with a broken lens and moving the camera during the 1 second exposure. Most of what i shot was junk, but i liked this shot. so i am sharing it with you. I am always fighting with freezing the motion, so in this photo i was accentuating the motion as others on the blogs are doing. I am learning that i like the strong verticals as long as they are not overexposed and the green accents. Can’t wait to try this technique on fall foliage, coming soon the maples are already starting to turn, til Tomorrow MJ
Hawk Ridge- Sharp Shinned Hawk
Friends, A visit today and yesterday to Hawk Ridge in Duluth Minnesota, a place about an hours drive from our home. In the fall the hawks and other large birds migrate southward along the west shore of Lake Superior and often soar over Hawk Ridge. The observatory group there counts the birds every year and they band many birds . They also educate the public about these wonderful birds that are often not seen close up and personal like this bird. An educator is holding this bird and after a chat with us, the birds are turned loose to return to their migration. This bird is a female sharp shined hawk and i was surprised by the small size. When she matures, her chest feathers will get horizontal banding, her eye will go orange then red, and her back feather will get more of a gray than the chocolate brown that she has now. til Tomorrow MJ
Weekly Photo Challenge:Dreaming
Friends, when i am dreaming i am sitting on the shores of Lake Superior watching the waves. This was a combined image using three different wave images shot in quick succession in order to capture all of the crashing wave action. I didn’t use a slow shutter speed, but used a radial blur in photoshop to create a half sharp and half blurred image. Do you like this approach or prefer the all blurry effect of a slow shutter speed? I will await your opinions, til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 