Photography

Enjoying the full moon on a cold MN night ..

At Medicine Lake, Plymouth, MN

Nov 1, 2014

Taken with a Sony Cybershot camera

Education:

There are 2 subspecies of Bald Eagle. They are nearly identical in ID marks. The only major difference is geographic range. This is in MN so it has to be a Northern Bald Eagle. Most birds do not have distinct subspeciest that can be recognized in field, however others can have several. Most of these can be easily found in a comprehensive bird guide such as the Sibleys Guide to Birds of North America.

The subspecies are in fact completely identical in plumage, and are distinguished only by size, with the northern population on average somewhat larger than the southern one. However, size may vary in clinal fashion, and it is not clear from the data that members of either population stay solely within their roughly-defined regions. (I’d be surprised if they did!) In other words, Bald Eagle subspecies are not well defined and may not truly exist biologically speaking.

What do you see?

What do you see?

Wild plants arranged by nature, nice colors…

At the MN Valley National Wildlife Refuge .. Nov 2, 2014

Nature-made water colors …

rippled reflections

A Red-tailed Hawk soaring high, riding the thermals, looking down for food

At the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, in Bloomington

Nov 2, 2014

Taken with a Canon Rebel XSi 12.2 MP D-SLR Camera with a 75-300 canon lens

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This little bird stayed with me, and he moved to a branch only 15 ft away so my zoom camera was happy and I got nice and crispy photos

I’m watching you, you see me up here?

Nuthatch in all her/his glory

Nov. 2, 2014

Minnesota valley national wildlife refuge

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Yum!

Blink blink

Windy day

Do I look like a woodpecker?

Pink / orange monkey butt

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A nuthatch keeping an eye on me as he (or she) fed

at the Minnesota wildlife refuge in Bloomington

Nov. 2, 2014

Colorful Fall Flowers

This little one, has eye lashes

Hairy Woodpecker Busy Eating , while another bird in the background photobombs 🙂

ID tips from friends:
the clean white outer tail feathers distinguish Hairy from Downy, in most areas anyway.
Female Hairy Woodpecker. unbarred tail feathers, larger bill, and well developed comma eliminate a Downy
You can also see the size of the bird compared to each suet cake. It’s a hairy.

Taken with a Canon Rebel XSi 12.2 MP D-SLR Camera with a 75-300 canon lens

A bunch of compiled shots of the same woodpecker, Minnetonka MN October 2014

A Downy Woodpecker, Male

Click to see full size image, and see more detail of the bird, the sun light reflecting on his feathers, etc.

(the guy on the feeder might be another bird)
the image resolution/quality was lowered to reduce it’s size / web version

our bird

I filmed this short clip of nature sounds at the Minnesota River Valley National Wildlife Refuge on a nice walk, Oct 16  around 2PM .. enjoying the Minnesota Fall.   This was my first visit to this park.   When you stop thinking, moving, and enhance your awareness to the present moment things start to become more vivid, colors, sounds… this video attempts to share that experience

You can watch this on youtube and as full screen for a clearer view here: http://www.youtube.com/v/gckSurwx4O8

video description from youtube: Ready for a moment of enhanced awareness?  Maybe see some magic?   look around, listen, watch … Nature sounds, crickets, wind, trail, leaves, sun, valley … this video might offer you a mystical minute of enjoying some awareness to the surrounding nature, shot during a walk at the MN River Valley National Wildlife Refuge (in between the noise from airplanes taking off)

Here is another one, this one is more of a  quick 360 view
You can watch this on youtube and as full screen for a clearer view here: http://www.youtube.com/v/L5eFs_aG_uI

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Ready for a moment of enhanced awareness?  Maybe feel some magic?  Hear some sounds? See leaves falling off trees in the wind.. Filmed at the MN river valley not far from the river itself.  Look around, listen, watch … wind, trail, blowing leaves … This video might offer you a mystical minute.

Minnesota River Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Oct 16 2014

You can watch this on youtube and as full screen for a clearer view here:
http://www.youtube.com/v/HzdOmEo0ST0

You can watch this on youtube and as full screen for a clearer view here:
http://www.youtube.com/v/pS2K_OA22VI

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Watch the sky, clouds, sun, big waves and listen to the sounds… filmed on a pier at Lake Calhoun, Minneapolis MN, on Saturday October 4 2014. Temperature must have been about 45, windy so felt colder.

Walking to pier:

A still video portrait

A still video portrait:

A still video portrait:

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Some Heron birds i spotted at a field in western WI.

Herons, Bird identification, Farm, field, hay bails, sky, landscape, crickets, Wisconsin

October 10, 2014
Grass with frost at about 7AM, Hopkins MN

October 10, 2014
Grasses and wild plants with frost at about 7AM, Hopkins MN

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The red tree, at about noon time, where I parked and ate lunch in  the red sun light passing through the leaves

Oct 10, 2014, Eden Prairie, MN

this is an Acer x freemanii hybrid of red maple (A. rubrum) and silver maple (A. saccharinum)

Nice fall colors on the side of this hill, in the shade you will see frost on the grass – Oct 10, 2014, Hopkins, MN

Photo above shows a sumac plant

October 8, 2014 – Chan, MN

In Chanhassen, MN – October 8, 2014

A full lunar eclipse, I couldn’t take photos of the full eclipse, the photos below show the blood moon eclipse winding down as the moon was setting between 6 to 7 AM, October 8, 2014

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Here’s a squirrel doing what squirrels do, we take these critters fore-granted here in MN since they are abundant, if you watch them, they are intelligent, agile, flexible, quick and love to eat.  I think these photos will help you see that. October 8, 2014

click on photos to see photos in full size, and the squirrel’s details

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Plant identification post:

This one is: Viburnum trilobum/opulus – canberrybush viburnum

October 2, 2014 – Eden Prairie MN

Fall colors, Chanhassen, MN

Oct 9, 2014

above photo is at highway 212

Below, shows early fall colors in the metro

Below is Red Rock lake in Eden Prairie

First photo shows 3 contrails,

the last 2 photos show multiple chemtrails, at least 3, these are much longer, do not disappear they dissipate into clouds instead

First photo taken about 11AM, last 3 taken about 5PM on the same day from relatively the same location.

This little woodpecker is busy looking for food, zoomed in, getting closer trying to follow her/his moves.

October 5, 2014 Minnesota

October 11, 2014 , Chanhassen MN by the Lakewinds Coop. Nice Fall day.

At a trail at the Theodore Wirth park in Minnesota. Saturday May 10

Looks a lot like Motherwort, but already has the smell of garlic.  Once plant grows it will be easier to tell just by looking at it.  Future posts will show future growth stages of garlic mustard.  Very invasive plant, pull, eat or discard appropriately.

It’s been a cold spring season in MN this year (2014).

At a trail at the Theodore Wirth park in Minnesota. Saturday May 10.

Future photos will show other stages of this plant’s growth / life cycle.

This is early spring, a colder than usual spring season.

just a map