Winter Layup Starts! The last ship of the season, the laker (ore boat) Kaye E. Barker arrived overnight at the Fraser Shipyards in Superior (across the harbor from Duluth)
Click or press upon to get full effect of image … it was cold very early this morning!
A slightly different treatment of the same photograph.
My friend Peter Ismert arrived from Colorado, and yesterday morning we were up in Sax-Zim Bog before the sun rose. Actually the morning was rather dark due to clouds and some snow which had just moved out of the area. Given calms winds it was a perfect morning for owling. Later in the day, the sun made an appearance. It is definitely a perfect day in the woods when the temperature soars to 27F, and the sun beats down on your back with no wind.
However, we did have to face the question of … What did the Fox say? Apparently the answer is “we don’t want know stinking Snowies in our field!” Peter and I watched a Red Fox calmly walk across a farm field and send the Snowy Owl which had been sitting on a hay bale flying. The fox also might have said … “owl trifecta!”. In total we saw two Great Gray Owls, two Snowy Owls and one Northern Hawk Owl. When we returned home to have dinner with my wife Molly, my two yard birds (Great Horned Owls) were hooting their love for one another in the gathering darkness. It was a good day.
Red Fox
Snowy Owl about to be flushed by said Red Fox
Great Gray Owl
Northern Hawk Owl
Snowy Owl #2
Although I watched Great Gray Owl #2 for 20 minutes, I chose not to take any pictures of that bird. I just wanted to enjoy the experience of watching it hunt (successfully).
This post is way off topic, but let’s me expand upon the power of the web. Most of my career at Honeywell was spent leading various web initiatives. In fact, I built some of my company’s first external web sites in the early 1990’s. It is nothing short of amazing how the internet has changed our lives. I was actually using the web well before graphical browsers came on the scene. One needed to know UNIX. Regardless, on to today’s post …
I love folk music, and play the accordion. A favorite evening past time of mine is to explore YouTube watching / listening to folk music from around the world. Last night, this amazing Mongolian Band, The HU, was presented to me by YouTube as something I might enjoy. Oh my … too cool and fantastic. All four musicians play traditional folk instruments at the Mongolian Conservatory where one band member is a professor. National Public Radio recently featured the group in a long article.
The band combines the old and the new. This YouTube video features the band playing their music which incorporates a “heavy metal” sound, but also has them singing in a guttural way known as Mongolian throat singing. All their instruments are traditional. This is a unique and stunning sound.
As a fyi … I do not normally like heavy metal music, but this is something completely different. It is amazing what comes our way via the internet, including this blog. However, if you really want me to find a “bird connection” for this post, browse to YouTube and watch / listen to their video, The Wolf Totem. You will hear an eagle or hawk screaming.
Video of the band playing music below this image …
The HU! (skip to the 60 second mark to reach the music)