Category Archives: Nature
Back to Work
Friends, this gray fox was focused on something that moved, not me, i don’t move a hair while photographing this guy, i have been on a short hiatus this summer from blogging, but still gathering images to be used in this site, enjoy the fall season, i am, til Tomorrow MJ
Lots of Storms
Dear Friends, i could not decide how to present this image, color or black and white, without the color it looks stormier, do you like? til Tomorrow MJ
Big Black Bear in a tree
Friends, this is a young black bear male who has been chased up a tree by a bigger black bear male, i love the pose as he tries to assess his position from this loftily perch, love the bears til Tomorrow MJ
Before the Storm
Dear Friends, the other day i was chased by this storm and it seems to be a reoccurring theme in Crex this summer, lots of rain and humidity, this morning it is a little cooler and dryer, time to visit the birdies, til Tomorrow MJ
Green Wing Teal??
Dear Friends, i think this might be either a young male green wing teal or some kind of hybrid, what do you birders think? The green speculum is there but no white border around the head green stripe, the back and side feathers are also strange. Seen on Phantom Lake in Crex Meadows on July 1. til Tomorrow MJ
Pair of Horned Grebes
Dear Friends, i was hanging out by Phantom Lake and this couple were out for a late afternoon swim on a very rough lake. These birds are probably pushing babies around the lake by now, so til Tomorrow MJ
Mistakes
Dear Friends, no Northern Lights last night at our house, but the stars were out, so i was shooting star trails. These trails have gaps that resulted from neglecting to turn off the noise reduction feature in my camera. There are two settings hidden in the camera menu that do noise reduction with high iso and one with long exposures. When they are enabled, the camera tries to process the image between exposures and this processing takes as long as the exposure time, so if your exposure is 20 seconds, the camera delays the next exposure while it processes the noise reduction, resulting in a 20 second gap between exposures. Lessons learned. til Tomorrow MJ
Crane Lunch
Dear Friends, i always think of our Sandhill Cranes as gentle giants roaming the wetlands in search of food. I never thought of baby Red Winged Blackbirds as a food source. These young cranes were being harassed by the adult Red Wings as the cranes plucked the babies from the nest. The male red wing bird is definitely in attack mode but the sandhill has his lunch. Red wings are not in short supply here and predation is common as they nest on the ground. til tomorrow MJ
Badlands After 5 PM
Dear Friends, this image was taken last August when the Mentzelia bloom on the red scoria. These white blossoms are found growing right out of the rocky slopes and only open after 4 PM. Most tourists overlook them cause they are a prickly looking plant until the blossoms open, then they are magnificent. til Tomorrow MJ
Wood Orchid
Dear Friends, this pretty orchid is found in the red pine forests and is called the pink lady slipper. They like the acidic ground and shady light that the forest provides, and these conditions make subtle sunlight for flower photography. I got lucky as this particular bloom was very vivid in color and had a bee perched on top, the only drawback to these conditions are the wood ticks that also thrive here.. til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 