Tag Archives: MN North: Knife River

Knife River Ravine Northern Lights (videos!)

Year 10,

One week ago I was camped out at Crisp Point while working my volunteer lighthouse keeper’s gig near the far eastern end of Lake Superior, and Lady Aurora danced for me (see my post … Lighthouse Keeper’s Dance). This week Lady Aurora decided to dance for me near the western end of Lake Superior. I am a lucky guy! My location was deep within the Knife River Ravine one mile inland from the big lake. I hope you enjoy the lady’s Northern Lights dance. I did!

Note: I tend to edit my Northern Lights images in post processing to better reflect what I saw with the naked eye. With respect to last night’s dance I removed much of the green color my camera chose and made the Northern Lights more white. Most images were taken at an ISO of 3,200 for 2 seconds (Sony A6300, Aperture 2.0 and Rokinon 12 mm manual lens). The real time Northern Lights Videos are at the bottom of this post.

The Green Glow (around 10 pm … an indication the dance was about to start … the horizon often glows just before the start of a good Northern Lights display)

Northern Lights Rays

Firestorm (the lights were flickering on and off every second … and moving around in the sky)

Some Light Painting to Better Show my Environment (see the boulders in the river)

Around midnight I returned home. The Northern Lights were calming down. I took this photograph 150 yards from the end of my driveway.

Northern Lights at Amity Creek / The Deeps

And the movies! Yup, here are two real time videos I took with my Sony A6300 (not time lapse images stitched together). My Sony is not an expensive camera. It dates to the year 2016, and I was using a Rokinon 12 mm manual lens set at 3,200 ISO and Aperture of 2.0. My vantage point is I am standing in the middle of Knife River!

Lady Aurora’s Dance #1 (video link 1 for email subscriber)

Lady Aurora’s Dance #2 (video link 2 for email subscriber)

As with my still images, I did very little post processing of my two videos … some noise reduction and color correction to make the Aurora Borealis less green to better reflect what I was seeing with my naked eye.

Homebound Birding

Background, Year 6

The skies are grey. There is a sleety snow in the air. The roads are slick. In short, it is a good morning to stay at home and enjoy the fire. Fortunately, yesterday unexpectedly had crystal clear skies from daybreak till church service at 10 am. Having a blue sky meant it was time to focus upon Mountain Ash berries. I spent two hours checking out various clusters of said trees. One of the biggest surprises was stumbling across six bluebirds. The Boreal forest is definitely not bluebird habitat, but NW winds pushed these guys against the big lake, and Mountain Ash berries are providing a good food source.

Knife River Bluebird

And some random comments …

  • Registration response to my first online birding talk has been great. Wednesday evening’s talk is full.
  • The first printing of my new children’s book, Snowy’s Search for Color, is already  over 1/4 sold! Thanks for your support.
  • I assume anyone who reads this blog knows about the new Audubon Report on dramatic decline in bird population induced by habitat and climate change, but just in case … Survival by Degrees: 389 Birds on the Brink

And Finally …eBird Range Maps

I have created a series of annotated screenshots which I am using in some of my seminars to demonstrate the usefulness of eBird Species Range Maps. You do NOT need an eBird account to utilize this great service which will assist a birder in planning outings, and better understanding migrations. For instance, the Snowy Owl migration in our area has now reached a bit north of the Minnesota / Canadian border.

Bookmark this Snowy Owl Species Map as a starting point. Use the annotated screenshots to learn how to set dates and set other options like changing species.

Screen #1 is the very first image you will see upon browsing to the web page linked immediately above this point. The subsequent screenshots and annotation explain how one may use one aspect of eBird, a species map. Depending upon the size of your display (phone, tablet or PC), options may be located at different locations on your screen.

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You may have noticed all my screenshots have the label Wisconsin eBird while I live in Minnesota. The explanation is simple. Wisconsin has an active bird population study in which I am participating.

Unexpected Pleasures: Auroras and Shorebirds

Year 4,

Two days ago I blogged about Gas Station Cuisine, and failed excursions. The forecast for Northern Lights was a G2 Storm Watch, and I also included a birding trip to a nest I had been monitoring. Everything was a failure. Lady Aurora did not dance, and my nest was empty.

Last night when I went to bed, the weather forecast was for clouds plus light rain … and obviously no Aurora Borealis. Waking up at 1:15 am I was surprised to see stars (i.e. clear skies) and numbers from NOAA indicating the Northern Lights might shine. By 1:30 am I was out the door, and by 2:00 am I was standing in the Knife River (water temperature 40F) with the “green glow” beginning to build. At 3:00 am I capture this image … “Dipping into the Green Glow”!

Returning home the expected clouds. wind and cold weather (39F) came by sunrise. Thus, birding looked bleak. By early afternoon the winds were blowing off the lake at 28 mph with light rain and sleet … in sort perfect birding weather!!! I drove down to the end of Park Point, and walked the sand dunes over to the Lake Superior shore. Waves were crashing ashore, but I also found hundreds of shorebirds migrating up to the Arctic. One wonders why these birds don’t just hang in northern Minnesota. It’s plenty cold enough! For 45 minutes I walked the beaches dancing away from the waves till the sleet became unbearable. Here are a few photographs from my horrible day of birding. I was particularly pleased with the flight shot … it was dark … horrible camera conditions.

The moral of the story … expect the unexpected. Two days ago I was set up for what I expected would be a great 24 hours in the Northwoods. It wasn’t. Starting with last night, I expected nothing and had some great experiences!

Ruddy Turnstones

Dunlin