Blog Archives
Dancing of the Grouse
Friends, a ballet dancer, nope, a male sharptail grouse on the attack. The image below shows the more typical dance position, but when two males come head to head, there is a lot of bluffing, then one or both birds may rise up and try to spur the other bird. When the female appeared on the grounds, there was only horizontal dancing and no more spurring.. til Tomorrow MJ
Yellow Rumps
Friends, this Yellow Rumped Warbler (below) is busy hunting insects along Phantom Lake in Crex Meadows. She is showing off her id feature, the yellow rump. The above image is probably a male, with his head stripe of yellow and yellow shoulders. Spring is truly here and it is raining again today (sigh) til Tomorrow MJ
Blue Heron Lunch
Friends, on my way home from Crex Meadows I pass a small watering hole where this blue heron likes to hunt, i disturbed his hunt by stopping and pointing my telephoto out the car window. He flew but remembered to take his lunch with him, til Tomorrow MJ
Horned Grebe
Friends, this is a friendly horned grebe on Phantom Lake, the afternoon light was just right for a closeup portrait. Those yellow feathers on each side of her head are the “horns”. I don’t always get this close but he didn’t mind my vehicle. til Tomorrow MJ
Hope
Friends, this flower (pasque) is the first to bloom after the winter season, and reminds me that good things await with the blooming of spring. It points to God as the basketball player raises his index finger and points upwards, he knows where the strength and blessing come from, and so do i. All the blessings of spring to you all, and may you walk in peace this day. til Tomorrow MJ
THE Garganey- A Rare Duck
Friends, Crex Meadows was full of birders this weekend and this duck was the object of their affection. This is a garganey that has never been reported in Wisconsin or Minnesota. He sure is handsome but moves constantly, today was our first sunny day since he arrived about a week ago. I guess he wants to stay awhile enjoy while you can til Tomorrow MJ
Bluebills and Redheads
Friends, while watching a huge flock of bluebills (greater scaup) another small flock of redheads landed in the middle of the bunch then they all continued on their merry way. They (redheads) acted like they were scared to death and hiding among the bluebills. My new header shows the combined flock, although just a small sampling of all the birds together. til Tomorrow MJ
Spring is for the Ducks
Friends, this duck is called the shoveler because his bill is shaped in a shovel, very broad and black. He is a dabbler and his head is wet from trying to eat water plants, i was going to clone out the weed hanging from his bill, but it is part of him, he is what he eats. hope you like til Tomorrow
Spring Ducks
Friends, these friendly ducks are a very tiny pair of buffleheads, lots of white on the male makes him difficult to photograph while keeping the dark details intact. They were very close to shore thanks to a fish kill and melting icepack so i made the most of a great opportunity. hope you like til Tomorrow MJ
The Moon Also Rises
Friends, while taking this time lapse of clouds drifting through crex, i noticed that the moon was rising in this series of shots, i am exploring a time-stacking technique and got a lovely surprise. This image is a result of stacking 12 images taken 1-2 minutes apart into a single image, i like this effect and will be doing more stacking in the near future, as soon as our 15 inches of new snow gets melted away. ugh! til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 