Silver Creek Cliff

 

Minnesota is not usually associated with mountains. Much of the state is comprised of flat farm land, rolling meadows, wooded hills and lakes, but there are some small mountains in Minnesota. Most of Minnesota's peaks are located around the north shore of Lake Superior in Cook County. They are part of what once was called the Cabotian Mountains. They were formed when North America tried to tear itself in half during a failed continental rift. This allowed lava to spew forth from under the earth creating both the high lands as well as Lake Superior. The tallest peak is Eagle Mountain at 2,297 feat above sea level. The Silver Creek Cliff, pictured above, over looks Lake Superior. I took this picture from the area that used to be a part of scenic highway 61. The road skirted between the cliff and a steep drop to the rocky shore of the lake. In the early 1990's the Minnesota Department of Transportation built a tunnel through the cliff. It was completed in 1994 and made the drive along the North Shore much more safe.

Hints of Autumn

 As I have been out over the past few weeks I have begun to see many of the signs that autumn has arrived and that winter will soon be here. Some of the signs are very obvious. The leaves on the trees have all turned red, orange, yellow or brown and have begun to fall.

 Some signs are more subtle like spotting woolly bear caterpillars scuttling across a path. The banded woolly bear is found mainly in northern regions. It hatches from the egg in the fall and over winters as a caterpillar. During the winter they will literally freeze solid. Their heart stops and only able to survive by producing a cryoprotectant or organic antifreeze. When the temps warm up in the spring the caterpillars thaw then begin to feed. Eventually they pupate and emerge as an Isabella tiger moth. These caterpillars are found as far north as the Arctic.In these far north regions where the winters are very long the woolly bear may hibernate over multiple winter.

Another harbinger of the coming winter in the dark-eyed junco. During the summer it is rare to see a dark-eyed junco in the southern half of Minnesota but during the winter it is probably the most common bird species that we see. Most of these migrate down from Canada during the winter looking for places where there is a more seeds to eat. Since it estimated that there may be over 600 million juncos, most of which migrate south, it is possible that if you live almost anywhere in the U.S. or Mexico you probably see this same omen of winter as I do here in Minnesota. It is possible that you may not recognize them though because the dark-eyed junco has a variety of different colorations. 

Big Horned Ram

Big Horned Ram

Mountain Bluebird

 

The mountain bluebird is one of three bluebird species in North America. They inhabit open range and meadows typically above 5000 feet in altitude through out the western half of the continent. Their range overlaps much of the range of the western bluebird. They typically breed from Alaska  down to New Mexico with birds in the northern part of the range migrating as far south as Mexico during the winter. They feed primarily on insects and berries and will group together in feeding flocks during the winter.

The mountain bluebird is a cavity nester. They will often compete for nest sites with the western bluebird. At one point their population was in decline because of habitat loss due to an increase in agriculture, however investments in nesting boxes by concerned land owners has helped to increase their numbers. The female builds the nest by herself. She will typically lay 4 to 8 eggs which she will incubate for about 2 weeks. The chicks take about 3 weeks until they fledge. While nesting both male and female will defend the nest. 

High Falls, Tettegouche State Park

 

 High Falls is located in Tettegouche State Park in Northern Minnesota. At this point the nine mile long Baptism River makes its way though the park on its way down to Lake Superior.

The water drops 70 feet at High Falls which makes it the highest waterfall located entirely in Minnesota. The High Falls on the Pigeon River is taller but part of it is in Canada. I shot the close up shot with a very slow shutter speed to get the blurred water effect.

Stream Cruiser

 Dragonflies have amazing eyes. Their eyes are made up of up of thousands of facets called ommatidia. The ommatidia create a mosaic image for the dragonfly. This allows them to see almost 360 degrees. Some of the dragonflies with larger eyes can have up to 30,000 ommatidia. It is believed that they also have the ability to see into the ultraviolet spectrum the same as some birds.

These eyes belong to a stream cruiser dragonfly. They are one of only two members of the cruiser family found in Minnesota. They are usually found around slower moving water like lakes or slow moving streams. They usually emerge early in the summer. I photographed this stream cruiser in Afton State Park.

Blackberry Lily

 

The blackberry or leopard lily is actually no longer a lily.  Its original scientific name was changed  in 2005 from Belamcanda chinensis to Iris domestica when it was moved into the Iris genus because of DNA testing. It is a plant that is native to Asia but is commonly used as an ornamental plant in gardens outside its range. It gets the common name blackberry lily from its black berry type of fruit and the leopard lily name from the spots on the petals.

Ruddy Duck

Ruddy Duck

The ruddy duck is one of the more interesting looking ducks that are found in North and South America. They are a stiff-tailed duck and sometimes swim with their tail pointing up towards the sky. They breed in wetlands with a lot of vegetation. The nest is usually built in the tall grasses to hide it from would be predators. They are a migratory waterfowl and they usually spend the winters in warm coastal waters. I photographed this ruddy duck at Medicine Lake NWR in Montana.

   

Green Sea Turtle

Green Sea Turtle

 The green sea turtle is a large sea turtle that is found through out the tropical and subtropical oceans of the world. They get their name from the green colored fat that they have beneath their shell. Green sea turtles spend most of their life in the water. Unlike many other species of sea turtles they are primarily herbivorous. The adults spend much of their time grazing in the kelp beds that are found in shallow lagoons. When grazing or sleeping they can hold their breath for a long time but when diving or exerting themselves they can hold their breath for only 4 to 5 minutes. Then they must surface to breathe. They can fill their lungs in seconds so that they do not have to surface for long. Life for the first few years is much different. Youngsters spend much of their time in the open ocean eating a lot more protein then the adults. They do not reach sexual  mature until they are 25 to 50 years old. In the wild they can live to about 80 years old.

Green Sea Turtle

The green sea turtle is a protected species through out most of the world. They are listed as endangered by several international organizations including the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. In the use they are listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. In the wild the only predators the adults have are some of the larger sharks, specifically tiger sharks. The eggs, hatchlings and immature turtles have many more predators. Mammals often dig up the eggs that the female leaves on the beach. Crabs and shorebirds eat the hatchlings as they try to run into the ocean after hatching and marine mammals and sharks prey on the immature turtles in the open water. Man however is the largest threat. Boats and fishing nets can inadvertently kill turtles. Pollution and oil spills have a great affect on their population. There is also habitat loss, as people develop beaches that the turtles sometimes swim over a thousand miles to lay their eggs. I took these pics on the Big Island of Hawaii back in 2002. The turtle swam up to shore right in front of us as we were standing on the beach. 

Immature Pied-billed Grebe

Immature Pied-billed Grebe

 The pied-billed grebe is a good example of a bird that knows the meaning of family. Both parents share the duty of incubating the eggs. If they have to leave the nest alone for an extended period of time they will cover the eggs up with nesting material to keep them safe. When the chicks are born they are not able to swim very well for several weeks so they get around by hitching a ride on mom or dad's back. Sometimes the parent will even hunt with the chick on their back, diving under the water with the chick riding shotgun. Even after they are able to swim on their own they will still jump on their parents back if there is danger. Eventually they get to the point where they are too big to hitch a ride any more, like the one above, but the parents will still feed them while they are teaching them the lessons that they will need to survive on their own.

I Love To Gaze At Sunsets by Juan Olivarez

I love to gaze at sunsets, 

At the fading of each day.

As the clouds on the horizon, 

For the evening pave the way.

And all the glorious colors, 

All around the setting sun, 

Announce the passing of the day, 

And that the night has just begun.

Magnolia Warbler

Magnolia Warbler Breeding Plumage

It's a big thrill each spring when the warblers come through during their migration north. After months of gray winter their bright colors cheer us up and remind us that summer is on the way. Then there is the other migration.

Magnolia Warbler Non-breeding Plumage

  In the fall the warblers move back through, heading south where there are plenty of insects to eat. During this migration the warblers are in their non-breeding plumage which is usually not as colorful. We still like to see them but on this trip they are a reminder that summer is over and soon the long winter will arrive.

Whooping it up

Endangered Whooping Crane

Least Grebe

Least Grebe

The smallest member of the grebe family is the least grebe. They are found in a variety of wetland habitats from southern Texas, through Mexico and Central America and down into parts of South America. Like other grebes they eat a variety of aquatic prey, including small fish, tadpoles, frogs, crustaceans and aquatic insects, which they catch by diving under the water. Least grebes will sometimes nest in temporary wetlands, this helps them to avoid losing chicks to some predators such as large fish. When a predator does show up the least grebe is more likely to dive under the water to escape then they are to fly .  

This weekend I headed south down the Mississippi River to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN. The center was celebrating the five year anniversary of their beautiful facility located on the banks of the river. They began back in 1989 as a group of volunteers, called EagleWatch Inc, that pointed out eagles to visitors from a outdoor observation deck on the river. In 2000 they moved to a storefront in Wabasha and took in two educational eagles Harriet and Angel (below).

In 2003 Columbia an immature female was added to the line up. In September of 2007 the National Eagle Center moved to the new 15,000 foot facility. A year later Donald, the center's Golden Eagle, came to join them from California. The final educational ambassador was tiny Was'aka, a six pound male that came from Florida. All of these birds came from rehabilitation facilities and can not be released back into the wild. To celebrate this weekend they also had Native American hoop dancing, chainsaw art demonstrations, a bird show from a Tennessee bird organization, as well as their normal educational programs and displays. The weather was beautiful and it looks like everyone was having a great time. The only thing missing was the cake, but as a diabetic I did not really miss watching everyone else pig out on sugar.