Let's get ready to ruummmble!

On Monday the 10th my new Canon 40D came in and so I headed off to Dodge Nature Center to try it out. While I was there I spotted a couple of groups of wild turkeys that had come out of the woods to forage the lawns by the headquarters. There were two groups with a total off 29 turkeys.

I was taking picture when I saw another tom come out of the woods alone. The toms running the two groups that I was photographing puffed up and started heading to the intruder, their harems following behind.After a short stare down the 3 toms erupted into a frenzy of furry and feathers.The intruder held his ground for a while but the two group leaders where relentless and eventually he retreated back into the woods and the groups went about on their merry way.

A moment of silence

I would like to take a moment of silence in respect for those that lost there lives 6 years ago today. I would like to take a moment for those that have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, those who have been injured and those who still are left there fighting. I would also like to take a moment for all those who suffered and died during Katrina, while the government sat and watched or in the presidents case played air guitar.


Thank You

First time out with the new camera

On August 12th, while out shooting at Crex Meadows, my Canon 20D flipped out on me. Life with out a camera is not acceptable so I needed to decide what I was going to do. I could shoot with my EOS 3 film cameras. The EOS 3 is a great camera but shooting film is an extra cost for film and development and it takes more work to get it into a web usable form. I could get my 20D repaired but I was not sure how long that would take. I could buy the camera that I really wanted, the EOS 1D Mark III but the $4500 price tag is a bit more then I can justify being just an amateur photographer. My other 2 choices were to purchase a Canon 30D or a XTI. The 30D is the upgrade to my 20D. The cost was around $1000 and it did not have much better features then the 20D. The XTI is the new Canon Rebel digital SLR which runs around $700 and has a 10.1 megapixel sensor, instead of the 8.1 in the 20D and 30D. It also has a sensor cleaning system which is nice. However the XTI does not do spot metering and is not made as ruggedly which is important since I end up in some pretty nasty places on occasion.

The other complication was that the 30D had been on the market for almost 18 months which meant it was almost time for Canon to put out a new model. I decided to take the 20D in and have it repaired and wait to see what Canon would do. I used my wife's XTI to take pictures while I was waiting and while it is a good camera it was not what I was used to. At the end of August Canon announced the release of the new 40D. The 40D is built like the 20D and 30D but it has the 10.1 megapixel sensor of the XTI. It also has the sensor cleaning system of the XTI but it also has spot metering like the 20D and 30D. It has a 9 point auto focus system like the 20D, 30D, and XTI, however all the points are cross type points instead of only the middle point being cross type on the other cameras. This is supposed to give the 40D a 30% faster focus then the other cameras that I was looking at. The 40D also has faster memory and processor which gives it an upgraded 6.5 frames per second shooting speed and will allow you to shoot over 70 large JPEGs before the camera has to stop to write. The processor is also a 14 bit processor instead of a 12 bit processor like the ones in the other cameras which gives a lot more color depth.

I was very excited about the 40D but there was no definite release date. The only info that Canon gave was that the camera would be released in September. So starting September first I started keeping an eye online. By September 4th I started to see these being advertised but mostly on sites of somewhat questionable retailers. If I am going to purchase something online for $1300 I want to do it with someone that I trust. Finally by the 6th B&H photo, where I buy a lot of my equipment, was showing that they had stock. I went to place my order but before I could finish they were already sold out. I was pretty disappointed. I was hoping to get a new camera before I left for the Midwest Birding Symposium on the 13th. I looked around some more but could not find any stock at any retailer that I had worked with before. Then I got lucky and found that ZipZoomFly, the place where I buy my computer parts, had listed that they had stock. I quickly put in my order, and it was a good thing since right after I did they went out of stock, and I received my new camera on Monday the 10th. That afternoon I took it out to Dodge Nature Center for my first test drive. Some of the controls are a bit different then my old 20D so I am still getting used to it but I got some good shots and so far I am pretty happy. Here are some shots of a couple of ruby-throated humming birds that I found at the nature center.

These first 2 shots where shot using the auto focus.

It was a little too dark in the shade for the auto focus to catch this hummer while he was moving between flowers so I switched to manual focus. The picture is not as clear as I would like but it is not bad considering the conditions.

I will post more shots taken on my new camera tomorrow.

Another shot from Carlos Avery

Here is another shot I took while I was at Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area this past weekend.
This eastern phoebe may be a distant relative of the first birds banded in North America. As a young man, in the early 1800s, John James Audubon tied silver thread onto the feet of phoebes, by his home, to track their migration. This was the first recorded banding in North America.

Sparrow at Carlos Avery

I spent some time at Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area this weekend. Things were pretty quiet but I did get a few shots. Like this shot of what I believe is a Lincoln's sparrow. Lincoln's sparrows are usually pretty skittish and secretive so I may be incorrect on the ID.
Audubon named the Lincoln's sparrow after his friend Thomas Lincoln.

Birding Woodlake Nature Center

I spent some time earlier this week at Woodlake Nature Center. This was the first opportunity that I have had to get out to Woodlake while the weather was descent. The birds have begun to migrate back through so things are getting a bit more exciting, even though I still took more pictures of insects on this visit then I did birds. One of the birds that I viewed on this visit that I have not seen there before was a gray catbird.

It was pretty hard to get a picture of him, since he was pretty well hidden in the brush. I was hoping to hear his cat call but unfortunately he was silent.

There were several cardinals around in the woods by the visitors center. Both of the males and the one female that I saw looked pretty scruffy as they seem to be molting.

There are still plenty of american goldfinch around.

And a few downy woodpeckers were out in the wooded areas.Things are still pretty wet from all of the rain we received a couple of weeks ago, which is good for the canadian geese who have remained throughout the summer.It is also nice for the wood ducks who have stopped back in the area on their way back through the fall migration.

Another Swallowtail release.

Yesterday the black swallowtail that I have been watching emerged from its chrysalis. Since I was at work I ran over to the Como Zoo, over my lunch hour, and released him in their butterfly garden. Here are a couple of pics that I took to commemorate the moment.
While I was at the butterfly garden I found a black swallowtail caterpillar in the parsley.This little guy better hurry up. It will not be too long before the cold weather gets here.

Driving trip through Sax Zim Wildlife Management Area

On our way back from the Vince Shute Bear Sanctuary we decided to take the back way on highway 7 through the Sax Zim bog. Normally this area is known for birding in the winter time for owls so this was the first time that we have seen it when it was not covered with snow. We had a long drive home ahead of us so we did not do a lot of exploring but we did see a few birds while driving through. The most common thing that we saw was the american kestrel. They where perched on many of the phone lines searching the bog for yummy bugs to eat.

We also spotted a yellow-shafted northern flicker, who flew from a ditch on the side of the road and landed on a telephone pole.From the holes it looks like he was not the first woodpecker to visit that pole. We also saw sparrows, goldfinch and an eagles nest, unfortunately the nest was too far away for us to determine if it had been active.

Birding Duluth

On our way up to do some bear watching at the Vince Shute Bear Sanctuary we had a bit of time to kill. We left early in the morning and planned to stop and eat lunch in Duluth, MN. We arrived in Duluth at around noon but we had planned to eat lunch at around 2:00pm. This gave us a couple hours to do some birding in Duluth. The weather was perfect with no clouds in the sky that is until we got to Duluth. Duluth was completely fogged in. We decided that going to Hawk Ridge to watch for raptors probably would not work well in the fog so we decided to try Park Point instead. First we went down to the beach and walked along the shoreline. There were a few people on the beach, playing with dogs or doing some body surfing, so there were not that many birds. We did spot a ring-billed gull and got a couple picks. Further on down the beach we spotted a group of sanderling running in the waves, their stiff legs pumping up and down like little wind up toys.

After walking for a while we went back to the car and decided to continue down to the end of the point. On our ride around the point we saw mallard ducks, canadian geese, gulls, savannah sparrow and a couple of wimbrel scavenging on the soccer field.

Birding at Vince Shute

While watching the bears up at the Vince Shute Bear Sanctuary we also got a chance to do a little birding. There were quite a few bids who where taking advantage of the food that was put out for the bears. The blue jays were the biggest culprits.
There were about a dozen blue jays in the area who would sneak in and share in the bears meal.Besides the blue jays there were also a lot of goldfinch and a couple white-breasted nuthatch that were getting in on the action. There were also some birds who were around but did not care about bear food. Like ruby-throated humming birds and this sapsucker.I believe this is a juvenile yellow-bellied sapsucker but it is hard to tell because it is missing the dark band that outlines the red on the chin.

Cheap political propagandizing

And now for something completely different... cheap political propagandizing.

Today is Labor Day, a day that most of us think of as the end of summer or just another day off. Labor Day is a day dedicated to the American worker. It was started in New York City in 1882 by the Central Labor Union and grew from there until it became a national holiday. I would like to honor this Labor Day by remembering a great American who was an advocate for labor and a great friend of the middle class and working people. A man who is sorely missed in the current time that we find ourselves in, Paul Wellstone.

On our way home from Orr on Sunday Michelle and I stopped by the Wellstone Memorial which is located just south of Evelyth, MN. The memorial is like a small park on the side of the road, with paths, benches, plaques with information on Paul, and memorial stones.

At the beginning is a engraved stone sculpture.I found it very moving. Here are some close ups so that you can read the inscription.

The Commemorative Circle is lined with memorial markers for each of the victims of the crash.
This is the stone dedicated to Paul and Sheila Wellstone.

Michelle and I kind of each went our separate way in the memorial. It was very peaceful, serene and for me very moving. I still remember very well where I was and what I was doing when I heard the news about the crash.

For more information on the memorial which I recommend that you visit if you are ever in north Minnesota check out this article from MPR http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/09/25_hemphills_wellstone/

To learn more about the life of Paul Wellstone check out his Wikipedia entry here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Wellstone

To find out more about the Wellstone legacy check out the Wellstone Action site.

Trip to Vince Shute Bear Sanctuary

With the slow days of summer taking it's tole on my birding enthusiasm, and my old tennis shoes beginning to wear through from hiking my usual haunts only to find the usual suspects, I decided it was time to go out and shoot some bigger game. So Michelle and I headed up to Orr, MN over the holiday weekend to photograph bears at the Vince Shute Bear Sanctuary.

Vince Shute was a successful logger in the mid 1900s. He ran into problems with black bears who would frequently raid his logging camps searching for food. He and his men did what most people did with bears that caused problems back then, they shot them. But Vince conscience got the better of him and after a decade of killing the bears he tried something different. He began to put food for the bears out in a field. This allowed the bears and loggers to live in harmony. The bears could find food with out destroying the logging camp and the loggers no longer would shoot them.

Vince continued to feed the bears even after he retired from logging. The bears, who were once a nuisance, were now his friends and the purpose of his life. People began to hear stories about Vince, the bear man, and would come to witness these marvelous creatures. In the early 90s Vince helped to establish the American Bear Association and donated his land to them. He hoped that they would continue his legacy after he was gone.

Vince passed away in 2000, the summer that we first visited the sanctuary. We never met him but we have visited the sanctuary, and watched it grow, many times over the past 7 years. This was the first time that we went this late in the year. The sanctuary is open Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day so this was the closing weekend. We left early Saturday morning. We planned to stop in Duluth and do a bit of birding and then eat a late lunch before heading off to Orr, since the sanctuary does not open until 5pm.

We arrived right at opening but their was already a long line of cars in front of us and we did not make the first set of buses. When we finally arrived at the deck there were about a dozen bears in the meadow feeding. It was difficult to take pictures since the sun was beginning to set behind some clouds that had rolled in, making it somewhat dark, and tripods are not allowed due to the space limitations on the deck. I tried to use the railings as much as possible but there were a lot of people visiting which made it difficult to get to the rail over by where the bears were located. Her are some shots that I did get.

Although there were a lot of visitors to the sanctuary that night, at least 10 bus loads of people were shuttled in, not many of them were bears. According to the volunteers we only saw about half as many bears as we would on the same day in past years. They attributed this to the weather which was up in the 80s which is unseasonably warm for northern Minnesota in September.

Bird Banding at Carpenter Nature Center

With the the holiday weekend coming I worked a couple extra hours on Thursday and came in early on Friday so that I could get an early start on my 3 day weekend. Since I was off early enough I decided to go to the Carpenter Nature Center to watch the bird banding that they do every Friday morning. The last time that I had the chance to be at Carpenter while they where banding I went inside and watched the banding and recording process. This time the weather was so nice that I decided to stay out and walk the trails. While I walked I spotted a few ruby-throated hummers near in the flower garden in the front of the nature center.

The hummers where very territorial with a lot of chasing each other over possession of the hummingbird feeder in the middle of the garden.

The new pool and landscaping is already home to a few frogs who were taking advantage of the sunny day.

Out in the fields the sparrows were sharing space with monarchs and dragonflies.

Over by the orchard I found this house finch dining.

While I walked the trails I took the opportunity to scout the banding nets. I found a few birds waiting impatiently to get out of the nets, and usually getting themselves more tangled, so I took their pictures and let the banders know.

They caught an american goldfinch.A nashville warblerAnd a black-capped chickadee.

While I was wondering I inadvertently ended up in a video that Sharon Stiteler, aka birdchick, was shooting. It was kind of funny to get home later that day and see myself on her blog. Here is the post with the video. I am the moron with the big camera.

With summer over I am not sure that I will get another chance to visit Carpenter while they band but I would certainly recommend it to anyone interested in birding. It is fun, interesting and the people at Carpenter are very friendly. For more information about carpenter check out their website http://www.carpenternaturecenter.org/