Northern Night Lights

Year 4

Have been off the grid at my remote small Northwoods cabin. A few nights ago I walked down to the dock at midnight and took this photograph of the Milky Way over our cabin. I knew from a photography app I utilize that the core of the Milky Way would be in the proper position of the night sky. The app is named PlanIt! for Photographers which is available for only a few dollars both on Android and IOS. This app allows one to determine many important items which are helpful to photographers such as sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset, dark night period, dark sky regions and much, much more. I’ve included a screenshot of how I used PlanIt! for planning my Milky Way photo. Note how the app utilizes Google Maps and thus is location specific. In the Google Maps satellite view one may actually see my fishing boat!

The light in showing through the window is from two small night lights. My camera settings are ISO 3,200, Aperture 2.0 for a 25 second exposure.

Northern Night Lights … Milky Way

Screenshots from PlanIt!

Birds and Boats! (and a Lighthouse)

Year 4, ,

I was up before sunrise and drove down to Canal Park. I noticed in my semi-wakeful state around 4 am that the heavy rains had stopped. For me that meant clear skies and good birding. As the sun poked its head over the horizon Lake Superior and Canal Park shone out in her glory.

After Canal Park, I visited the Old Stella Jones Pier (reviewed with map yesterday). During the “golden hour” I found an American Golden Plover. After some significant time with my friendly plover it was off to Park Point where I hung out on the beach with the Semipalmated Sandpipers.

Oh yes … the boat pics!

20 Minutes on the Old Stella Jones Pier

Year 4

Novmber 2017 Update: This industrial area / pier has now been fenced off by the City of Duluth.

After spending hours in the field, some days one gets stumped when birding, but then there are days like this morning. Given I only had 20 minutes to spend at active birding I drove over to the Old Stella Jones Pier in West Duluth. Jackpot! This location can be real good during the spring and fall migrations, particularly for Arctic shorebirds.

My visit started with an immature Bald Eagle which did not seem to mind my presence. It allowed me to be within 50 yards my entire time out on the pier (I was in my car). Next, I had fun watching a Merlin buzz the shorebirds … but the shorebirds kept coming back.

Here are some of the fruits of my labor. To find Old Stella Jones Pier, exit off of I-35 at Central Ave and drive to Waseca Industrial Blvd. Use the map at the bottom of this post. One warning, drive very slowly as you go out onto the pier. There are some HUGE potholes.

Immature Bald Eagle (short hops and checking for crows)

Baird’s Sandpipers

Lesser Yellowlegs

Old Stella Jones Pier