Category Archives: Travel Blogs

Photos, Troy's Blog

Birds on the Move

During the fall while out enjoying some time as the leaves were turning I would watch the birds hopping and flying around noticing all the different types passing through as they made their way south for the winter. Many I recognized while some I didn’t but it was still interesting to see them. One I frequently came across was the yellow rumped warbler. At first I was a little uncertain as to what it was because the colors seemed quite faded from those I’d seen during the spring migration north. These seemed to spend several weeks in the area before finally departing for the winter. During one of the sessions out I saw a few birds jumping from lily pad to lily pad. Unsure of what it was I focused with the camera and in the bright sunlight I could make out the distinctive yellow patches in order to identify these birds. Surprisingly they turned out to be more yellow rumped warblers. It was fun to watch as they moved from jumped between lily pads in search of food.

Yellow rumped warbler

On another day at a different park I came across a yellow warbler. At least that’s what I believe it is. It was quickly moving between branches among some dense shrubs but did fly out and land briefly in a small tree for me to get a picture before this bird returned into the shrubs where I could not photograph it any more.

Yellow Warbler

A couple of weeks later I ventured into another park and came across these birds which I’m unable to figure out what they are. Most of the time they were hopping around on the ground occasionally venturing into nearby grasses. At first I thought they were fairly common sparrows but looking closer I noticed yellow patches just above some of the birds eyes which made me question which type of bird this actually is.

Possible Sparrow

During this same visit I noticed a small flock of birds fluttering in some tall evergreens moving from one tree to another working in all kinds of positions in search of food. There was definitely a bright stripe on the top of their head indicating they were kinglets but they didn’t look like the ruby crowned kinglets I’ve seen before. After looking at the pictures and researching a little I ID’d them as golden crowned kinglets. Fun to watch they aerobatics up and down trees.

Gold Crowned Kinglet

Earlier in the fall I came across these tiny birds flying in between shrubs stopping from time to time long enough to get a good look. At first I only saw females and only had their size and the patterns on their wings to try to identify them from but eventually came across males that displayed their ruby crowns giving me a positive ID. I was amazed how they can hide their bright red stripe on the top of their head and flash it at will again. Fun little birds to watch.

Ruby Crowned Kinglet

Photos, Troy's Blog

Eagle Watching

A cool, crisp late fall day under a bright mid-morning sun seemed like a perfect setting to get out on my bike and put in a few miles before completing some projects. Just a couple of miles in brought me by a large lake partially frozen over where on eagle sat watching over the water for a potential meal while a brave crow tried to scare it away. It would have been nice to have my camera with as this eagle was relatively close and didn’t seem to care I was there watching. Without anything more than my phone I snapped a few photos and continued on my way. Another couple of miles brought me to more open water with hundreds of ducks floating on it. I decided a quick look would be nice and that’s when I began to see a few more eagles flying overhead.

 

A place to eat the catch of the day

Stopping to take in the scene and try to figure out what kind of ducks where swimming in the water I began to notice even more eagles perched in trees nearby. As I watched more I saw one eagle after another. Some flying while others remained perched in trees. Counting there were over two dozen eagles in this one little area. Must have been migrating south as the lakes and rivers began to freeze over further north. At this point I was really missing my camera as there were some amazing shots waiting to be taken here. After a little more time I decided it was time to head for home as there was much to do. As I was leaving the eagles let me ride right underneath the trees they were perched in. Amazing birds to view up close!

A juvenile eagle landing in a nearby tree

On the way back home I decided I had to grab the camera and try to get a few photos of all of these eagles in one area. Quickly returning I found all of the eagles had left. Now what? With so much I needed to get done back home I decided a better plan of action was to drive around the area and see if I could find these eagles. After checking out several different spots and a few hours I eventually came across several eagles and decided to spend the rest of the afternoon watching them as they were really too far away for good photos. That of course did not stop me from trying which resulted in the pictures for this post.

Watching as a flock of ducks flies by

Over the course of an hour I counted about twelve different eagles photographing most of them and watching them through my telephoto lens as they circled the little open water that remained, caught fish, and flew to perches to eat their catch. In between eagles, flock and flock of ducks would fly over either entering the open water or leaving for another spot. Most of these appeared to be common mergansers with some ring-neck ducks mixed in. I’ve never seen so many common mergansers before. Unfortunately none of these eagles gave me much opportunity for a great shot but I still had a fun afternoon observing and learning how they interact. It would have been nice to spend many more days following this one in search of more eagles, looking for a beautiful shot but other priorities took over. Hopefully there will be more opportunities in the future to try again.

A juvenile coming in to land next to an adult

Photos, Troy's Blog

Minneapolis Skyline

On a beautiful September evening I ventured out to find a beautiful spot to photograph the Minneapolis skyline while the sun faded behind the horizon. City lights began to illuminate the landscape as day turned to night bringing different moods during this interesting transition. This nighttime image is probably my favorite of the day as the city is surrounded by the blue, evening sky reflecting off of the river below both highlighting the lit up buildings while reflecting the last of the sunlight reflecting from the glass of the buildings.

Minneapolis at sunset

My images from the night are in reverse order in this situation going from night, to sunset, to daylight only because the top photo is the one I liked most and still wanted some chronological order in the post. This next picture is just after sunset showing the colorful clouds behind a city yet to begin lighting up for the night. All of these stages of a transforming city where taken so they could be used as panoramic shots to display the full skyline of Minneapolis. The sunset image above is one photo of a part of the full panoramic picture which can be combined with the rest of the photographs from that time of the night. They can be added together to create a scene such as in the image below.

Mpls Skyline during the day

Once the sun had set and lights brightened up the city against the night sky, a quick trip away from these city lights brought out a very different scene – a star filled sky. Seeing the Milkyway appear among the stars always amazes me and makes me pause from a days activities comtemplating the universe and my place in it. It seems to reduce the importance of whatever issues I may be experiencing which ends up having a calming effect on me. A nice way to end a beautiful summer night.

Summer Milky Way

Photos, Seasons, Troy's Blog

A Fall Frosty Morning

As light began to appear one morning I could see the leaves were white with frost. Immediately I decided to finish what I was doing, grab the camera and head to a nearby park to see if I could capture a piece of this beautiful, frosty morning. The temperature was barely below freezing and was rising fast as the sun rose above the horizon so there wasn’t a lot of time to photograph leaves adorned with some interesting ice crystals. Working somewhat quickly I decided on a few shots I wanted and prioritized those in case the frost disappeared before I got them all. Fortunately areas more shaded retained the frost crystals a little longer extending my time of picture taking with these cool subjects.

Milkweed seeds covered in frost

I started with an overall landscape picture but the light wasn’t quite right so moved on to fall colored leaves outlined in frost while staying somewhat close to the place I wanted to photograph the overall landscape from so I could quickly return once the sun was lighting up the areas I wanted to see it more. That resulted in the picture at the top of this post. Frost covered cattails with some colorful trees reflecting in the slightly foggy water below. There were a couple of ducks on the water but seem to be missing from the photo. They would have really made a great addition I think. Once I captured that scene I began to move on to smaller subjects such as the milkweed seeds covered with frost in the photo above.

Frost decorating a leaf

While the sun continued to rise shedding light on more of the landscape I grabbed a few pictures of leaves outlined in frost and showing some of the elongated ice crystals standing up from the leaves make them appear as though they had hair on them. A short time later I had to move on to shadier locations in order to continue capturing images of what remained from the earlier frost. That only lasted a short time later and it was time to move on to other subjects or head home and continue on the days projects. Heading home did not seem like a good decision since I was already at the park with camera in hand so I kept wandering to see what else was going on that may be photo worthy. There wasn’t much else that provided interest so I grabbed my bike out of the car and went riding to continue enjoying this sunny day.

Sun shining through a frosty leaf

Photos, Troy's Blog

Sandhill Cranes Invade by the Thousands

During the recent sandhill crane migration I had the opportunity to photograph them throughout the day flying away from their roost in the morning, feeding in nearby cornfields, and then returning at night. The day started off hours before sunrise to find just the right place to watch and take pictures from. The problem was where exactly was this spot? I hadn’t been to this area before and all I had was a map indicating a parking place to watch sandhill cranes. Fortunately there was another adventurer with me who had been in the area and had a bit of an idea of at least where the parking spot would be. We found the parking space which was filled with several other vehicles. This must be the place and there appeared to be a trail so all we had to do was follow that to the cranes right? As it turned out all of those other vehicles were hunters and were off in the woods already. And the trail? It definitely didn’t lead to the cranes.

Being dark out we followed the trail by flashlight and thought it was the right direction as we could hear thousands of sandhill cranes calling and we seemed to be getting closer. After some time on the trail, in the dark, we began to hear squishing sounds only to point the flashlight down and realize where walking through swamps. Every direction we turned to get out of the water led to more water but the cranes sounds really close so we kept trudging through. By this time daylight was beginning to show but there still was not much light as a heavy fog enveloped the area making it difficult to see far enough to know which direction to go. Finally I took out my phone and brought up a satellite map to see what to do next. Our hope of seeing the cranes near their roosting sight disappeared as the realization of needing to head back the way we came took over because there was nothing but more and more water ahead of us. Feeling a little defeated we made our way back to the car to see what we should do next with all of this fog.

Cranes flying in the heavy fog

Acres and acres of corn fields surrounded Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge which is where we were hoping to catch a glimpse of the thousands of cranes that stop on their migration south next. But the fog made it nearly impossible to see much and had no indication of disappearing anytime soon. We decided to try driving around some of the area farms and see if there’s anything to look at. Have any of the cranes made their way to the fields yet? After driving for a little while just ahead of us we caught a glimpse of a flock of cranes flying towards corn fields. That was all the encouragement we needed to continue our search. It took a little more time but eventually there was a field with several sandhill cranes feasting away. Pulling off of the road we grabbed cameras and began taking shot after shot as more and more cranes continue to land in this field. Hundreds of them showed up as the fog finally decided to relent revealing more cranes than I could have imagined all looking for food so they can continue their migration.

Cranes out in a cornfield gorging in preparation for their up coming flight

Over the next 45 minutes or so cranes came in and left again until all of them had moved on to other fields. Back in the car in search of other crane covered corn fields. This went on for the next couple of hours until the need for food became to great a distraction from watching and photographing cranes. After a nice stop to re-fuel, the rest of the afternoon was spent exploring Sherburne which has several trails and numerous service roads which can be hiked for a portion of the year.  Eventually the sunlight began dimming and it was time to return to a crane viewing area for the evening barrage of cranes coming in to roost.

A pair of cranes in flight

Getting back to the parking area for sandhill crane viewing there were once again several cars but this time also several people just standing and watching or photographing as the cranes flew overhead. Finally some confirmation that the point is to watch the cranes from this parking place. We were informed many flocks of cranes have already passed by and it was unknown how many more would still be coming. A few minutes later answered that question as one flock after another continued to fly overhead in route to their evening resting place. Hundreds and hundreds kept going over calling to one another along the way. It was an amazing sight to see and hear thousands of cranes converging into one area. Overall they estimated over 11,000 cranes at the refuge this year.

Wave after wave the Sandhill Cranes return from a day of gorging in nearby cornfields

Photos, Seasons, Troy's Blog

Fall Colors

Fall is slowly making its way south bringing with it some colorful leaves. There was a lot of promise for a spectacular fall canvas filled with reds, yellows, and oranges as Northern Minnesota has shown amazing displays but the transition further south has been less striking. It takes a little searching to find some beautiful fall leaves but they’re there. A little here. A little there. Many trees have decided to either turn a dull brown or just drop their leaves without even hinting at a change in color.  It makes these spots of fall color more impactful though I think.

Colorful leaves covering the water

One of falls lessons in the above photo – Don’t be afraid to display your uniqueness! Most of the leaves have turned a bright yellow if they are displaying their color this year but there’s a few stunning red leaves mixed in. Capturing leaves floating in the water is always interesting especially if there’s a blue sky shining back.

Afternoon sun peaking through a red leaf

Heading out one afternoon the unbelievable red colors of some of the leaves caught my attention in the late afternoon sunshine so I of course had to stop the car and grab a camera for a few quick shots before continuing on my way. Trying my hand attempting to find some artistry I set the camera so the sun was peaking through a hole near the top of the beautiful leaf. Not sure it had the effect I was hoping for but I still kind of like the shot. The grass is in the way in my opinion and the details of the leaf become lost in picture but I do like the sunburst filtering in through the tree behind and the whole in the leaf.

Heading home from work one afternoon I happened to look down along the Mississippi River and noticed some nice fall colors showing up. I decided the next morning to get up before sunrise, as the forecast called for a sunny day, and head to a nice spot to capture this morning light against the fall foliage.

Fall colors begining along the Mississippi River

Arriving near the river an hour before sunrise revealed a cloud filled sky leading to some disappointment but there was still time so maybe the clouds would begin clearing yet. As time passed and sunrise neared the clouds kept persisting dampening my hopes for a beautiful fall sunrise along the river. As the morning continued I tried to find things to photograph and began to notice a few breaks in those cloud blankets so I decided to explore along the river banks a little and there it was. The sun revealed itself shining on the reds and oranges beginning to arrive along the river. Unfortunately it was later in the morning so the light wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for but I took some photographs anyway which turned out ok.

On another outting I came across some beautiful bittersweet fully colored up and showing their bright red berries contrasting nicely with the bare trees and shrubs around it. I had to snap a few photos of this great looking vine. Happy Fall!

Bittersweet fruit

Adventures, State Parks, Troy's Blog

Birds of Itasca State Park

While camping in Itasca State Park this past summer I was hoping to run across several different types of birds that I’m not use to seeing. While out exploring I came across several that I’ve seen multiple times but where still fun to watch on a beautiful summer morning as the sunlight spilled across the landscape. During one of my early morning excursions I stopped at a large pond with the camera to enjoy breakfast and see what wildlife appeared. Soon after settling in along the shoreline I spotted a loon across the water swimming and fishing. Watching for awhile this loon seemed to be swimming around the lake near shore. I decided to wait for awhile to see if it would make to my side of the lake giving me an opportunity to snap a few pictures before continuing on with the day. Eventually the loon appeared right in front of me and actually surprised me a little when it surfaced as the last time I saw it it was headed back to the other side of the pond. It’s always fun to see loons moving around in the water.

Green Heron

On another morning I headed to a dock along Lake Itasca again hoping to catch a glimpse of some of the areas wildlife and was not disappointed. The morning started off with a green heron flying out of the fog rolling over the surface of the water and landed on a branch over the water a short distance away. As the sun began to emerge eagles began to soar overhead in search of a morning meal adding to a Northern Minnesota experience. They seemed to keep an eye on me but weren’t real concerned that I was there and eventually landed in trees not far away. I could hear them call from time to time as another eagle across the lake answered with an occasional screech.

American Eagle

Back at the campsite is where I really experienced some birds I’ve not seen before. The first one happened to be an American Redstart which would fly from branch to branch in search of more things to eat. Unfortunately I was unable to capture a good photo of it in spite of having a few opportunities out in the open. As soon as the best chances would arrive someone would walk by and chase the bird further into the trees. It was still fun to watch while there it was there.

American Redstart

A red-eyed vireo made an appearance around the campsite in search of insects and seemed to be having great luck while moving up and down and around the trees circling our tent. This was another bird I’ve not had the privilege to watch before. At least I don’t recall seeing them in the past.

Red-eyed Vireo

Another bird to visit the campsite was a young chestnut sided warbler. I’ve seen yellow rumped warblers before which are similar in appearance but not a chestnut sided warbler. That brown on the side gives the bird an interesting look. This one stuck around often times getting too close for me to catch a good picture so I kept trying to step away from it so I could photograph it eventually getting a photo.

Young Chestnut Sided Warbler

One of the last birds I saw was a black and white warbler. This was another bird I have not seen before. Itasca State Park has a bird checklist so I would be looking over it as I saw some of these unfamiliar birds to see if I could identify them and then check them off. I didn’t get very many and all that I did see are listed as common in that area but it was still fun to add these to my list of birds overall. It would be fun to take another opportunity to see more some time.

Black and White Warbler

Photos, Troy's Blog

Fall Migrations

One of my favorite parts of fall is the duck migration. Things have been on the slow side this year but still a little activity. Heading out to an area shallow pond before the sun rises brings great anticipation of what may be stirring on this morning. With a few clouds in the sky the sunrise provided some beautiful colors to mark the start of a day out in nature.

A lone trumpeter swan

One of the staples out at this pond is a family of trumpeter swans which is always a nice sight during the morning. They are so graceful swimming among the plants and downed trees. Even though they are becoming more common it’s still fulfilling to watch as two parents raise their young.

Wood duck gathering

The most obvious display of the fall migration was a large flock of wood ducks gathered together preparing for their trip south. I’ve never seen so many wood ducks all together. Usually they are mixed in with other types of waterfowl. Over the course of the morning a young eagle would appear flying over flocks of ducks sometimes circling them and other times landing in a tree watching over them. It never really went after a duck which may have been because there wasn’t a good opportunity or because it was just practicing. Still fun to watch but every time this happened I missed it with the camera.

Eagle flying low over a flock of ducks

While I was hoping for more activity during this beautiful morning it was a fun day just taking a break from everyday activities.

A young wood duck crossing the pond

Night Sky, Photos, Troy's Blog

Taking in the Beautiful Night Sky

Getting away from the city lights from time to time provides an opportunity to take in a star filled night sky revealing a universe of possibilities which is always humbling for me. All of those things going on in life become brought into perspective as the whole universe is a good reminder of our place in it. I can stare into the abyss watching the stars twinkling for hours. Time seems to speed up as my eyes bounce from constellation to constellation occasionally being interrupted by a satellite passing by. Once in awhile there’s a shooting star if you’re looking in just the right spot. Often times I try to capture all of this with the camera but it seems impossible to accomplish. On this particular September night I wasn’t expecting an opportunity to see stars as rain and thunderstorms were forecast. At one point I looked up from an evening fire and began to see stars overhead. Continuing to watch more and more stars revealed themselves so I decided to grab the camera and begin shoot away.

After the first shot or two I really liked how the clouds made the vastness in the sky appear and enhanced the transition from the horizon to the stars. There are several star clusters and what looked like a possible galaxy which, unfortunately, is not clear enough in this picture to see but it’s the bright light just off center to the right. The light showing in the clouds to the right near the horizon is a rising full moon which I think is also a nice addition to the photograph.

Spruce tree against the night sky

Being near a lake it is only appropriate to attempt capturing this beautiful star filled sky reflecting in the calm water. Bordering the stars with a spruce tree seemed to be a nice contrast as well making for an interesting shot. After spending a little time just photographing the stars and watching them twinkle, doing some light painting seemed like a good idea. As it turned out I had quiet a bit of fun doing this and trying some different angles with a green light.

Painting the night sky

Light painting didn’t actually start out as the objective. Looking at the picture below you can see how I did it. A friend of mine wanted to do some night fishing and had brought along some bobbers with lights on them so I started to take pictures of his actions with a fishing pole and realized how intriguing it was in the photo. The fish weren’t biting so we began setting up some ideas to photograph and this was how it turned out. How do you set up these shots? Once the camera is in place and you can see the range of the landscape in the potential photo you can begin to direct where to cast for the lit bobber to really show up. Since night photography usually involves long exposures you have a little time to work with. Once the shutter button is pushed the model then begins reeling in the line and casting it back out in a different direction to get the light trail where you want it. For one of the photos I used a flashlight to show the process for a few seconds, turned off the light, and continued with the action of reeling in and casting back out in order to show how this can work. It was a lot of fun and something I hope to work with more in the future.

Painting the night sky revealed

Adventure, Troy's Blog

Mushrooms Abound

While camping at Lost Lake in the Chequamegon – Nicollet National Forest Labor Day Weekend I kept finding different and unique mushrooms. There are nine different ones pictured alone in this post but I counted at least 13 different types. I’m not a mushroom person so I don’t know what most of them are nor do I eat them so if you’re looking for what kind each is I’m sorry but I can’t answer that. Maybe at some point I’ll research these and figure out what more of them are but there are just too many at one time. It would take a good part of a day to identify all of them which is more time than I am willing to commit at this moment.

Growing in pine needles

There were several things I wanted to do while enjoying an extended weekend in the quiet north woods of Wisconsin. Some of these included fishing, sitting by the campfire, exploring area trails and waterfalls, and photographing stuff like animals and stars. Upon moving my stuff from the car to a cabin I kept seeing different mushrooms. Some in or on trees and others on the ground. I thought it was pretty cool to see these especially since I had recently read an article about some of the area mushrooms and was learning a better appreciation for them and their structures. Eventually I planned to take a few pictures of them but fishing was more on my mind so the camera stayed in its bag and down to the lake I went.

Coral Mushrooms

The next day,after throwing a line in the water for a bit, I decided to snap a few quick photos of those mushrooms just around the cabin I was staying in and retreat to a chair for some R and R before continuing on with a day of exploring. Looking at these photos a little later on I was not happy with how they were turning out so figured I should find a bit more time at some point to get some better ones. Also I was spotting more types of mushrooms to take pictures of.

Orange mushrooms growing in decomposing wood

By the third day I decided to try again photographing the mushrooms in the area but only half hardily. Handholding the camera in relatively low light of the forest I attempted some more pictures of the same mushrooms as the day before in hopes of better results. Well, the results really weren’t much better but I wasn’t sure I cared enough to spend more time doing that.

Mushrooms popping up with moss spores

After spending about as much time as I wanted photographing mushrooms I returned to the cabin ready to take it easy for a little bit when the friend I was camping with brought out his camera and started getting more serious about capturing these little forest gems. Begrudgingly I joined in and realized if I wanted some decent shots I needed to commit to setting things up correctly with the camera which required a tripod, remote shutter, and additional lighting. At first I struggled a little bit because it was taking longer to set up a shot or series of shots than I really wanted but the urge to capture these amazing mushrooms motivated me to continue on.

Another form of coral mushrooms

Getting good, close shots of some of these tiny mushrooms requires figuring out how to get low to the ground while keeping the camera steady for a second or two and triggering the shutter while holding a light at just the right distance and angle became a bit of a circus act. Eventually I enlisted some help and began to see some nice photos encouraging more time on the forest floor. By the way, it had rained the night before so the ground was wet and muddy adding to my lack of motivation to crawl around to get some interesting shots.

A trio of brown mushrooms

Once I finally got past the lack of desire to spend the time capturing these little fungi and started to get better results from the camera setup, time started to fly and the day with it. Every time I thought this is the last different on that I see I would photograph it, stand up and see another one or be informed of one I need to take a look at a little further in the forest. After several hours of just taking pictures of mushrooms I finally decided I needed to be done. I was on fungus overload and needed to go fishing. Especially since I wanted to eat fish for the next meal.

Being eaten by insects

While meandering back to the cabin so I could put the camera gear away and grab a fishing pole I couldn’t believe how many different mushrooms existed in such a relatively small area. I’ve never seen so many. Or at least I’ve not noticed them like this. The other thing that really caught my attention was the coral fungus. Having just read about them a few months prior I wanted to find some and here they were.  Since that time I’ve been paying more attention to decomposing logs and trees looking for more of these interesting little fungus. Sometimes I find a couple of different mushrooms but nothing like what was at Lost Lake. Hopefully I can return to those cabins again and continue this hunt for even more mushrooms.

Orange and yellow mushroom