Milkweeds
Friends, this natural history story is present in one photo, the bloom and two stages of buds with a spent bloom in the background, i like this kind of shot. Lots of color in the swamp milkweed, this plant grows on a tall stem with its feet in the water. Three types of milkweed grow in Crex Meadows, the common milkweed that is a pale pink, the butterfly weed that is bright orange and this swamp weed that is brilliant pink. The structure of the flowers is similar in all the milkweeds that grow here and the image below is a magnified view of the flowers. The wildflower season in Crex Meadows is winding down, but soon the prairie blazing star and goldenrod will predominate. AAAchooo!!, til Tomorrow MJ
Among the Lily Pads
Friends, this baby mallard is hiding among the lily pads, when i first approached he was sitting in the middle of the lily patch, but when he saw me he headed for water. The bottom image shows his struggle as he fought his way through the pads to reach the water. Safe on the water, til Tomorrow MJ
Hummer?
Friends, at first i thought it was a hummingbird, then a huge butterfly, but after closer examination I discovered that i was photographing a moth, a very large moth that hovers like a hummingbird and is similar in size, hence its nickname, the hummingbird moth, it drinks the nectar through a proboscis like a butterfly, a very long straw to drink its soda. Its real name is the white-lined sphinx moth. Below is the moth from the front. til Tomorrow MJ
Baby Ring-bills
Friends, on a hot july day, these baby ring-necked ducks are going for a swim with mom, some call these ring-necked and some call these ring-bills, but this time of the year both the rings are fading away into a summer plummage. The rings are still there but very faint like they have been bleached by the harsh sunshine this time of year. I prefer the name ring-billed cause ring-neck in this part of the country usually refers to a pheasant. Another 95 degree day in the northland. til Tomorrow MJ
Weekly Photo Challenge:Inside
Friends, Searching for remnants of the tall grass prairie on Thursday yielded many shots of this Queen Anne’s Lace. This image tells the flower story, the beautiful sweet blooms attract many bees and then the flowers fold into the seed pod up above the flower. You can still see the structures inside the spent bloom, i like the insides of this image. Do you? til Tomorrow MJ
Baby woodies
Friends, these baby ducks are young wood ducks, teenagers who are eating all the time, when i drove up and pointed my telephoto lens at them, they ran for mama who was around the corner eating wild rice seed, the black strip behind the eye is the defining mark of young wood ducks and their coloring this time of year serves to hide them well, we are still very green but some of the lily pads are turning fall color, til Tomorrow MJ
one more loon
Friends, this loon chick is now ten weeks old and starting to get some flight feathers, they can dive after some of their food, but the adults are still feeding them to supplement their diet. they are starting to look like loons, have lost most of their chick down and now have a smoother head. They are almost as long as the adults. til Tomorrow MJ
Sunrise at Crex
Friends, sunrise at Crex is a special time, but i don’t often appreciate it cause i haven’t yet ingested enough coffee, but when i wake up and the sun is doing its colorful morning dance, it is a good time to be alive and enjoying the process of taking photographs. A very slight breeze was waving the grass and that produced the ripples in the water. Concentric circles are my favorite shapes.Today i am going to Minnesota to look for tall prairie remnants. til Tomorrow MJ
Whitetail buck
Friends, this was taken in our back woods, behind the house by a trail camera. This monster buck is not very big bodied but certainly sports a rack. He was checking out our girls and got caught by the trail camera. This camera is mounted on a tree where the females and fawns come to eat some corn, and the shutter is triggered by movement. I cannot claim that i took this photo but i change the batteries and the memory cards. How do you like, Jack?, til Tomorrow MJ
Whitetail water wading
Friends, this female whitetail deer is eating fresh salad in the marsh, she is also trying to escape the relentless biting flies of the northland summer.She didn’t seem to mind that i was observing and taking her photo, too busy chowing down on fresh food. She is probably a young female because there was no fawn following her, this time of year we start to see the youngsters following their mothers everywhere. til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 