North Shore Scenic Railroad Steam Engine (video)

Year 6

Molly and I have been holding Gramma and Grampa camp. Our two oldest grandchildren have been visiting, and like good grandparents we look for fun outings. Thankfully the North Shore Scenic Railroad held their first “steam engine weekend” of the season. In addition to taking the kids birding, they got to see the steam engine many times!

Steam Engine Crossing the Sucker River Trestle

Wildflower Steam Engine (lupines)

Chug Chug! Choo Choo! (video)

Finally a photograph from one of our birding excursions … the location is where we found the Merlin. Thank you for the kind comments about “being a good grandfather”. Via my children’s books I hope everyone’s special children are introduced to the outdoors. My third book, Snowy’s Search for Color, just went to the printer on Monday.

Whimbrel Sunrise Birding

Year 6

I have often espoused about the importance of catching first light for photography. I hope this post will demonstrate the importance of that fact. My target bird for this morning was an unusual migrant already heading south (yes … the southern migration has now started). A Whimbrel which breeds on the shores of Hudson Bay and the Arctic  has been calling Minnesota Point its temporary home for the last week. The tall grasses at the end of Park Point are providing a tundra like / meadow environment which this bird likes.

I left my home at sunrise (now 5:30 am) and arrived at the Park Point fields a few minutes after 6:00 am. The golden orb was only just beginning to peek over the pine trees that populate Lake Superior’s dune barrier. I took my first photos when the Whimbrel was in the full shade. Although this meant many, many blurry images, knowing that my target bird would pause every so often during its search for breakfast … I pressed the shutter and waited … one out of every series of images would normally be in focus and of a stationary bird.

Pay attention to how my photographic opportunities varied from the first rays of sun, to almost 30 minutes later when full sun was now the equation. I like the soft light of the earlier pictures, and left my Whimbrel when in my opinion the sun was getting to high in the sky (6:45 am)! Notice how the plumage color changes as I acquire more light for photography.

One final comment as we now start to head into the southern migration here in the extreme northern reaches of the United States. Unlike the northward migration in the spring, during the southern migration birds will “hang around” if they find good food sources. This gives a person the opportunity to enjoy birds for a period of time as they will not immediately “push on”.

Whimbrel at 6:08 am (love the heavy dew on the grasses)

Whimbrel at 6:10 am (now that the sun is up, the dew is hard to see)

Whimbrel at 6:23 am (early sun means shadows!)

Whimbrel at 6:26 am

Whimbrel at 6:40 am

 

Steam Shovel Sally

Year 6,

Birds nest in unusual places, and “Steam Shovel Sally” is a prime example of that fact. Yesterday morning was “Birding with Grampa”, and Sally performed and exceeded  my expectations. When one takes young children birding (at their request) it is important to have fun, and not spend a long time in the field. I figured “Steam Shovel Sally” would appeal given the location of the nest (at the top of an antiquated old steam shovel). Ospreys are cool big birds, and Sally flew around for us several times … stooping into the nest. We topped off our birding excursion with breakfast at McDonalds and a Merlin landing only 30 feet from us while that falcon hunted at the mouth of the Lester River.

Right now I am waiting to hear sounds from my grandkids, then its off to look for our local beaver. I am including one more image of my young American Kestrel from one of last week’s birding trips. I finally had the opportunity to process the photograph.