Bleak January, always produces the most colorful of northeastern Minnesota birds. The beautiful Pine Grosbeaks return, donning their soft red, pink, gray and tangerine feathers.
Arguably, my favorite winter birds to photograph are the Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings.
Gray Fox and owls highlighted the month of February. The loyal Gray Fox is exclusively a nocturnal visitor. Arriving each night to clean up around the bird feeders, few people know that they love peanuts.
I photographed many Great Gray Owls this year; here are a few that I found in various locations of the arrowhead. The first shot was taken on our property on Cedar Ridge.
My March surprise was a bobcat I photographed hunting on our property. The first "cat" I have seen, other than the one that sits in my lap each night.
A faithful chickadee follows me in the woods each day and receives hulled sunflower seeds as a treat.
February and March also provided opportunities for photographing the day and night landscapes of the arrowhead.
Sunrise through a Lake Superior ice cave
The heavy snows of April did not slow up the migrating birds. A shot of a Myrtle Warbler and Hoary Redpoll surrounded by a blanket of snow.
Although not a migratory bird, the Boreal Chickadee is a difficult bird to find and photograph in the northland.
An early April migrant each year is the beautiful Golden-crowned Kinglet.
An April moonrise image of the famous Grand Marais icon.
A few "cold ducks" braved the April elements in the Grand Marais harbor.
Eared Grebe
Hooded Mergansers
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Ring-necked
Redhead
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-necked Grebe
April Gray Wolf captured on our property.
Early April nest building by a pair of Osprey
The first day of May brings out a drumming Ruffed Grouse. Always a highlight of sight and sound in the northern forests.
The Fox Sparrow is one of my favorite spring migrants who spends just a few days in our territory.
Sharp-tailed Grouse "dancing" on a lek. A spring mating ritual for more than fifty years on this particular spot.
May brings out the new kids on the block. A den of Red Fox kits.
A returning Ruby-crowned Kinglet.
The brilliant Wood Ducks make for striking poses.
Wood Warblers of Cedar Ridge
Nashville Warbler
Black & White Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Canada Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Parula Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Mourning Warbler
SPARROWS
Chipping Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
American Tree Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
First Year White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
The most brilliant blue in the forest belongs to the Indigo Bunting.
One of the longest and loveliest songs in the woods belongs to the Winter Wren.
American Goldfinch with a white cedar background.
October in the Sawtooth Mountains of the arrowhead... Oberg Mt.
The "flagship" bird of the north woods, the Gray Jay.
A cow moose enjoying a beautiful fall day off the Gunflint Trail.
October sunrise on Lake Superior
Pileated Woodpecker
Our grandson Will feeding our friend "Norris Nuthatch."
December Evening Grosbeak
December brings a snowy ending to 2013. We have accumulated an even 50 inches of snow here on Cedar Ridge... 47 inches falling in the month of December. Mary photographed this lonesome white-tail buck cleaning up around our bird feeders.
A fitting end to December and 2013.
Happy New Year to you all.
