Tag Archives: MN North: Duluth Harbor

Day 339: Golden Hour Birds

Year 1,

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!

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.
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One More Snowy Owl
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Days 321 & 322: Black and White in Living Color!

Year 1,

More than just us humans get tired occasionally with the fog, mist and clouds. From a photography perspective the challenge is low light, low color, and the need to raise ISO and Aperture levels to yield a quick enough shutter speed which accounts for how quickly birds tend to move. However, the ice, water and hoar frost is pretty! Sometimes the world seems devoid of color!

Day 321: Goldeneyes in the Duluth Harbor
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Day 322: Bald Eagle and Hoar Frost
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Day 320: Ice Lord! (photos)

Year 1

I have a new theory based upon this morning’s discovery of the Ice Lord! Let me explain …

While on my way to a local Nordic ski trail this morning for my workout, I stopped by the old Interstate Bridge on the Duluth Harbor Waterfront. Upon exiting the car, I heard a huge amount of screaming. Over the next few minutes was treated to four bald eagles (2 pairs) fighting in mid air. They dove, banked and did all kinds of aerial stunts … it was a true dog fight, or in this case an eagle fight.

My theory is that these birds were fighting over prime scavenging real estate. The US Coast Guard is keeping the shipping lanes open in the harbor. I believe that whenever a freighter comes by, its HUGE engines suck up and kill fish … in short a great and easy breakfast for eagles. Using the ship web site monitor for Duluth, I will check my hypothesis over the coming mornings.

The Winners! Ice Lords (and Ladies)
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