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
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
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
Friends, look up in Crex Meadows early in the spring or late in the fall and you will see Greater Sandhill Cranes gathering in flocks. In the sunset sky they land on their roost, and in the spring they land and dance on the brown reeds and sedges. In the early summer they pair off and go to their nesting site to raise their young. This time of year, they soar down to land in groups, and when landing, the dancing begins. They pop up and down like popcorn, trying to find the right place to land without disturbing the residents who are already in the spot. til Tomorrow MJ
Friends, snow again today, I think that spring is sleeping it off somewhere :), I went to my archives and found this image of summer yellow, a macro that shows the proboscis looping into the flower, sipping soda thru a straw on a summer day, is that a song title? it should be a song title, i think this is a sulfur butterfly with the white eyespot on the hind wing, til Tomorrow MJ
Friends, change is in the air, the Sandhill Cranes are returning to the northland, the sky is not very blue yet, but the ice and snow are slowly leaving the meadows of Crex. I am more than ready for the warmth of spring, cause over the weekend we got another 2-3 inches of heavy wet snow. Today it is dripping off the eaves, so maybe we won’t have to snowblow this stuff off the driveway. We both have vehicles designed for maximum traction, so driving is not a problem, but walking is big problem. til Tomorrow MJ
Friends, this time of year, the sharptailed grouse males are dancing on the meadows, in this image he is getting ready to dance, his yellow eyebrows are raised, his purple air sac is exposed, his tail is raised and his wings have dropped down, in the image below is his dancing pose, His feet do a fast stutter step as he whirls in circles and chases any other male birds. The females sit by silently watching, and after selecting the winner, they both fly away. This ritual happens at dawn, so one has to be in a blind before dawn. Finding a strange blind in the dark can be quite an adventure. so enjoy my sharpies in the warmth of indoors, til Tomorrow MJ
Friends, this Great Blue Heron is the first that i have seen this spring, so technically maybe i can call it spring, He is strongly backlit, but you have to take what you get when you are very tired of snow and ice, this bird sighting really lifted my spirits yesterday, there is still snow but this little stream is open so he was searching for food. I pushed the image a bit in magnification so you could see his blue lores, black cap and two black pigtails streaming from the back of his cap, sorry for the complicated background, I think I am a little rusty, til Tomorrow MJ
Friends,blue jays are being very active around our house, they must be hungry as they appear at the suet feeder when we are not around, this jay was foraging in Crex Meadows, a wildlife refuge near our home. They are very noisy and demand attention where ever they go. The snow is melting and the roads are muddy but spring is slowly making its way north. So take a lesson today, make a little noise, til Tomorrow MJ
Mar 31
This gallery contains 6 photos.
Friends, a day in my life is sometimes a bit fictional, but i try to be in Crex at Sunrise when the Cranes are flying from their roost to the fields, I also like to do my WordPress blog, photograph some birdies, post-process some images with photoshop and last but certainly not the least, […]
MJ Springett 