Friends, Daylight finds the Sandhills on cornfields adjacent to Crex Meadows. This immature Sandhill Crane is gleaning corn from the field after the picker has gone through. The cranes alternate from the corn fields in the daytime to the marsh in the evening hours, think i am running out of images for this blog. Need to go to Crex today and see what is up, til Tomorrow MJ
Nov 13
This gallery contains 6 photos.
Friends, this is not good photography, but i wanted to show you the mass take-offs of Sandhill Cranes during a Crex sunrise. Yes i can rise early but i don’t make a habit of it. If you click on the large image a slide show will take you through the sequence as the birds lower […]
Friends, these Greater Sandhill Cranes are in flight above the Crex Meadows. The front bird is an immature followed by an adult bird, see the difference in the head coloring. Some Rusty oaks still hold their leaves, but this morning we have a trace of snow, so winter is coming. A sad time for me cause the big birds will have left and we only have the smaller birds left around here. Lots of chickadees, juncos and nuthatches in the bird feeders. The smaller birds are a challenge photographically speaking, but i do love the bigger birds. Maybe we will have some eagles or rough legged hawks to keep us company this winter. I can always go to Sax-Zim bog and look for Snowy Owls, Hawk Owls and Boreal Owls, but that is a two and one half hour drive one way. til Tomorrow MJ
Friends, this adult common loon is feeding her eight week old chick, up close and personal. This image was taken in late summer and reminds me of the warm days of summer that are now gone for this year. These birds are sitting very low in the water showing how they can raise and lower their bodies by inflating and deflating an airsac inside their body. The wings squeeze the air from the air sacs allowing the bird to dive or sink into the water. They hunt their food under water and their body is streamlined for underwater life. Feeding the young is a high priority for both adults and they often can raise two chicks each year on main dike in Crex Meadows. til Tomorrow MJ
Friends, The bald eagle and other birds get a renewal of feathers every year and some molt twice a year. When I see a wild bird up close and personal, I am renewed by an interaction with the wildness within me. Driving on a two track road back to middle north fork, I was following a mystery bird. When I reached a clearing near the lake, i saw this immature bald eagle perched in a tree. He is almost mature, probably about 3 or 4 years old, as his head and tail are almost white, but still containing some brown. I took this image as he flew from the perch, he circled the lake and landed again in the same tree snag. Must be a good fishing spot, below is the second photo as he departed. I was renewed and continued on my human way. til Tomorrow MJ
Friends, today this image means that it is the time of year for friends (and relatives) dropping in to visit. This family is dropping from the sky to join a large group of cranes on the ground. In the background you can see that some of the oaks still have some brown, red brush and lots of white birch trees. So I am dropping in for a visit, short and sweet, I am going to the city today to help my mom, til Tomorrow MJ 
Friends, these dancing cranes are busy teaching the baby cranes how to dance. The youngster on the left is imitating his parent who is flying up in the air, with more of a jump than a flight. Imitation teaches the youngster how to dance. Did your parents teach you to dance. til Tomorrow MJ
Friends, this beautiful duck is a blue-winged teal in Crex Meadows. His blue wing is hidden deep in the feathers, but his head shows a little blue cast. This was a cloudy day but his white was a beacon on the dull colored water. This time of year, lots of cloudy weather gets people down and we have to look far and wide for some color to photograph. Some say to photograph in black and white, but I see in color so I long for any shade of color to brighten my day. Today I am going to Crex, maybe I will find color as the Meadows are full of Greater Sandhill Cranes gathering for the migration south. Or maybe I will find the mature Northern Harrier that i saw last week, that would make a great photo for my hawk book. One can dream and previsualize, but divine intervention is necessary for this to occur. til Tomorrow MJ
Friends, these late summer water plants are found in Crex alongside the water lilies. I cannot identify them but they look like pink bottle brushes that we used to use to clean flasks and test tubes. At one time in my life I was a chemist for a company that specialized in shampoos, cream rinses, hair dyes and hair spray. All the chemical glassware was washed by hand at the end of the shift. Everyone was a dishwasher as well as analyst so I knew how to use a bottle brush. I was twenty-one and straight out of school, those were the days (my friend), we thought they’d never end. Seems like a century ago now. The internet community calls this flower smartweed or redshank, til Tomorrow MJ
Friends, this image of a Sandhill Crane spoke to me, the detailed feathering and the green background were very artful, so i played with my photoshop and converted this to an oil painting effect. I am studying feathers and the Sandhills have left their feathers all over the Crex Meadows due to seasonal molting. We have picked up several feathers and they are natural treasures that will help us to remember the autumn days on Crex and look forward to the return of the Cranes in the spring. If you are interested in feathers, I can recommend a good book, Bird Feathers, available at Amazon.com. Lots of info and well illustrated, but scientifically dry, but if you are into research (me), it is an excellent reference book. til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 