Tag Archives: MN North: Knife River

Mother’s Day Aurora Borealis / Northern Lights Display!

Year 3,

The sky danced in honor of Mother’s Day early this morning. Just shows you Moms are truly special!

Shortly after midnight I hiked down into the Knife River Ravine. This trail is about 15 miles north of Duluth, and then inland from Lake Superior. I was standing in the river around 12:30 am when I took this photo, and thankfully had thought ahead and brought tall waterproof muck boots. This was just “after” the sky had really started to explode! The lights were shimmering and dancing all the way up to the Zenith. The second image was taken a few moments earlier than the first photograph when the color was “greener”.

Camera settings: 1,600 ISO, 4.0 second exposure, 2.0 aperture using a Rokinon wide angle lens on a Sony NEX-5T mirrorless camera.

Mother’s Day 2016 Aurora Borealis Display … Knife River, Northern Minnesota
Mothers-Day-Knife-River-Northern-Lights-3b Mothers-Day-Knife-River-Northern-Lights-2b

The Dancing Aurora Borealis!

Year 2, ,

While I love watching birds, the night skies are also a favorite. Since the 1st of September, there have been an incredible number of Northern Lights displays easily viewable in Minnesota’s Lake Superior region. By driving a few miles out of my hometown, Duluth, I have been treated to some amazing displays.

Here are three images from two nights ago. I had a blast moving around the North Shore. I was out from 12:30 am to 5:30 am!

Splitrock Lighthouse (tricky shot … required zoom which threw off normal settings)
Northern-Lights-Oct-07-Splitrock-Lighthouse

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Knife River Gorge (I used light painting to illuminate the closer boulders)
Northern-Lights-Oct-07-Knife-River-Gorge-2

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The Deeps (200 yards from my own driveway … dawn is under 2 hours away)
Northern-Lights-Oct-07-The-Deeps

Day 319: Snow Finches!

Year 1,

An Alberta Clipper roared down to northern Minnesota and delivered a burst of snow overnight. Given the temperature was near freezing, the pines and aspen were encrusted with a beautiful coat of white. The scenery demanded a hike into the forest. However, what I thought was pretty now has made food much harder to find for our winter bird population. Upon returning home from my hike, I discovered a huge number of purple finches and goldfinches in the feeder … and also for the rest of the day.

The first photo is of a small stream which is a tributary to the larger Knife River. The location is the north shore of Lake Superior.

My Morning Hike
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Ma and Pa Purple Finch
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American Goldfinch
319-Birds-365-Goldfinch