Saturday, March 9, 2024

More beaver pond explorations!




















My dad and I have been out exploring beaver ponds again this past week. The lack of snow and temperatures cold enough to keep the water frozen have made for some really cool hikes to check these places out. A couple of the lodges we found were in old abandoned ponds that no longer had standing water in them. The lodges looked extra huge since we were also seeing the part of the lodge that is normally underwater. 







































Saturday, March 2, 2024

Golden Sunset on March 2nd


 









My dad and I went for a hike this afternoon/evening to a beaver pond hidden deep in the woods. We were treated to a beautiful golden sunset behind the taller trees on the pond. The clouds were changing a lot and several times we could see the disc of the sun through the clouds. 












Sunday, February 25, 2024

February Beaver Lodge


 









Ice walk on a local creek/marsh today. The winter of no snow continues, making for much easier exploration of ponds, creeks and swampy areas than would typically be possible. 

Sunday, February 4, 2024

Frosted Cattails


 









Woke up to fog yesterday morning on Lake Superior.  Yep. Fog in February. Usually at this time of year it would be steam, due to the frigid air clashing with the warmth emanating from Lake Superior (relative warmth... usually the air is MUCH colder than the lake this time of year).  This year, however, we are in the midst of a very mild winter and there is much less of a difference between the air temp and the water temp.  

At any rate, it was a very foggy day along the lakeshore but if you went inland a couple of miles it was sunny.  I took a drive in to where the fog bank ended and the sunshine took over. I found some beautiful cattail swamps that must have had fog settling on them overnight. As the fog settled it created a layer of frost on the cattails and the trees.  It was beautiful.  And a great reason to take my Nikon out for a spin.

 I've been pretty busy these past few months promoting the Spirits Dancing book and that means I haven't done much photography.  I'm going to make it a point to get back into the habit of taking the "big" camera out (rather than just using my phone) to create some images. 












Sunday, January 28, 2024

Ice Abstraction, North Shore of Lake Superior


 










Ice Abstraction, North Shore of Lake Superior. January 2024. 

It sure has been a strange winter so far.  Very little snow and with the warmer than average temperatures that we are expected to experience for the at least the next week, what little ice we have is melting as well. I was out along the shoreline yesterday and came across this interesting piece of melting ice. The shape reminded me of a gecko or some other type of lizard. 



Friday, January 12, 2024

Winter is finally settling in


 









After a very mild start to the winter 2023-2024 season, we are finally getting some weather that is more appropriate for the time of year. Currently we are getting a decent dumping of snow with high winds and cold temps to follow, according to the forecast. Here are a couple of photos that preceded the current stormy weather. A very calm and peaceful sunset over a beaver pond. 



Tuesday, January 2, 2024

Otter Tracks


 













I love finding nice track imprints in the snow, and my favorite tracks to find are those made by otters. You can really see their curious and playful nature in the tracks that they leave behind.  Seeing such distinct paw prints is always cool but I especially love seeing the tracks made as they slide along on their bellies.