Widgeon Duck Male
Dear Friends, this beautiful male was photographed at Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge in early May. hope you think he is beautiful, my inspiration during these chemo days, til Tomorrow MJ
Savannah Sparrow
Dear Friends, loved our day at Crex this week, so thankful that I can again venture out into the wilderness with my camera. This Savannah Sparrow was a lifer for me, I had never seen him before or if I did, I didn’t know what he was, id wise, thanks to the kind folks on Facebook who solidified my tentative id. til Tomorrow, MJ
Red Heads
Dear Friends, this pair of red headed ducks were recently found on Phantom Lake in Crex. This image was a stretch for my telephoto lens but they had found a little calm spot on a rough day, so I took their picture. I like the rough water beyond them proof that most of the depth of focus is behind the focus point. til Tomorrow MJ
The Magic Moment
Dear Friends, this shot is not possible with a cell phone. This moment took five years of sitting in grouse blinds to even witness not to mention get an image of it. I took a burst of six images in one second and only one of these had this instant recorded. So I emphasize that this image took preparation, perseverance and photography skills that are not possible with a cell phone. So if you are serious about photography I recommend that you practice your skills, do the work and prepare to get the image that you envision. We sat in the blind this year on a cold windy rainy day, so this image is from last year when we had one perfect day, til Tomorrow MJ
Red Necked Grebe
Dear Friends, larger than a mallard and smaller than a Canada goose, this red necked grebe roams the waters of phantom lake in Crex. I love this eye to eye view that they sometimes give you. til Tomorrow MJ
Ring Necked Ducks
Dear Friends, these ducks are every where at Crex this time of year, they are Ring Necked Ducks due to the brownish ring around their neck, but can be spotted by the prominent ring around the bill. This is male duck. The female is more drab but has she a matching ring around the bill, enjoy til TomorrowMJ
No April Fooling
Dear Friends, this lovely Compton Tortoiseshell butterfly landed in our white pines on Saturday, thanks to Cheri for helping me to identify it. It was a lifer for me and surprised that it is a very early butterfly sometimes coming out in March. We are on the southern end of its range. lovely til Tomorrow MJ
Waiting for the Warblers
Dear Friends, waiting for warblers to arrive in our northland, this is a palm warbler taken a few years ago, til Tomorrow MJ
Green
Dear Friends, after my second treatment of chemo, it has taken me longer to recover my well-being, but this Green Winged Teal that I saw last spring is adding some color notes to my health outlook, til Tomorrow MJ
A Peaceful Confrontation and Not
Dear Friends, these two trumpeter Swans have returned to the Northland, and with lots of talking there are some confrontations. Sometimes they are peaceful and just showing off their beautiful white feathers, other times there is chasing and pulling on feathers as shown in the bottom image, enjoy, til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 