Book Ending Lake Superior: Sea Smoke and Snowy Owls

Year 7

Yesterday morning started with ships and sea smoke 40 minutes before sunrise off Lake Superior’s Splitrock Lighthouse. The day ended with the 60 minutes prior to sunset with a royal Snowy Owl Flush… both a beautiful female and male! By the time I got home I was thoroughly frozen. With the temperature hovering around 0F (-18F), even with decent gloves it is impossible to keep the hands warm. While it was much colder during my morning sea smoke photoshoot (-18F or -28C), when photographing owls there is a lot of waiting for action which is when one gets bone cold.

Snowy Owl Take-Off (female or first year male)

Sleepy … or laughing at me Snowy Owl (male)

The male Snowy even slept through a diving attack from the female pictured first in this blog post. It was too cool to be bothered.

Great big mounds of plowed snow gave me the ability to almost see “eye to eye” with the owls. Was fun being up at their level 10 to 12 feet off the ground… but still a bit distant. My Canon Sx70 has a 65x optical zoom, which is a 1365 35mm equivalnet. On bright, sunny days the super zooms work very nicely.

 

Splitrock Lighthouse Shipping Season Finale Sea Smoke!

Year 7

It was -18F at 7 am this morning, which was 45 minutes before sunrise. The windchill was -35F. Most people might think it would be a good morning to sit by a warm fire, but that would be wrong! Instead, I left my house at 6:15 to arrive at the Splitrock Lighthouse overlook long before sunup.

Why? Last night I knew some magical conditions might come together in the glorious pre-dawn light:

  • Clear Skies
  • Sea Smoke (formed when temperatures drop well below zero)
  • Freighters sailing down to the North Shore to avoid ice buildup given NW winds

Here are two photographs of the American Spirit Ore Boat which was Duluth bound for winter layup. In fact, today is the last day of this year’s shipping season. The Sault Locks close today and shipping on Lake Superior ends till spring.

This begs the question, how did I know it would be worth the drive to go up the shore? Research! Last night I checked both the Duluth Ship Tracking web site, then my Marine Traffic Tracking App, and finally my photography app (PlanIt Pro) for the sun angle. I needed to answer these questions:

  1. Were there still ships on Lake Superior? (yes).
  2. When is arrival in Duluth / Superior expected and would that put the ships somewhere I could capture a pre-dawn light image? (yes)
  3. Given the weather conditions, were the two ships avoiding the direct route via the South Shore and taking the longer North Shore route to Duluth and therebye escaping the NW wind and potential ice buildup? (yes)

When I got out of bed shortly before 6 am, I once again checked the Marine App and was pleased to see both the American Spirit and Burns Harbor were somewhat off the coast of Lutsen on the North Shore. Next I checked the details for the American Spirit to determine its speed. Given the ships speed and distance remaining to Splitrock, I felt a drive up the shore had decent chance of success. The American Spirit should sail by Splitrock Lighthouse in the pre-dawn light in the midst of Sea Smoke. This was NOT a lucky shot; the photograph was well planned.

Here are some screenshots which give you an idea of my research.

Finally, the Burns Harbor was only ten miles behind the American Spirit. It eventually sailed into view and yielded a nice photograph.

 

Sax-Zim Bog American Three-Toed Woodpecker!

Year 7

I spent the morning and early afternoon in Sax-Zim Bog.  A hike into the Winterberry Bog yielded a rare sighting, a male American Three-Toed Woodpecker. Given the remote wilderness areas this woodpecker inhabits, most folks would never see this bird. In addition, this woodpecker never visits feeders … flaking off bark for its tasty meals found underneath.

American Three-Toed Woodpecker

I also had fun watching this Northern Hawk Owl hunt. Just like when I last saw this bird almost 7 weeks ago, it is hanging out near a logging operation enjoying voles and mice scared up by crashing trees.

Northern Hawk Owl

Finally, for those of you in Florida, Molly and I are coming south. We will be in the Fort Myers area between January 23rd and 30th. Suggestions for birding excursions are definitely most welcome … perhaps even meeting some of you Floridians!

My thanks to Ed L. who took me over to the Bog today. While I am driving and my eyes are much, much better … it is nice to be a passenger.