Blog Archives
Luna the Wolf
Friends, this is Luna, the black wolf from wolf center in Ely. I took lots of images of her, but not sure why my camera was so attracted to her. Is it because she is female, because she is black, because she was most active chasing the ravens, or is it the faraway look in her eyes. She is young (10 months) and still ambitious, I am old and not so ambitious anymore. I envy her energy chasing illusions of wildness, even tho they fly when she approaches. Not unlike the humans watching her. til Tomorrow MJ
Luna Chasing the Ravens
Friends, Luna is a black timber wolf found in Ely in a wolf enclosure at the International Wolf Center. Saturday night is dinner for the four wolves in this enclosure and we were present at their Thanksgiving dinner, deer with a side of beaver. Sunday morning while the boys were sleeping off their dinner, Luna, the single female, was busy tidying up and chewing on tidbits left behind. The ravens also showed up to help her, but she told them to buzz off, the tidbits were hers. til Tomorrow MJ
Denali-Gray Wolf
Friends, this male timber wolf is in the enclosure at the International Wolf Center in Ely Minnesota. His name is Denali and he is five years old this spring. While he is a captive animal I think that the pose and eyes still reveal a wildness that resonates in my soul. I am basically a wild human at heart. til Tomorrow MJ
Timber Wolf-Luna
Friends, this female timber wolf or gray wolf is Luna, from the International Wolf Center exhibit group. She is the only female with three male animals in the enclosure. Spectators can view through huge glass windows and stay warm inside when temperatures outside are below zero F. She is very dark colored and representative of 3-5 % of gray wolf population who are black or nearly black. Her dark color soaks up the sun and she sleeps soundly in the sunshine. til Tomorrow MJ
More Gray Owls
Friends, this Great Gray Owl was one of the many who migrated south in the winter of 2005-2006, they came south looking for food and such a migration is called an irruption. They say the owls are irrupting again this winter and we did see two on the way to Two Harbors Minnesota on Saturday. It was a sunny day so the yellow eyes did not show on our recent images, this owl and the one in the image below were taken on overcast days, so the yellow eyes were visible and the owls were very photogenic. til Tomorrow MJ
Wily Coyote
Friends, this is a wily coyote from the WSC in Forest Lake, and again a captive animal. This male was adding his two cents worth to the wolves howling with some yipping and yapping. Many books have been written about the clever”trickster” of native legend, but the best in my estimation is God’s Dog written by Hope Ryden, This researcher did her homework well and has written a definitive work on the natural history of coyotes. til Tomorrow MJ
Quiet Time
Friends, this wolf is taking a nap on the snow, his coat is very thick and protects him from the cold. He may look sleepy but his yellow eyes followed our every move. We have timber wolves in Crex Meadows but we rarely see them, they prefer the cover of darkness to hunt deer and teach their young how to hunt. At night, we hear the howling at our house, the wolf pack that stalks the Clam River sometimes passes our place closely. When we visited these wolves at The Wildlife Science Center, the chorus of howling was probably the only wildness left in these captive animals, but they sang of green forests and bogs where their relatives still roam free. til Tomorrow MJ
Happy Jay
Friends, this friendly blue jay was questioning my presence near his bird feeder. I love the jays in winter when their colors are one of the bright spots in the woods. We visited a wildlife center yesterday and listened to the wolves howling, they are entering their breeding season and our dog is doing a lot of sniffing on his morning walk. We took a few images of wild wolves in captivity and a pair of cougar sisters(for future posts). A hard place to take good images with all the fencing but we had fun trying. These animals were orphaned as babies and would not have been able to survive in the wild, so they educate school children and adults about their wildness that they have managed to retain. til Tomorrow MJ
Red tail over the Ridge
Friends, went to my photo club meeting last night and each month we vote on our favorite photo for the month. The theme was wild outdoors, and my redtailed hawk won for the month of January. That means that it will be published in the local paper. This redtail was released from Hawk Ridge in October and she had lost two tail feathers that are regrowing. This image was captured as she rose and turned her back on me, then flew back across the ridge. Maybe I have used this image in a previous post, but it bears another look, til Tomorrow MJ
Peanut Butter Bird
Friends, this Gray Jay is popping pieces of frozen peanut butter like popcorn. I laughed out loud when I saw this image. This image was taken at a bird feeder station where all kinds of birdie treats were put out for the northern bog birds. The Sax Zim bog is famous for winter owls that migrate here from the northern regions and is located west of the mighty Lake Superior. The larger birds are attracted by the abundance of smaller game and the seed-eaters are attracted by the coniferous trees that produce cones filled with seed. til Tomorrow more bog birds, MJ
MJ Springett 