All posts by Troy

A Spring Camping Preview

June 9, 2019 Troy

With Memorial Day weekend quickly approaching, the camping itch began to get worse. In addition I had some new camping gear I wanted to try as there was a string of camping trips coming soon. I thought it would be a good idea to try this gear and make sure it was going to work as I wanted it to before these trips just in case there were some adjustments to make. Also, I was looking into deep space photography and wanted to give it a try. Try and find a campground on Memorial Day weekend just a few days beforehand. And find one with dark enough skies to photograph the night sky. All of the State Parks close to me were of course booked up but fortunately Minnesota’s State Forests are first come, first serve. I located Birch Lake State Forest. Far enough away from the Twin Cities to be dark enough but close enough to drive to for one night of camping.

Arriving late afternoon I strolled through the camp ground hoping for at least one spot to set my tent on and as luck had it, there was one. And only one! I got the last open campsite for the night. What luck! The excitement and anticipation of beginning the camping season set in. I quickly filled out the required permit, paid my fees, and set up my tent and sleeping gear. There was several hours before nightfall so what else to do? I had heard of a retention pond about 20 minutes away housing several different types of birds on their migration north. So off I went to see if I could find this pond. Fortunately it was relatively easy to locate and get to. Finding a spot along the dirt road next to this pond I pulled over and got out my camera equipment as there was movement on the water in different areas. One of the species that I’ve never seen before were these Phalaropes. They had some interesting colors and patterns along with an entertaining method for finding food. They swim in small circles while plucking food coming to the surface inside of this circle. A lot of fun to watch multiple birds doing this all at the same time. Another bird I’ve not photographed before was the Black Tern in the top picture.

As the sun set, I packed up and headed back towards camp to prepare for some nighttime photography and see if it is indeed possible to actually photograph a nebula or galaxy without a telescope. Taking some time to eat while the sky continued to grow darker I was beginning to feel the effects of the day and becoming comfortable in my chair with a small fire going. Eventually shaking that off it was time to grab the camera and head to nice clearing to check out the night sky. As my eyes continued to adjust to the dark sky above, I set the camera on a tripod with my long lens usually reserved for close ups of wildlife. Will this work? I zoomed in on a star and adjusted the focus and camera settings to begin testing deep space photography. No matter what I tried I could not get a sharp image of the stars. There was always movement which is likely from the rotation of the Earth. I didn’t have a skytracker which was a debate before heading north. That will have to be an addition to my equipment if I want to continue trying to capture deep space objects like the Orion Nebula.

Since the deep space thing was a bust, I focused more on spring flowers, plants, and migratory birds. I decided to call it a night, albeit a little disappointed about the deep space attempt and lack of success, as the sun would be rising in a little over 3 hours. Waking up with light already beginning to illuminate the sky, it was time to get up if I wanted to capture the sunrise coming up over Birch Lake. It almost appeared cloudy at first but as I studied the sky a bit more I could see that it was clear. There was no sunlight on the trees above so I figured there was a few minutes more as I was moving a bit slow on this morning after a cold night of trying to get some sleep. I just never warmed up allowing me to drift off into a deep sleep making me quite a bit less energetic this morning. Finally beginning to move towards the lake, it was obvious I was too late as the sun was already above the horizon. It would have been a great sunrise to capture too as there was some nice fog covering the horizon.

Well now I’m really irritated and about to call this first camping trip of the summer a failure as I failed at deep space photography and now missing the sunrise. At least there are some spring blooms and plenty of birds to add to my collection of photos. Before leaving the lake, a beautiful Baltimore Oriole flew into a nearby tree and began singing for me which helped to lighten my mood. Also a Loon swam close by and began calling out across the lake while a white Pelican was spotted swimming off in the distance. Those were enjoyable sights to watch and sounds to hear welcoming the suns warmth to begin a new day.

Walking along one of the trails, the bright and colorful seeds hanging from a nearby tree caught my attention and could make for a beautiful photograph. I spent a few minutes trying to capture this subject before moving on. You can see one of those shots above with the red, young seeds dangling from a branch. With the sun continuing to move higher in the sky, I returned to the retention pond from the evening before to see if I could capture a few more types of birds. While watching for a little while a Yellow Headed Blackbird came walking up along the shoreline. They are supposedly plentiful but I had never seen one before so this was a nice treat. Photographing as it moved in and out of rocks near the water searching for food was quite enjoyable. Occasionally seeing it reach down to grab something and moving on.

Eventually another bird I definitely have not photographed before came walking up on the shoreline also. This was a Sandpiper and was equally as interesting to watch as it searched to shoreline, stopping occasionally to pluck a morsel out of the water to eat, and then continuing on along the water. It continued to move closer towards me allowing me to watch it through my lens and see its every move. I enjoyed this opportunity to learn more about this shore bird. The Phalaropes were still in the area along with some Red Headed ducks and what I believe were Ruddy ducks but they were all pretty far away to get any decent shots of them. Along one of the trails in the area, several spring wildflowers where in bloom including the beautiful Bellwort in the photo above. This all made for a nice mid spring day before needed to get back to the campsite and pack up to go home. I look forward to my upcoming trips in the great outdoors of Northern Minnesota even more now.

Adventures, Jeep Badge of Honor, Troy's Blog

Top of the World

June 1, 2019 Troy

Waking up on our second morning in Moab, Utah there was plenty of excitement to get started on a second challenging trail named Top of the World. This is another trail in the Jeep Badge of Honor off road adventures and rated more challenging than Elephant Hill which was the previous 4 x 4 trail we finished. Being a bit more challenging brought with it a little apprehension. Elephant Hill had some big challenges so an increased difficulty trail may be more than we’re prepared for. So many things can happen while off roading. A major dent in the vehicle from a rock or tree, something breaks on the Jeep, or even tipping over are all concerns and possibilities.

As was starting to feel routine, we pulled into the Top of the World trailhead and began preparing the Jeep for this off road adventure. Things such as airing down the tires to a relatively low tire pressure and unlocking the sway bar to allow those front tires to move independently over the rocks. It was a beautiful morning so removing the tops over the front seats seemed like a great idea allowing some of the outside sights and sounds to reach us. Once all of these preparations where complete we re-entered the Jeep and drove on down the beginning of the trail. The surrounds where just as amazing as the day before with new and different trail experiences such as a creek crossing and steeper and longer rock ledges to climb over.

Still we were able to climb up these ledges without a great deal of difficulty although there was one we passed that we would be going over on the way back down the trail after reaching the top that looked quite precarious and maybe even more dangerous. Not to worry about it now as there was plenty of trail ahead of us to reach the top. Working our way up and over numerous rocks while avoiding trees we continued up the path without a great deal of difficulty. There were some challenging spots along the way creating an increasingly fun adventure. Eventually we rounded a corner and there was the end.

Approaching the final few feet, the view in before us became almost unbelievable. Now we understood why this trail is named Top of the World. That’s what it feels like as you look out over grand vistas of red tinted rock sculptures with snow capped mountains behind them all the while viewing them from the top of a cliff that drops hundreds of feet below to green valleys below. Parking the Jeep near the edge we got out and just stared at this unimaginably beautiful landscape. Definitely a trail worth driving on to get to this overlook. A short time after reaching the top, a group of Jeeps rounded the bend below so we took some pictures and moved off of the edge so that others could have this experience as well.

While walking around these rock ledges we noticed just how much of a drop off it is and how abrupt the edge was and began to wonder how stable these rocks on top are. Finding out was not something of interest. It was at this point we realized just how far we climbed up during the course of this trail nearly 19 mile trail. It didn’t seem like we were increasing in altitude the over 3,000 feet it goes up. It would have been more difficult to leave this overlook but there were plenty of other vehicles and people giving us incentive to begin our decent before there was more traffic slowing down our adventure. So we turned around and took a different route, climbing down the trail back towards the trailhead.

Going down some of these rock ledges was a different experience. It’s one thing when you’re looking up at them but going down you often can’t see how deep they are. This creates a couple of choices to make before venturing down each step. Get out and survey the trail to find your best path or just chance it and begin crawling down them. We chose both of these options at times having become accustom to the characteristics of the Top of the World trail. Typically we able to maneuver over each one without a lot of difficulty. However there was this one spot that caught us by surprise.

We were climbing down and then needed to crawl up a fairly large rock. Coming down was typical of what we were experiencing without any issues. The trail leveled out briefly allowing us to get in position to get up the next large rock surface. One tire was up on the rock and we were working the second front tire when the Jeep began to slide and off the second tire came putting us at a very uncomfortable angle. It felt as though the vehicle was near the tipping point and it was a long ways down if it went. Fortunately we stopped moving buying a little time to attempt getting out of this situation. Working the foot off of the brake to see if we could gently roll backwards towards where we came from worked bringing with it a slight sigh of relief. Putting the Jeep in reverse and ever so slowly letting off of the brake once more we began to crawl back off of this rock and became leveled out once more. With hearts racing we attempted to go back up this rock in front of us with a slightly different position which worked well allowing us to more easily continue on down the trail. The picture below is from a 360 camera which was mounted on the dashboard. Looking at the horizon behind us you can see how much of an angle the Jeep was at. All ended well and we made it back to the trailhead without major incidence. Another adventure filled trail surrounded by the awing sights of Utah!

Photos, Troy's Blog, wildlife

A May Morning Watching Migrating Birds

May 25, 2019 Troy

A beautiful early May morning was begging for my attention as the landscape around me was coming back to life with plants finally leafing out after a long, cold winter and birds returning from their southern hiatus seeming to finally relax a little as the sun continued to warm the air. I was hoping to find a few ducks stopping by a local pond to refuel before continuing North to find a good spot to nest however there were few to be found. In their place were many different types of birds. Some I’ve seen before and others were a new find.

Several of these Lessor Yellowlegs were combing the shoreline looking for their next meal. After initially taking off from the area they quickly returned once I was settled in a downed tree waiting for wildlife to begin moving again. In a short amount of time these shore birds continued on with their tasks with little concern for the new creature invading their temporary place allowing for some nice close up photos as they seemed to continually fight over this particular log jutting out into the shallow water. They were very entertaining!

Occasionally I would have visitors to nearby trees, at times even in the same tree I was perched in. The bird above is a Yellow Rumped Warbler in full breeding plumage. Several of these warblers visited my area, each one unique and beautiful. I would watch for the few seconds they would remain still as they returned my gaze attempting to figure out what I was doing before continuing on in their quest for food.

Throughout the morning a few other warblers flew by and stopped for a brief moment to say hello. At least that’s what it seemed like although the Palm Warbler above seems a bit confused while trying to figure out what this big eye was doing pointed right at it. I’m not sure if it could see it’s reflection in the lens or not. The Yellow Warbler below flew by me multiple times. Finally during one of those passes it decided to land in the tree I was crouched in and gave me an opportunity to get my camera in place capturing a few pictures of it and then it was gone.

After residing among tree branches for over four hours it was difficult to stand up and get walking again. Well worth the morning enjoying a spring day with all of this wildlife moving around me. Over the course of the morning there were some ducks, swans, eagles, a mink, and a deer swimming across the pond to add to all of these birds coming and going. A lot of fun!

Exploring, National Parks, Troy's Blog

An Afternoon in Arches National Park

May 18, 2019 Troy 1 Comment

Nestled next to Moab, Utah lies a park which is composed of beautiful rock structures including over 2,000 arches. Even typing this is hard to believe that many arches can be confined to such a relatively tiny area next to the Colorado River. After off roading a nearby trail, my friend and I decided to spend a portion of the afternoon exploring Arches National Park. With so many incredible landscapes surrounding the area, this national park is nothing short of spectacular with it’s natural stone carvings that are larger than life. No wonder so many movies are set with this backdrop. In the photo above you can just make out the South Window Arch near the horizon just right of center. The others are obscured from this point of view. Viewing the park from this vantage point can only be done with some type of off road activity such as hiking, biking, or four wheeling which is what we were doing.

Having spent a good portion of the day in Utah’s back country, I couldn’t imagine seeing anything here that was more impressive. Some of these famous arches that are spread across many books, magazines, and even movies in person was amazing. Being later in the afternoon I was growing tired and was having difficulty in gathering much in the way of energy to really enjoy these sights but it didn’t take long for that to pass once the arches became visible. I don’t believe they were any better than the scenery passed earlier during the day while navigating the Top of the World off road trail (which I’ll be writing about in a future post) but they were a great compliment and equally amazing as those beautiful sights.

To be able to walk right up to several natural sandstone arches, and in several case underneath them, really brought them to life. Their enormity is not easy to grasp from many of the photos I’ve looked at. Standing inside of a few arches allows you to see the details of this sandstone rock and the beautiful patterns carved into them. You just want to reach out and touch it but the arches are just too tall for that so trying to settle for a photograph or two will have to do. Yes, while underneath one of these stone structures you begin to wonder how they can even support the stone overhead and question how much longer will it continue to stand. Will this moment be the one which you find large stones dropping over top? And then you recall these have been standing like this for a very long time and it is not likely they will collapse while you’re underneath.

I took a few moments while standing underneath the North Window Arch to reflect on where I was and what I’ve been fortunate to do and see in the beautiful area. It was peaceful and very humbling to think how fortunate my friend and I were to be able to spend time on such a great adventure creating stories we’ll be able to share for the rest of our lives. Often I feel a sadness fall over me during moments like this because it means the adventure is coming to an end. Not on this day as the realization there were several trails yet to come although I was unsure how they could get any better than what was already explored.

After visiting Arches I watched a few movies filmed in the area and was amazed at the familiar scenery I had just visited in person. That’s one of the fun pieces of traveling to certain areas. Whenever you see them in a TV show, movie, or on the news you can recall your person experiences in that exact spot and what the people were like and how the surrounding areas looked and any particular smells or sounds you may have experienced. You begin to realize what so many people are seeing on the screen is such a small portion, and often an inaccurate representation, of that place.

There were numerous arches all with their own unique appearance making each one worth viewing but the most impressive arch, for me, was Double Arch. I’ll have a full post on that one arch coming up.

Adventures, Jeep Badge of Honor, National Parks, Troy's Blog

Off Roading in Canyonlands

May 12, 2019 Troy

A unique way to explore Canyonlands National Park in Utah is through their off road trails. The Elephant Hill trail runs through the Needles district which is in the southern portion of this beautiful landscape. As with many places in Utah the scenery is amazing. Around many turns or over hills reveal much to see and take in. After entering Canyonlands we needed to stop at the visitor’s center in order to obtain a free permit to travel their off road trail. There are a limited number of those given out each day and my friend and I were lucky enough to obtain one for this beautiful, sunny day.

It was time to hit the trail so we stopped at a pulloff on the way to the trailhead to get the Jeep ready for some rock crawling adventures. In a short time we had the tires aired down and the suspension prepared for the trail. While stopped I had to photograph some of this incredible scenery in this beautiful park. A few minutes more and we were heading to Elephant Hill.

The trail gets right into the difficult portion with steep climbs and sharp turns. There’s no mistaking this for a casual gravel road. In no time at all we had climbed to the top of Elephant Hill and began to wonder what was left for a challenging four wheel vehicle. Fortunately there was plenty more to enjoy. Along the way we took time to park the Jeep and take in the incredible views all around us. The top is relatively flat and extends for a bit of a distance allowing you to look around and see the different rock formations and canyons leading to the reason for this park.

Near the end of this plateau there’s a sign directing vehicles towards the trail. This is the only place there was a sign indicating the trail goes down through here. I found it entertaining that the icon was of a Jeep. Once getting part way down the hill it was obvious why. A sharp turn requiring off road vehicles to back through a portion of the trail along with tight turns while climbing rocks is already challenging enough. To do this with a truck which has a longer wheel base is even more difficult to near impossible. There was a Toyota Tacoma coming up the hill forcing us to wait at the top for awhile as it grappled with these tight turns up steep rocks. More than once we listened to tires screeching as it tried to make it up. Once at the top the driver looked extremely uneasy and glad to have finally made it through proving it is possible. Just not for the faint of heart as we had passed the drivers wife earlier in the trail walking away from this portion unable to watch as the Tacoma struggled to get to the top.

During a portion of the trail we were warned of some tight areas that could lead to damage on vehicles. As we approached one of these we were unsure of being able to make it through. Approaching this tight canyon slowly it became apparent the Jeep would get through with a bit of room on each side but very little opportunity for errors to avoid rubbing against the canyon walls. It was fun to glide through and fortunately the top comes off it we got stuck so we wouldn’t be trapped inside the vehicle.

Canyonlands National Park offers some amazing views with so many different rock formations and colors all around. I could have spent hours just taking in all of these views of the area landscapes studying the different types of rocks and rock formations. But there’s still a lot of trail left and much to see so on down the trail we went.

Much of the trial consists of rock ledges to climb over which aren’t extremely difficult but add to the fun while traveling through this beautiful park admiring the views both up close and off in the distance. Some of those views can become a bit distracting so thankfully accommodates in some places. Otherwise you could stop every few minutes just to look around and never drive the entire trail in one day.

Earlier in the day, while waiting for the Toyota Tacoma to make its way up Elephant Hill, we decided to grab lunch as we had plenty of time before being able to continue on the trail. It was an amazing spot to eat surrounded by all these beautiful rock formations under the big blue sky. Even though lunch consisted of sandwiches, chips, and an apple (so nothing fancy), I would take that every day with cool sunny skies overlooking the canyons instead of eating a warm meal trapped between four walls inside. As the day continued on we enjoyed climbing over numerous rock ledges and dirt roads all the while enjoying views from the top and bottom of the canyons while taking in a few short hikes here and there completing our day at Elephant Hill on the first full trail of an off road adventure.

Photos, Troy's Blog

The National Eagle Center

May 4, 2019 Troy

In late March I spent a day Eagle watching in Wabasha, Minnesota during their spring migration. The National Eagle Center has special events during this time of year making the trip there even more enjoyable. They always have Eagles for people to view up close. These have been injured at some point and are unable to survive in the wild, however they allow people to see these large, majestic birds of prey up close. They are impressive!

These ambassadors include both bald eagles and a golden eagle showing how these two species vary. I could have spent more time just observing these now captive birds as they scanned the area for food and preened releasing some of their winter feathers. Eagles are so enjoyable to watch floating in the air or even just perched in a tree. To be able to do that up close was such a treat.

As part of the migration festivities, the Wild Bird Sanctuary brought some other birds of prey to show which was really interesting. One of those birds was a falcon with beautiful colors and fun to watch as it flew across the auditorium from one handler to the next. In addition to the Wild Bird Sancutary, the National Eagle Center had displays which included beautiful photos in their art gallery, US Fish and Wildlife displays of some of the bugs found in that area, and even a little Saw-whet owl on display. What an amazing and friendly little owl.

There are a number of displays showing birds of prey and other features of the area landscape these animals live in. Definitely worth a visit if you’re ever in the area!

Adventures, Jeep Badge of Honor, Troy's Blog

Getting to Moab, and the First Trail

April 27, 2019 Troy

Waking up from the last night on a soft bed for several more nights, it was time to grab something to eat, stop at a grocery store to complete the next weeks meals, and hit the road to Moab. It was a cool morning in Cedar City, Utah with fresh snow up in the mountains making for a beautiful landscape. Driving up into those mountains resulted in rain changing over to snow near the summit making for a gloomy drive and yet fun to see a little different weather from desert areas below. After getting over the top and descending the clouds once again began to separate allowing sun to spread across the amazing scenery of Utah.

Continuing east through Utah, the increasing sun highlighted the incredible landscapes that appeared around every corner along with warm up the afternoon temperatures. All of these canyons are why I consider Utah to be National Park central as there are so many in close proximity to one another in this state. We stopped for a brief chance to get out and stretch our legs and take in some of the sights at Devil’s Canyon Overlook just off of Highway 70. Well worth the few minutes it takes to pull off the highway and walk to the Canyon overlook.

Returning to the Jeep and getting back on the highway we were able to soon see the red rock canyons typical of the Moab area. Excitement grew knowing that these were the types of areas we would soon be exploring with the Jeep which had been in the planning for many months and now they were there right in front of us. Arriving in Moab mid afternoon we went straight to the campground to find our spot and set up the tent getting ready to reside here for the next few days. With daylight still left it was time to go see downtown Moab and even scout out the first trail planned for the next day.

A brief scouting of Fins N Things revealed the trail was split into 2 parts, one of which could only be traveled during daylight hours. After a brief discussion about wanting to return to the campsite for food and an evening fire, we decided this first portion of the trail wouldn’t take very long and we would still have time for a nice fire before turning in to prepare for the next day on the trail. The recreation area fee was quickly paid and we were off to a pull out not far away to prepare the vehicle for an off road adventure. Those preparations include removing air from the tires and releasing the sway bar supports which allow the front tires to move freely over rocks.

Twenty minutes later we were taking in our first trail adventure of the week experiencing the fun of off roading in Moab. The difficulty level of this first trail was rated as the easiest of those we were planning on attempting according to the Jeep Badge of Honor app which seemed like a good place to start and learn how to navigate in this terrain. It was a fun portion of the trail with some steep rocks to climb along with some nice rock ledges to traverse. What made this trail so amazing was the setting it was in while climbing up and down these rocks. The landscape all around consisted of beautiful red rocks and snow capped mountains all in the evening sunlight. What a great ending to a travel filled day in this spectacular part of the United States! Next stop: Elephant Hill in Canyonlands National Park.

New Experiences, Photos, Troy's Blog, wildlife

Returning to the Rookery

April 21, 2019 Troy

This past winter I was talking to some photographers who mentioned a Great Blue Heron rookery (nesting site) relatively close to me and that no matter what the weather, herons begin to return in March. One nice early spring day, the first day of spring in fact, I took some time to stop by and see where this place was and if the herons were indeed returning yet. To my surprise there were many birds already there squabbling over which nest they wanted. There were several nests still unoccupied so I expect there will be more birds migrating to the area as spring progresses.

While watching several pairs of Great Blue Herons it was interesting to observe how they interacted with each other and with other herons in the area. Each checking different nests trying to pick just the right one to raise new little herons and defending that nest from others. I focused on one pair for awhile, watching and photographing some of their behaviors, as I continued to learn more about these larger birds. After checking a few nests thoroughly, they seemed to settle on one. However, that one nest still required some work before it would be suitable to lay eggs into.

At one point there seemed to be a discussion and disagreement over an aspect of this nest which you can see from the photo above. I couldn’t tell what the issue was but the result was one of the herons flying away from the nest to find solitude in the river banks below. The picture below shows the Great Blue Heron taking off from the nest while the other one continues to inspect parts of the potential nest. While away, the remaining bird made some adjustments to the sticks improving this chosen nesting site.

Five minutes later this heron returned to the nest and the pair seemed to make up and act as though they missed one another. For a couple of minutes they spent time kind of cuddling with one another before returning to the task of re-enforcing their nest. In the picture below you can see them with their heads crossed almost as if they were hugging. Maybe this is just some sort of method of checking out if they had been near another bird or reconnecting their bond. Whatever it was it was interesting to witness.

Part of reconstructing their nest involved flying to another vacant nest, and stealing branches that could be used on their own nest showing why getting to the rookery earlier in the year was beneficial and worth risking exposure to bad weather which could include snow. And lots of it!

It’s interesting to watch as they would check several branches for just to right one for their own nest. Once the branch was chosen they would, not so carefully remove it from the nest and fly back with it in mouth.

After several sticks added and repairs were made, the nest was deemed suitable allowing for some rest before the real work of raising young arrived.

Adventures, Jeep Badge of Honor, Troy's Blog

Beginning Another Adventure

April 13, 2019 Troy

Recently I returned from the first, in what I hope to be many, adventures off roading in a Jeep. For much of my life I’ve had a really close friend who has owned a Jeep shortly after he could drive. We would would take his Jeeps off roading beginning with fairly easy dirt or gravel roads with a few bumps in them and gradually increasing the trail difficulty to some rock climbing and steep sand trails with a little mudding. Of course the ability of his Jeeps has increased as well to be able to conquer more difficult places. It’s always been fun! In June of 2018 we began discussing the idea of more intense off road adventures but really didn’t know what level of difficulty we were actually up for. After kicking around some ideas of maybe just visiting some National Parks near California and driving their off road trails to what it would take to drive more challenging trails. As the year ended we came across the Jeep Badge of Honor program which highlights over 40 trails across the United States and rates these trails by level of difficulty.

Doing some more research on these trails, we began to focus on Moab, Utah and all of the trails around this town. When this area was first suggested to me I about fell over. It’s kind of like National Park central and I’m always up for exploring another National Park. The more difficult decision was how long to stay in Moab. Different trails came up and finally three were chosen. Not too difficult but enough challenges to see how these Badge of Honor trails work. As we rang in 2019, early April came up as our preferred timeline for some nice weather on average for this adventure but not too busy with people on vacation. Over the next several months we booked accommodations and additional modifications were made to the Jeep for some intense rock crawling among the cliffs and canyons surrounding Moab.

For much of March it seemed as though time was going so slow as I was really looking forward to getting to Utah and experiencing some trails in this scenic area. One day I went in to work only to be asked what time the next day I was leaving for Las Vegas. My quick response was today is going so slow and at the same time there was much to do as I was flying out later that afternoon. This was met with a little surprise and then understanding as I hurried through my list of things to do and headed out once they were taken care of. A few more items to take care of at home and then it was off to the airport for a flight to Las Vegas were I would meet my friend for this new adventure.

Thankfully Delta was playing some movies I hadn’t seen yet taking my mind off of my eagerness to get to Las Vegas a little. I did continue to look out of the window trying to determine where we were. I’ve flown this route enough that I know a number of the landmarks along the way. Unfortunately clouds covered much of the route making tracking the flight more difficult. I know, they show the planes location on the screen attached to the seat in front of me but I really didn’t want to know how far or close we were as I was already impatient enough to endure the length of the flight. At times there were breaks in the clouds allowing me to see some mountains and then Lake Mead appeared. My level of excitement jumped at this spot knowing Vegas isn’t very far away now. Then the plane began its descent. Just before the descent I was able to watch the sun dip below the clouds as sunset arrived signaling the end of the day. We began to descend into the clouds below and a few minutes later the lights of Las Vegas became visible. A few pictures and we were on the ground. Forty-five minutes later I was greeting my friend, climbing into the Jeep and heading towards Utah. A few hours of driving and we decided to find a place to stay bringing an end to the start of the Jeep Badge of Honor adventures. So much more to come!

New Experiences, Photos, Troy's Blog, wildlife

Spring Eagle Migration

April 7, 2019 Troy

A couple of weeks ago I spent a Saturday in Wabasha, Minnesota photographing Bald Eagles as they return north after the cold winter. The National Eagle Center in Wabasha tracks Eagle numbers throughout March and the count for this weekend looked really good provided many opportunities to watch these magnificent birds of prey. After finishing my commitments on Friday night I quickly ran around the house gathering equipment and gear I might need for a day along the Mighty Mississippi tracking and photographing Eagles.

Awaking well before dawn, on a short nights rest, I got my remaining gear and some food together and headed out the door. It was just after 4:45am which would give me enough time to make the nearly 2 hour drive to Wabasha and arrive there to see the sun rise above the horizon as Eagles begin to take to the sky for the day. It was a nice day for an adventure with temperatures reaching above freezing making for a comfortable day outside without excessive layers of clothes. The drive went by quickly with the horizon beginning to cast light into drifting clouds as I got closer bringing out some beautiful pinks in the sky. Reaching the first stop for the day at Reeds Landing, the sun was only moments from breaking above the trees across the river. Getting set up to take some pictures of the sunrise, Eagles were already flying above distracting me from the first mornings’ light.

While the sun continued to rise I attempted to capture an Eagle in the photo as they flew overhead but was unsuccessful as it was still too dark and the Eagles turned out blurry so I returned to focus only on the sunrise for the time being. One of the nice things about Eagle watching at that time of year is if you see a large bird, it’s likely an Eagle. During much of the summer I’m often fooled by larger birds that turn out to be Turkey Vultures and then disappointed. In a short time the light from the rising sun increased enough to begin capturing birds in flight. Just at that time a young one flew into view heading right in my direction. Focusing the camera on it I began to snap away getting some beautiful photos as it got closer. The result is the picture at the top of this post.

The biggest challenge of photographing these Eagles is to find a spot to get close enough for some great photos. Often times they will fly away from you or land on the other side of the river where they are too far away to get great shots. Even with that, opportunities did become available from time to time. The trick was to be ready and have the camera settings right for the situation. Sometimes it works out and other times I was frustrated with a blurry shot wanting to slam the camera and lens to the ground. All in all it was a lot of fun to photograph these beautiful birds and watch as they interacted with each other and flew overhead. Listening to their calls, which sounds very little like the sounds you hear on TV shows, wondering what they’re saying to each other. Sometimes they called one another to the tree they’re in and other times it was letting anther Eagle know they are not welcome to land in that tree. But many of the calls I couldn’t figure out the purpose of.

After awhile the Eagles seem to move away from an area requiring getting back into the vehicle to search for more elsewhere along the river. There are several nests in this area also. These are quite impressive to see as they’re so large. Almost like a tree fort. All of this just for an little Eagle or two. These nests are constructed over several years, increasing in size each time. There was one nest being guarded by an Eagle giving some perspective on how large the nest is.

Throughout the day there were many Eagles soaring in the warming sun. Every once in awhile there would be a couple of birds arguing over a particular fishing spot or certain territory in a tree or on the remaining ice along the river making for some interesting and entertaining behavior. Several times I attempted to capture this with the camera but often it was over before I could capture the event. There were a few that I managed to photograph but they were often far away allowing the Eagles to avoid a close-up shot. The picture below is one of the best shots I managed to capture. These two were arguing over this location on the ice. It lasted for less than a minute.

As the day got later I continued to work on capturing an Eagle swooping down to catch a fish. Unfortunately I had little success. The bird, captured below, has a fish in it’s talons while heading to a tree away from all the other birds to feast without being disturbed by another Eagle trying to steal the fresh meal. I watched this one gliding over the water and then circle around before plucking a fish out of the river all the while snapping away. Unfortunately those pictures are all a little blurry and the actual moment of catching the fish was missed. I have a photo of the Eagle touching the water and another one just after it caught the fish. While it’s nice to see those shots, it’s also disappointing as they are not great compositionally or completely in focus. Something to continue to work on. Even after this bird caught the fish I didn’t stop tracking it and luckily I didn’t. It ended up flying almost overhead as it headed towards the hills behind me giving me more opportunities to grab a picture with a fish in the talons.

Near the end of the day the light was getting too low for good picture taking of the Eagles so I headed to a spot to enjoy the last rays of the sun for the day before making the trek back home. Thankfully it was a beautiful sunset over the vast Mississippi River as you can see in the small Panorama below.

Gaining Life Experience

All posts by Troy

A Spring Camping Preview

Top of the World

A May Morning Watching Migrating Birds

An Afternoon in Arches National Park

Off Roading in Canyonlands

The National Eagle Center

Getting to Moab, and the First Trail

Returning to the Rookery

Beginning Another Adventure

Spring Eagle Migration

Your Board of Adventure