If you are serious about photography, sleep will often be a precious commodity. Last night I was alerted that the Aurora Borealis was shining over Lake Superior. Without hesitation I headed out at 1:45 am to enjoy the display, and take some photographs. Knowing that true darkness ends about two hours before sunrise, at 4:00 am after spending a delightful two hours watching and photographing the Northern Lights, I drove home and got back in bed.

However, after only 1.5 hours at 6:00 am I was out of bed and hiking over to some ponds which had only become ice free within the past two days. The first light of morning … the golden hour … will enhance any photograph and display a bird’s plumage at its best. In addition, I knew that given all the lakes in the region except Lake Superior were still 100% ice covered, migrant birds would be enticed by the four small ponds that were my destination.

I was not disappointed. For 20 minutes I worked myself into position to photograph a green heron without spooking it. I hope you enjoy my heron photo, as well as the other pictures. My first photo is the Northern Lights display with the Aurora reflecting onto the Lake Superior ice!

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Northern Lights Over Lake Superior

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Green Heron Migrating Through Duluth, Minnesota

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Hey! You! Get offa my pond!

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Green Metallica Mallards

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Morning Bufflehead