There was just a few minutes at dawn this morning before the rains and mosquitoes made life outside horrible. Thankfully, these Canadian Geese provided a great photo opportunity!
Line up together now for the sunrise!
This Winter (2013/14) was tough on us humans. Up here in northern Minnesota we one of the most severe winters in recorded history. Here are some facts from the National Weather Service: (as of May 7th)
With stats like this, and the fact that as of this morning there is still plenty of snow on the ground in the deep woods, the conditions for resident and migration birds have been horrible. As of today, Lake Superior is the only lake in the region with open ice, and this deep cold lake is not very fertile (i.e. not much food is available for birds and animals). Thus, birds and other animals have been stressed out by this fierce weather.
The norm for any photography site is to post “nice” pictures of pretty birds. During today’s hike I found this seagull hanging in a tree … another victim of this winter. Last night while heading up the shore of Lake Superior I saw thousands of ducks just upwind of the pack ice. The ducks did not want to fly one more foot into the strong 30 mph northeast wind. As you can see, they were getting pounded with no opportunity to feed.
Summer will come soon, and the survivors will fill in the void, but for the moment … it’s tough.
Winter’s Victim
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Storm Tossed
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Bouncing Buffleheads
This past Winter has the most number of sub-zero degree days in history (fahrenheit). With Friday’s snow we are over 130 inches for the season, and have moved into the third snowiest winter in history for northern Minnesota. Thus, it’s time to publish my first book which will take you on a magical tour of this winter wonder which I call “Amity”.
Amity, will be published and available via Amazon in approximately seven days. However, I am giving away a pdf version of my book via NorthStarNerd.Org (my other web site). Here is the book’s description:
The Lake Superior wilderness of northern Minnesota is rustically beautiful. Amity invites you to explore this region’s winter wonderland through the eyes of landscape and nature photographer Rich Hoeg. The word “Amity” comes from a small stream that roars down the hill to Lake Superior near Duluth, Minnesota.
This winter I was flattered to see organizations such as Fox News and the Weather Channel pick up and use my ice cave photographs in national news articles on the Apostle Islands Sea Caves. In addition, being one of the few finalists in the Lake Superior Magazine annual photo contest was an honor.
I hope you enjoy Amity.
Here is just one photo from Amity. This photo of Split Rock Lighthouse was taken shortly before dawn on April 18, 2014. Winter is finally starting to give up here grip on the Northland. (click to view photo at full resolution)
