me and my brother
Friends, these chicks are about 11 weeks old now and getting lots of new feathers. I love their brown eyes and wonder how soon their eyes will turn red like the adults. It was a rough day on Phantom Lake and they love the big waves. Below image shows the feathers at 11 weeks, they may start to fly any day 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
Loony at 5 weeks
Friends, this loon chick is about 5 weeks of age and spends most of his day floating on the water waiting for one of his parents to feed him. He is still covered with lots of fuzz but has started to shed his fuzz on his head. He is starting to look like a real loon. The tiny bubbles in the foreground are all that is left of the parent who brought the chick food and then dove out of sight. til Tomorrow MJ
Mother and Child Reunion
Friends, sometimes the mother and child reunion is over lunch right here on earth. A sweet scene reenacted over and over again this summer in an effort to raise this bird to adulthood. It is a long journey, longer than most birds, the bald eagle baby has already flown from his nest and is hunting on the marsh. This loon is still being fed by his parents. must have a thing for old songs this week. I will see my own mother this morning after driving 90 miles one way, twice a week come rain (today) or shine. she will probably want to feed me lunch 🙂 til Tomorrow MJ
Sandhills-Fall Migration
Friends, this image is to remind me to get ready for the fall migration of Sandhill Cranes. only sixty days and whirlwind activity again in Crex. til Tomorrow MJ
Green Heron
Friends, yesterday was a white sky day so the background for this image was blah and featureless, blanking it out to white and leaving the bird with colored details was an artistic choice. He is called the green heron, but to me he has a blue slate color in the light in Crex. He was hunting for fish from a small tree branch along the lake, i know he has a nest nearby, but have not been able to find his/her babies. til Tomorrow MJ
Swan bath
Friends,This Trumpeter Swan is splashing about taking her morning bath, she is quite active and needs a large bathtub. Splish splash and the second verse to the song. She looks like she is having a party all by herself 🙂 til Tomorrow MJ
And then a-splish, splash
I jumped back in the bath
Well, how was I to know
There was a party goin’ on?
Weekly Photo Challenge:Movement
Friends, this osprey is moving slightly between each shot and i combined the multiple images into a single image to show movement. Yes a blurred image is commonly used, but i prefer the multiple image approach. I tend to photograph birds and animals in burst mode so combining several images into one say movement to me. til Tomorrow MJ
Turks Head Lily
Friends, this beautiful wildflower is native to this region but somewhat rare to find in Crex except in areas that have been burned and not mowed. The biggest threats to its survival are people picking wildflowers and the whitetail deer who think this lily and the wood lily make a delicious snack. So don’t pick and scare away any deer you see eating these pretty flowers :), til Tomorrow MJ
Splish Splash
Friends, this common loon adult is taking time away from his chicks to take a Saturday night bath. The commotion is hard to miss as his splashing, diving and otherwise acting like a motorboat stirs up the water. Reminds me of the song lyrics “Splish Splash I was takin a bath long about a Saturday night
Splish splash, I was taking a bath Long about a Saturday night A rub dub, just relaxing in the tub Thinking everything was alright
MJ Springett 