Monthly Archives: April 2020

Photos, Troy's Blog

And Winter Returns….

With spring just getting under way, winter decided to remind us that the cold is not that far away by leaving the ground covered in it’s ice crystals. Having gone by an area in a nearby woods filled with plants beginning to irrupt in beautiful flowers the day before, I decided to go back and take a look at how they were handling the new snow. It did make for a pretty contrast to see all of this green and purple protruding up through the snow covered ground. With some very cold weather expected over the next couple of days I wondered how they would fair. Would the snow stay long enough to protect these delicate looking flowers until it warms up again or would they freeze and produce few seeds?

Being covered in snow

Initially a carpet of purple flowers caught my attention when I spotted these plants the day before. While exploring the area further, looking for some nice situations to photograph, I came across the first Bloodroot of the season with their pure white blooms ready to open. The only thing was, these blooms did not appear pure white any longer when compared to snow. It’s amazing how colors can look different depending on their surroundings. Or maybe their colors takes on a pink blush as they get colder which fades back to white under the warmth of the sun.

Nearby the first Bloodroot of the season is about to bloom

I spent about an hour photographing the snow falling on these spring ephemerals before returning home to spend the rest of the day with family. It was Easter after all!

Bloodroot flowers about ready to open now covered with snow

Photos, Troy's Blog

Third Times a Charm

It took several weeks of searching but finally, near the end of the day, I came across the Pasque Flowers I have been looking for. It really was somewhat of an accident that I found them. Heading out to a Prairie area where they have been seen in past years I first headed to a small pond to see what migrating ducks may have searched out a resting area. Getting to the pond I sat down for a couple of hours to enjoy some sunshine as snow was predicted to hit the area the next day. Looking out over the pond I could see at least a dozen pairs of Bufflehead ducks swimming and diving for food. While watching them some creature popped up out of the water right in front of me.

A Bufflehead and Ring-kneck duck hanging out on a small, out of the way pond

It took a few seconds to identify exactly what it was but I quickly realized it was a muskrat. Last year there was a beaver on this pond so at first I was trying to figure out if it could be that. As soon as the muskrat popped up I thought it was going to come ashore right in front of me as it didn’t seem to know I was there. It turned just before shore and swam parallel to it and climbing out of the water onto a nearby fallen tree. Once this fuzzy animal swam out of sight I caught a large bird flying across the pond and land directly across from me. The behavior was very much like a big hawk so I kept on eye out for it to take to the sky soon after. Returning my attention to the ducks for awhile I realized that I never saw this bird leave so I began to scan the shoreline but couldn’t really make out anything moving over there. Grabbing the camera with a longer lens I once again scanned the shoreline. This time I spotted a large predator resting on a downed tree branch.

A muskrat sitting on a log right in front of me

Looking closer and focusing in on this bird revealed a Great Horned Owl sitting there. This seemed very unusual to have an owl flying during the day, although it was more evening now, and the clouds had covered the sky creating somewhat darker conditions. It was the first time I had ever seen this particular owl before making it a great treat for the day. As I watched this owl through the camera over the next hour or so it mostly rested with its eyes closed and preened in between resting. A lot of fun to watch. When it first landed there the ducks quickly swam to another part of the pond but soon returned as you can see in the picture below. Either they weren’t really concerned with the owl or forgot it was there. Ducks do seem to have a short memory at times although they rarely seem to forget I’m there. With the evening progressing and I was getting cold from a north wind now blowing more fiercely, it was time to continue on my exploration for the Pasque Flower. There was one more area that I wanted to search.

A Great Horned Owl napping near the shoreline

Moving along the trail with more speed than when I arrived, darkness seemed to be arriving way to fast. Making a bad decision at a trail crossing nearby added at least another 10 minutes to my time getting to the place I planned to search. Eventually I arrived but didn’t locate anything that even remotely looked like it was ready to flower. Now a little disappointed once again I spotted a large bird out of the corner of my eye. Wondering what it was, and also wondering what may be up and over the hill next to me I decided to briefly leave the trail and head towards the top of the hill and see if I could figure out what this bird was. As I was climbing I saw little purple flowers almost beneath me. Pasque Flowers! I had finally found them. Looking over the area I cold see others sticking their fuzzy little purple flowers out of the cold ground ready for spring. Unfortunately this area was now shaded and any attempts at good photos would have to wait until another time.

Sadly, going back a week later, the cold had damaged many of the flower petals while deer had eaten others. Better photographs will have to wait until another spring. It was still a great adventure and I’m not sure what was more exciting – finally finding the Pasque Flowers or seeing a Great Horned Owl.

Pasque Flower after sunset

Exploring, Photos, spring, wildlife

An Early Spring Day

With many people taking shelter in theirs homes, the need to get outside for a little change is needed more and more. Fortunately getting out for a walk is encouraged when possible causing parks to be very popular places now. I’ve been able to explore a few places nearby on weekends and I’ve never seen these places so busy. Parking lots are full beyond capacity and signs of people out in nature are visible on many trails with napkins or tissues littering the ground. Whether it’s intentional or accidental I’m not sure. Wildlife must be a little confused on why their normally quiet places are now over run with people out wondering through. Hopefully they can still manage to find calm places as they prepare to raise their newborns soon. While joining these people out visiting nature, I’m reminded of why spring is such a great time of year to view wildlife.

Typically things become a lot more active as birds are migrating north and other creatures are emerging from hibernation. In addition leaves have not yet sprouted making them easier to locate. You can almost see these creatures enjoying a beautiful day taking in the suns rays finally warming up after enduring many cold months. While perched next to my car trying to find a little warmth myself on this cold morning, it was 19 degrees when I arrived, I noticed a large bird take off from a dead tree that I hadn’t noticed before. It flew a short distance and landed on the ground acting kind of like a Northern Harrier Hawk to me. A few minutes later it lifted from the ground returning to its form perch. By this time I had the camera pointed towards it capturing a photo of it landing again. When I went to view this picture on the camera screen I was surprised to identify this bird as a juvenile Eagle. Another surprise when viewing this picture was that another Eagle was also perched in this tree on a branch below.

Watching these Eagles for awhile became less interesting as they just stood their doing what appeared to be a whole lot of nothing. After awhile I caught movement in the sky above me which turned out to be an adult Eagle. I focused the camera on this Eagle in the sky and watched as it approached these two young birds. With appeared as though it wanted to land on this same tree which seemed a bit strange to me as Eagles tend not to want to be that close to other birds during the spring and summer. With only a quiet sound it came in for a landing and the two juvenile Eagles took off. Almost as if the adult was telling the young ones to get out and do something you lazy birds. They began flying around circling the adult a few times and then disappeared. As I continued my drive a little while later, I found these two lazy birds perched in another tree away from where the adult was. It brought a smile to my face thinking that Eagles have to motivate their young from time to time also.

Lazy Eagles found another tree to hide in

Earlier in the morning I stopped to explore a prairie area looking for the earliest spring blooms of a Pasque flower. It was my goal the week before, along with finding colorful mushrooms, but I did not succeed in locating a plant in bloom as it was a bit too early yet. The trail had some heavy frost on it confirming the cold entering my hands and nose. It was beautiful but not the awe inspiring frosts I’ve seen before. Again I must be too early. No sign of the beautiful Pasque flower even thinking about raising it’s light purple blooms towards the sky. My short hike continued through the prairie without seeing any signs of life but still enjoying all the birds chattering in the trees nearby.

A frosty spring morning on the trail

As I continued on my journey through the park I encountered some Sandhill Cranes. These are such fascinating birds to me and I just love watching and listening to them whenever there’s a chance. During the fall migrations through this same area there will be thousands of these birds congregating together but now they mostly stay in pairs warning other cranes this is their territory at the moment. My first indication that other cranes where flying nearby was the head raising squawks of those on the ground I was watching. Fortunately I was able to capture such a moment as two Sandhill Cranes were crossing the road in front of me.

Shouting for joy that spring is here

Those cranes continued on into the nearby wetlands where they’re commonly found pecking here and there at what must have been things to eat. They made a wide circle around me eventually continuing on to wherever it was they wanted to go. Meanwhile I just stood next to my car glancing now and then in their direction and occasionally lifting my camera to capture a shot. My goal is to disturb wildlife as little as possible so I try not to chase after them attempting to get a better picture. I would rather miss a shot and let the animal stay calm when possible. Patience is often rewarded as these cranes paused in some nice sunlight allowing me to grab a few photos of them before they moved on. I could have stayed here all day just watching and listening as the animals continue to meander around.

Roaming the wetlands

spring, Troy's Blog

First Signs of Spring

I’ve heard, from people who make Maple Syrup, that as the season for collecting sap from Maple trees comes to an end the colorful mushrooms begin to emerge. I decided to go hunting for them to see what they look like. And hopefully come across a few other interesting pieces of nature. After walking a few miles and watching a couple of migrating ducks I spotted some red mushrooms hiding in the forest floor. Actually, wild Turkey’s uncovered one for me. Walking through the woods a flock of Turkey’s surprised me. As turkey’s do, they quickly ran over a hill and out of site. Once I reached the area they were scratching at when I first saw them, there was one of these red mushrooms attached to a stick which had recently been uncovered. Once the first one was spotted, it became easier to find others. As long as I was wondering around Maple trees I could usually find at least a couple of these Scarlet Cup mushrooms hiding amongst the fallen leaves.

At one point, there were an abundance of them so I began to collect some of the nicer looking ones and set them on a white shelf mushroom as you can see above. It seemed like a more interesting picture than attempting to capture their orange-red color clinging to the ground like in the photo below. Once I was done taking pictures of the Scarlet Cups, I returned them to their places among the forest floor. A nice success and sign of spring as many of the other signs seemed to be still hibernating.

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