Per my norm I was out before sunrise this morning. While I did find owls, the beauty of the sunrise over the newly formed Lake Superior ice was awe inspiring. Perhaps the Ice Caves near the Apostle Islands will open after all this year. We can only hope. Here are a few pics from my 2015 visit to the Ice Caves.
Sunrise at French River on the North Shore of Lake Superior
20 Minutes earlier at Brighton Beach
Folks like to see “northern” birds, and for that opportunity they could charter a bush pilot and fly into a remote lake near the Arctic Ocean, or they could visit Duluth in the late fall and winter. In a little over a month the visitor center at Sax-Zim Bog will open for the winter. I look forward to another winter of helping out at the center as a volunteer naturalist.
In the meantime one may enjoy the late fall migration along the north shore of Lake Superior. In the past few days I have enjoyed watching:
Here are a few images from the past two days … a video of the snow buntings is included.
Ross’s Goose
Merlin (imitating a turkey … don’t think the songbirds were fooled!)
Lapland Longspur (just a few minutes after sunrise)
Snow Buntings
Slate-Colored Juncos
Today is a two post day, followed by silence as Molly and I head over to our lighthouse keeping gig at Crisp Point tomorrow morning … silence because we will be off the grid … electrical, phone and cell … kind of nice! However if read my earlier post from today, last night I watched charged particles in the northern sky.
I have found the best way to deal with lack of sleep due to astrophotography and chasing the Northern Lights is to take a bike ride. Thus, this morning when the temperature finally broke 40F (4.5C) I got on the bike and cycled up the North Shore of Lake Superior. The cool conditions must have made our visitors from the northern tundra feel right at home. During my ride I found these Horned Larks which were migrating south as I bicycled north!
In addition, here is one more image from last night. This photo was from early in the night when I missed the Aurora. Instead I saw the “green glow” and some great stars. Given the moon had not yet risen, the heavens were very dark.