Spring Bittern
Friends, this bird is an American Bittern and with his vertical striping in front is very well camouflaged against all the winter reeds. They fish in the shallows like a heron, with neck stretched out and stabbing prey with that very big bill. In the very early spring you may see a few of these birds, but later you may only hear their distinctive call. They are very secretive and the research community has not studied these birds to reveal their natural history, hmmm, a plan in the works, til Tomorrow MJ
More Grebes
Friends, a rough day on the water but sunshine and warm temperatures still motivated us to visit Crex again, we found a new grebe (for us), this is a red-necked grebe and a first for me, they were there on Sunday and gone on Monday, maybe they flew onward or maybe they are hiding in Crex somewhere, Below is an image of two birds, I am thankful that we were able to watch them as they dove for food and splashed around the ponds, til Tomorrow MJ
Dancing Grouse
Friends, the sharptail grouse are dancing on the Namekagon Pine Barrens. This boy is just getting ready to dance, his eyebrows are raised and the feathers are rolled back to expose his purple airsac , in the image below you can see his sharp tail is raised and wings spread just a little. When he is really dancing, his head will be down and his feet will be stuttering so fast that they blur. Sat in a blind with my good friend (thanks Anna) on Saturday morning, lots of male dancing and carrying on, then on to Crex to make a 12 hour work day. til Tomorrow MJ
Spring Pelicans
Friends, these white pelicans flew over in their migratory route on Wednesday. I saw three big flocks circling and moving north and west. They breed in western Minnesota and North Dakota so they may have been a bit off their usual migration route. I jumped out of my vehicle alongside the four lane and stood on the shoulder to shoot these guys and gals, the big trucks were whizzing by, but i didn’t even hear them, all i saw was blue sky and birds, it has been a long winter and yesterday it was 75 degrees F, wonderful, til Tomorrow MJ
Weekly Photo Challenge:Culture
Friends, birders have a culture that includes an addiction to anything birdy, some list birds, watch birds, feed birds and photograph birds. and some like me sit by the marshes waiting for a bird to just show up, this morning i went to see if I could find the loons that i had seen yesterday, but the only bird present in the fishing hole was this tiny grebe, I thought at first that it was one of hundreds of Pied billed grebes that are always around and almost drove past, but just for giggles i put my binocs on it and shreeked for joy, I have never seen the horned grebe up close, but here he is in all his breeding finery, I love his yellow earmuffs, enjoy, I sure did, til Tomorrow MJ
Water Trail
Friends, this pair of ring billed ducks are cropped to emphasize the water trail that they leave behind while swimming, the ice on the ponds is almost gone and yesterday was a great day at Crex Meadows, lots of sun and warmth in my blind (read faithful Chevy), I was watching a pair of loons diving along a sheet of ice, once they came up within ten feet of me and my camera, yes i got the image, will show it in a later post, til Tomorrow MJ
Wet Loons
Friends, the loons have returned and the bigger lakes are opening, yahooo!!, this image was taken last year with the wet loon on rough water, the red eye is prominent and his green stripe in front is visible, sometimes they ride so low in the water that the green does not show, below is an image of a loon in smooth water, just a portrait of the head, this pair of loons do not seem to mind me and my camera sitting near their fishing hole. til Tomorrow MJ
Mister Ring Bill
Friends, the ring neck ducks have arrived and the lake ice is breaking up, hurraaay!!!, I think this duck is mis named, i always call them ring bills because ring neck is what pheasants are called in this part of the country. So to avoid confusion, i call them ring bills and this is a male bird. Photographing them in exactly the right light is the key, also i love his feathers on top of his head, makes him look very alert. He dives for his food and is usually wet. til Tomorrow MJ
Buffleheads
Friends, these beautiful bufflehead ducks were swimming and diving for food on a very small puddle in crex yesterday, they are very tiny ducks and one of the first to arrive in the spring, today we have another 6 inches of snow, wet and cold, but a warm up in the forecast, our pine trees surrounding our yard have a lot of broken branches from the wet snow, til Tomorrow MJ
Ely Wilderness
Friends, on a recent trip to Ely, Minnesota, we saw no wildlife, just this snowy owl painted on the side of an historic mining building. Ely is in the middle of wolf country and on the edge of canoeing wilderness. From Ely outfitters can supply you with food, maps and canoes to venture into true wilderness. Lakes and portages and very few humans are present, so you better have your wilderness skills ready for the adventure. Below is an image of my two companions, Jim and Bubba, who also love the wolf country. til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 