Day 342: New Years Eve Dawn Magic at Dawn!

January 2, 2015Year 2MN North: Amity, MN North: Stony Pointrichardhoeg@gmail.com

The last day of the year was a magical time for photography. The day dawned cold with the prospect of a fantastic sunrise out over Lake Superior. Although I started out on my birding photography rounds before sunrise, I quickly adjusted my plans and enjoyed the year’s last dawn. Quite frankly experiences like the cold seasmoke dawn over Lake Superior are part of what makes early morning birding so much fun.

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Sun + Wind (32 pmh) + Seasmoke = Stoney Point Magic

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Today’s Bird: White Breasted Nuthatch

Days 340 & 341: The Birds of Frostbite Falls

December 30, 2014Year 1MN North: Mouth of the Lester River, MN North: Old Vermilion Trailrichardhoeg@gmail.com

The gloom of yesteryear (the past three weeks) is kaput. A cold high pressure system has come down from the Arctic, and night time temperatures are falling to below -10F (and colder) once you get a few miles away from Lake Superior. These cold temperatures mean bright sunny days with very little moisture in the air … given the sun does not rise too high in the sky in late December, photo conditions are excellent.

Frostbite Falls … a fictitious Minnesota location made famous by Rocky and Bullwinkle! The birds of Frostbite Falls still need to eat; thus one will find them in the normal haunts. If the conditions are real cold, birds will delay foraging for their breakfast till the thermal warmth of the sun raises the temperature a bit.

Finally, on the other end of the day, our area lives up to the term, Frostbite Falls. The lights of the Mesabi Miner are seen off the Duluth Ship Canal … Midnight Arrival!

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Day 340: Pine Siskins on the Vermilion Trail

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Day 341: Sunrise Mallards on Lake Superior

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Midnight Arrival

Day 339: Golden Hour Birds

December 29, 2014Year 1MN North: Duluth Harbor, WI North: Richard Bong Airportrichardhoeg@gmail.com

Have you ever heard the term “golden hour” photography? Basically the term means the hour immediately after sunrise, and the hour before sunset. During this time period the light is soft, and colors are enhanced. In Minnesota during the winter, our golden hour is actually much longer than 60 minutes for the simple reason the sun does not get all that high in the sky.

Yesterday I made to birding excursions. All the photos were taken during the golden hour. The light and the resulting photographs were fantastic!

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Goldeneyes in the Duluth Harbor

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Katie’s Snowy Owl! (she had been showing my snowy owl photos to the 4th grade class she teaches. Thus it was fun to taken her and Erik on a successful owling expedition.