When I got up yesterday morning at 5 am, the skies were clear and the stars were sparkling. This condition meant only one thing to me, I had to head north of Duluth and see the hoar frost in the sunshine. Thus, 45 minutes before sunrise I drove north deeper into the Boreal Forest. I was hoping a Great Gray Owl would sit in the sunshine in a frost encrusted tree. Although I never found an owl in a super white ice encrusted tree, this bird was cooperative in a semi ice covered tree … and out in the sun. Enjoy!
Over the past week I’ve become aware that many of my readers who are sheltering at home due to the Pandemic not only enjoy reading my blog, but also use the various harbor cameras in the Duluth / Superior region to “get out and travel” on a daily basis. Clicking upon any of “the cameras” on the Duluth Ship Tracking web site allows one to travel in this manner … with real time video.
While the harbor cams are great, these devices have limitations such as no audio. Thus, I decided to provide a Canal Park experience. Last night at 8:00 pm I videotaped the Arthur Anderson leaving Duluth downbound for the steel mills in Gary, Indiana with a load of iron ore.
This ship is a beautiful classic ore boat, and was out on Lake Superior in the same storm, and very near to the Edmund Fitzgerald in November of 1975 when a viscous winter storm sent the Fitz to the bottom of Lake Superior with all hands perishing. Many of you, like me may love in a sad way Gordon Lightfoot’s song … The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. (video link for email subscribers)
Regardless, it was a beautiful night. I am not an experienced night time video photographer, but I hope you enjoy the Arthur Anderson leaving the Duluth Harbor. Some notes:
Sorry about the background wind noise.
From 10 to 30 seconds the video is sped up by a factor of 10x (audio muted)
From 30 to 2:25 the video is in “real time”. Enjoy the Anderson salutes and the bridge’s answers. The Anderson eventually gives a rare double salute!
From 2:25 to the end the video is sped up by a factor of 10x (audio muted)
Aerial Bridge as seen just prior to the Anderson’s arrival last night (video follows)
Arthur Anderson departs the Duluth Harbor (video link for email subscribers)
Honestly I did not head out yesterday morning looking for owls, but there are so many Great Gray Owls around this winter they found me! My primary goal was to enjoy the winter grosbeaks at the Sax-Zim Bog Welcome Center. I did find a huge number of both Evening and Pine Grosbeaks, but I will admit my treat for the day was watching owls hunt in the frosted environment.
Once it gets a little closer to dawn, I am heading out to enjoy the hoar frost. Unlike yesterday when it was cloudy, the night skies are clear right now. Blue sky on white hoaar frost? Uff dah! The world was white yesterday morning but with wonderful interlaced color.
