Blog Archives
Roughies
Friends, I went to Crex Meadows yesterday, the temperatures reached 27 degrees above zero Fahrenheit, almost balmy but with the wind I still needed my jacket. The meadow is full of Rough-Legged Hawks and i saw at least 10 of them in my trip. They like to sit in the top of dead tree snags and when I get near they almost always fly away immediately. So this image is a hawk taking off. The outline around their wings and the dark patches at the wrist are id marks for this specie. If you look closely you can see the feathers that cover their legs, helps to keep them warm. The image below is also a take off from another twig in a treetop. til Tomorrow MJ
Bald Eagle in a Tree
Friends, this Bald Eagle is a mature bird and will soon find his mate and settle down to raise a youngster. But for now he is content to sit high in his tree and survey the surroundings. As I ran up and down the road to find the best background for this image, he calmly watched but did not move from his perch. If I returned today to this spot, he is probably still using this perch everyday. We had snow yesterday so branches would probably be covered in snow. I wonder if the sun will shine today. til Tomorrow MJ
Red poll
Friends, this tiny redpoll is peeking around at me and is showing off her stripey sides and wings. These redpolls are very common in our winter season especially near the bird feeders, they love sunflower seeds. In the spring they fly north again. The tiny red patch on top of the head gives the name red poll, this is a common redpoll, but there is also a hoary red poll without the striping on the sides and a frosty appearance overall.I don’t have any images of the hoary—-yet. til Tomorrow MJ
Nuthatch color correction
Friends, this nuthatch is supposed to be white under his chin , but somehow he has turned pink. In the bottom image I have corrected his color by using a levels layer, using the white eyedropper in the levels window, click on some of the white under his chin, move the dropper area til you have a decent exposure. Then using the black eyedropper, click on the black region under his tail. Like magic all the colors are corrected. til Tomorrow MJ
Tired of Winter
Friends, I am very tired of winter, so decided that my blog will reflect the colors of summer for this day’s blog. The green lifts my spirits and the ring billed ducks are looking for a nesting site on Fish Lake. Crex Meadows is having a Big Year for Birding that had a formal kick off last night. Today we can start tabulating all the birds we see within the Glacial Lakes Grantsburg wildlife areas. The person who records the most species of birds in this 11 month period is the winner. I won’t win but it will be fun to try. til Tomorrow MJ
Cold Bird
Friends, this winter bird is a Goldfinch wearing his winter coat. He is huddled on a small branch crouching over his feet on a day with -15 degrees Fahrenheit. Did you know that birds can shut down the blood flow to their legs and feet to prevent permanent damage due to cold weather. My feet are cold, til Tomorrow MJ
Pink or Red
Friends, this pretty pink bird is a male Pine Grosbeak found in the winter bog. His beak is designed for seed eating and he loves sunflower seeds at the various feeders found in the Sax Zim bog . These birds are migrants from further north and there seems to be more of them in the bog this year than in previous years. Just my reflection not an actual fact. I don’ like the background so I have added an image with edited background, i think it is better for the bird colors. What do you think? 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
Snowflakes
Friends, these are the same image of a snowflake processed with different software. The image on the left was processed with filters from Photoshop and the one on the left was processed with Color Effex Pro4.
I like that CFP4 has much fewer steps to achieve a better result, at least for me, more shades of gray I think. What do you think? til Tomorrow MJ
Duluth Lighthouse
Friends, this small lighthouse guards the canal entering Duluth Harbor on Lake Superior. This image is a high dynamic range (HDR) from three exposures to better capture the icy lights and darks. The ice and snow have not closed the lake and shipping goes on. The bottom image gives you a scale of the canal, with an ore ship of 800-1000 feet long entering the canal. The canal is a pair of concrete barriers that ships have to navigate to enter the harbor. So the opposite extremes of Lake Superior, cold and warm. til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 