Cardinals

I have literally dreamed of getting these certain photos. I think that about sums it up. It's been really fun hanging out with my buddy Mike getting these images from our blinds!

Our winter bird blinds

We have located at least where the Pileated Woodpecker sleeps, but is this where they will nest? We dug holes 3 feet down into the snow then set our blinds on the snow around the hole elevating them from the ground so we are able to stand up in them for now. We have had them set up for about a month now in hopes of getting the birds used to our presence. So far so good. Every morning that we have visited at sunrise, he pops his head out of the hole and peeks at us before flying off. Then he always flies to this one tree and begins hammering away. It is a loud, solid, hollow, hammering noise, almost eerie on a quiet cold morning such as today,10 degrees! Our next task is to get good flight shots of him soaring out of his hole and to investigate the tree he goes to all the time. We have seed feeders and suet feeders to keep us company while the big woodpecker is gone. We have had chickadees, nuthatches, downy and red-bellied woodpeckers, and cardinals visit us at our 2nd home. We actually spent some time mimicking the birds and calling them in and it worked

That's all for today, stay tuned!!

Hoar frost

Well, it sure has been a winter full of snow. We were blessed with a couple days last week where it was foggy and it collected and froze on the trees creating this beautiful new look to everything. I was able to get a few photos before the wind blew it all off. Enjoy!

I really didn't know where to start taking photos and I saw this scene so I stopped the truck right in the middle of the street in town and took this out my window, beware, I do this alot!

I took this Milkweed photo leaving Camden State Park.

I was able to get out on the river and stand on the ice to get this shot.



Cattails

Old farm equipment. Not my usual subject for photography, but I found this very interesting, especially in black and white.

This is an old shed on an abandoned farmstead which is now state park land.

I found these fenceposts leading away to be a pleasing composition.

This lone tree really caught my eye.

Frosty winter scene.

Frosty pines.

Frosty pine cone close-up

Trumpeter Swans

Me and my buddy Mike went to Monticello in late December 2009 to visit the Trumpeter Swans on the Mississippi. There is a lady who feeds them everyday and there are literally thousands of birds right in front of you! We viewed them from Swan Park, right next to her property, and had endless opportunities to photograph them along with Canada Geese and Mallards.

Brand new deer

These were the most cooperative fawns I have ever come across. They were in Camden State Park. It had just stopped raining and I pulled up right beside them and parked. I even had time, after I got my shots, to hand my camera over to my 9 yr-old son. It was such a thrill to see his face light up when he saw them in the view finder and start firing away.

The American Bald Eagle

Getting a flight shot like this of an eagle was a thrill beyond all other wildlife photography that I've done! But, it makes me want more...

Seeing young eagles is always a treat and an indicator of their increasing population.

We are all fortunate enough to have an increasing population of Bald Eagles. To first see them in the wild after traveling up to northern Minnesota, many years ago now, was such a special experience. Now I see them in my hometown in SW Minnesota and it is still such a humbling experience to see these magnificent birds.

Black-Capped Chickadee

The Black-Capped Chickadee always seems to be present wherever you go, in any season. Such a busy bird, with it's distinctive song chicka-dee-dee-dee-dee. A challenge to photograph but always a companion it seems to the patient photographer.