Aurora Borealis Bird Song!

Year 2,

Great night in northern Minnesota. My Aurora app went off last night and awakened me shortly before 2 am. (set for Kp of 5). Knowing that the moon would set shortly, and Ovation looked decent, I threw on some clothes and drove north to Boulder Lake (30 miles north of Duluth) arriving around 2:45 am.

I was rewarded! The Aurora danced and was easily viewable with the naked eye. Given the moon was down, it was very, very dark. This allowed me to even see faint red with my own eye.

While I was taking this photo the loons were going wild. Every loon for miles around was calling out through the night. In addition, an owl was hooting behind me! Very cool. Both man and bird were impressed with the celestial show!

Most of these photos had these settings … ISO:1600, Aperture:3.5 (wide open for my camera, a Sony NEX-5T mirrorless), and an Exposure of 15 seconds. This photo also uses the “kit lens” which came with my Sony.

It was 40F and damp when I finished up a bit after 4 am. Ground fog was starting to form; shorts and a wool sweater were not sufficient warmth. However, there was no way while the Northern Lights were dancing that I was going to give up and hike back to the car.

Oh yes … I’m still photographing birds! The hawk migration has started, and I found this Merlin while bicycling along Lake Superior yesterday afternoon (last image of this post)

View my Northern Lights photographs via Flickr

Northern Lights & Big Dipper Over Boulder Lake
Northern-Lights-Boulder-Lake-03-Aug-2015-Island-Rays

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The Ghost of Boulder Lake
Northern-Lights-Boulder-Lake-01-Aug-2015-Ghost-Selfie

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Two More Images from Last Night
Northern-Lights-Boulder-Lake-04-Aug-2015-Island-Leaning-Pines Northern-Lights-Boulder-Lake-07-Aug-2015-Dock-Selfie

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The Promised Merlin
Y2-M08-Merlin

North Shore Migration Starting Now!

Year 2

The migration of birds along the North Shore of Lake Superior is starting to perk up. The last few days have seen strong westerly wings and thunderstorms which have pushed birds against the big lake. Most of our feathered friends do not like to fly across the large expanse of open water, and therefore work their way along the shore (or just inland) after having the prevailing winds push them against the lake.

Apparently yesterday evening large numbers of nighthawks were migrating along Brighton Beach. Although I missed that sight, I worked areas inland from Lake Superior from Little Marais south to Duluth including the Beaver Bay Sewage Treatment Ponds. The septic treatment ponds were full of late migrating shorebirds, swallows, and mallards. The hawk migration is now starting and time spent looking out over pastures yielded the sight of many hawks hunting in the late afternoon. Over the weeks ahead, this trek south should get better and better!

An American Kestrel (photo taken from a great distance)
Y2-M08-American-Kestrel

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Night  Time Thunderstorm at Canal Park
Dark-and-Stormy-Night

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Wind Blown Tree Swallows at Beaver River
Y2-M08-Tree-Swallows-Wind-Blown

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Stilt Sandpipers at Beaver River
Y2-M08-Stilt-Sandpiper-2 Y2-M08-Least-Sandpiper-1 Y2-M08-Stilt-Sandpiper-3

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Two Different Broad Winged Hawks
Y2-M08-Broad-Winged-Hawk-3 Y2-M08-Broad-Winged-Hawk-1 Y2-M08-Broad-Winged-Hawk-2

Park Point / Minnesota Point Playing Fields

Year 2, ,

The rains returned to northeast Minnesota, and with the drenching rain the puddles / ponds reappeared on the playing fields at the end of Park Point. This combination plus the NE winds insured that at this time of year migrating shorebirds made an appearance to feed. Here are a few photos I took during yesterday morning’s blustery and foggy conditions.

I’ve also added two owl photos I took just prior to the start of this project / web site. Both owl photos were taken late winter 2013 within 800 yards of my home on Amity Creek.

Post Update on August 22nd: I’ve updated this entry to correctly identify one of the birds as a Lesser Yellows. Please see the comments for this blog post, as Adam and Dan helped with the ID and provided useful information.

Great Yellowlegs
Y2-M08-Park-Point-Greater-Yellowlegs-2

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Lesser & Great Yellowlegs on the hunt!
Y2-M08-Park-Point-Solitary-Sandpiper-and-Greater-Yellowlegs-1

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Barred Owl (archive photo)
Barred-Owl

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Boreal Owl (archive photo)
Boreal-Owl-HDR