All posts by richardhoeg@gmail.com

Grand Marais Lighthouse … 12 Hours!

One of the nicest spots on the North Shore of Lake Superior is Grand Marais, Minnesota. This small town is 100 miles up the shore from my home at the northern edge of Duluth. Since I was a little boy, my family has come up to this region. When I was in junior high, on busy holiday weekends my brother and I would help friends who ran a business right on the Canadian border. Given the Pandemic there is no border traffic, but after work we we loved fishing  on the Pigeon River just downriver from High Falls (park did not exist back then). Occasionally if the weather allowed, we would take the small 12 footer out on to Lake Superior in search of Lake Trout.

My point in my preamble is to demonstrate my family has history in this area, and a deep love of the region. Two days ago I photographed the small lighthouse that guards the harbor … 12 hours apart. In between it stormed like crazy till the sun finally returned two hours before sunset.

Finally … good news coming. Hoot will have a second printing. Expect the formal announcement in a day or two. Reserve your copy. They sold out fast in the first printing. Anyone on the list (see form) is guaranteed to Hoot!

Red in the Morning … Sailors Take Warning

Moonrise

Shorebird Bonanza

Seems like the number of Shorebirds in the Duluth area has been slow this migration. However, that now appears to have changed. These two photographs were taken Saturday on some mudflats near the Duluth Harbor. Needed some time to work through all my images to get what I hope are correct ID’s:
  1. A Least Sandpiper
  2. A pair of Semi-Palmated Plovers
  3. A Long-Billed Dowitcher

Shorebirds are tough with all their different plumage versions … breeding vs. non breeding … and then add in juveniles. Uff dah!
And some more images from my Shorebird bonanza!
Semi-Palmated Plover Pair

Pectoral Sandpiper


Long-Billed Dowitcher and a pair of Semi-Palmated Plovers


Lesser Yellowlegs


Least Sandpiper and Long-Billed Dowitcher


Least Sandpiper and a pair of Semi-Palmated Plovers


Long-Billed Dowitcher and a Semi-Palmated Plover

Owling During the Pandemic

Hoot and the rest of my Great Horned Owl family recently requested if I was going to spend so much time hanging out with them, I needed to consider their safety. Obviously I agreed, and thankfully once I found the necessary fabric, Molly came to rescue and sewed me some new masks. Everyone is now happy.

These photographs were all taken within the last 24 hours … either yesterday afternoon just before supper, or this morning a touch after sunrise. Enjoy!

Great Horned Owl Sibling #1

Great Horned Owl Sibling #2

Great Horned Owl Sibling #3 (Hoot!)(guess which way the wind was blowing!)

Rich the “Owl Guy”!

Yes … depending upon my location … near my home in the Amity Forest or up in Sax-Zim Bog, I will wear the proper owl wear!