Blog Archives
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
Weekly Photo Challenge:Up
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
A Spot of Yellow
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
Lion Eyes
Friends, another cat from Como, this male lion was lying in the shade waiting for his food, his mate was up and moving toward the building, was she hungrier than he??, that wrinkled brow makes him look very severe with intense yellow eyes, his mane looks like someone combed it, no mats in his hair, good grooming, til Tomorrow MJ
Weekly Photo Challenge:Change
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
Tiger Eyes
Friends, at Como Park there is a zoo, the cat yard is my favorite place because no fences between you and the cats, you are on a walkway above them and this allows some great photo ops, it was raining slightly so this tiger was wet and looking for her food, they were getting ready to feed the big cats, she went inside while the keeper straightened up the yard and put away the tiger toys, then they threw a piece of meat up on a very large rock, it started to rain more heavily so I left before the drama was completed, til Tomorrow MJ
Exotic Fiddlehead
Friends, this huge fern is gently unfolding within the tropical environment of Como Conservatory, Ferns are a world of green, and this pinkish head will soon turn green. If you look closely you can see structure that looks like feather structure, below is a macro of this substructure. I am always amazed by the intricate macro structures, probably why I was an electron microscopist (cell biology and structures) in an earlier life, til Tomorrow MJ
Weekly Photo Challenge:Color
Friends, the word color means blooming flowers to me, I had to travel 90 miles and go to a giant greenhouse to photograph these Asiatic Lilies, I used a softer effect to show the flower within a flower, one of my favorite subjects, don’t really like the rusty hue against the pink petals, but nature made it that way so I share with you, til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 