IMAGES OF NOVEMBER

Thanksgiving Day Chickadee 2008

Thanksgiving Day Ruffed Grouse 2012

St. Paul writes, "In all circumstances, give thanks." 

In my mind, the month of November is the prelude to thankfulness and remembrance, as it ushers in the grand season of Christmas and the New Year. 

My mother was the "patron saint of thankfulness."  She believed that God bestowed His grace on all of His children.  We should be thankful  for our family, good health and each opportunity to be together.  I remember many days in the 1940s were bad days, but mother could transform most of them into good days.  Her  prophetic Norwegian adage, "things could be worse" is still shared with a wink and a smile by our family.   I was also fortunate to have a dad that engrained in me the ideals of nature stewardship.  He loved the outdoors and was an expert fisherman and hunter, a true visionary and caretaker of the environment.  I am grateful for his legacy. 

These "Images of November" are dedicated to fond memories of my parents... for I know how much they would have enjoyed them.

The Bald Eagle is one of my favorite winter subjects to photograph.  I don't know how the winter fate of the eagle is decided, but as I have said before "the Lake Superior eagle must draw the short straw."
  

Photographed this November in Grand Marais.  I see this beautiful eagle each November and throughout the winter months.

Cruising the Grand Marais harbor.

Each time I view this photo, I think what are the odds of capturing the north shore icon as a background for our national symbol.

If I was to choose which animal is the most fun to photograph, it would be the fox.  As my blog and photo archives show,  the fox is my favorite animal of the forest.  I have been privileged to observe almost on a nightly basis the Gray Fox.  Through the years we have had many generations of the "gray ones" visit our front yard at night.  One interesting fact few people know, the Gray Fox love peanuts.  I found this out accidentally while observing their nocturnal feeding habits.  One night I saw a couple of my adults sniffing around below my bird feeders.  I couldn't figure out if they were after a mouse eating the seeds or a large insect such as a moth.  I have seen these fox dine on Luna Moths and other large insects as they fly low under our motion light.  But this night they were eating the residue sunflower seeds that littered the ground around the bird feeders.

I took a can full of hulled peanuts that I feed my Blue Jays and put them in the middle of the yard.  I whistled as I always do when I have scraps to feed them.  Out of the woods comes my Gray Fox family; immediately polishing off the scattered peanuts.  As time went on during all four seasons, the foxes choice of gourmet dining was always the lowly peanut... even when a prime chicken scrap was available.

    

The other fox near and dear to my heart are the Red Fox and the Cross Fox.  Unlike the Gray Fox they are not primarily nocturnal and show up at any time.  Almost every Red Fox I have had in our yard has been precocious, fun loving and quite tame.

I once had a young Red Fox enter the yard at night when the Gray Fox was present.  The young Red Fox seemed a bit lonesome and wanted to hang out with the gray.  In years of observation of the Gray Fox, I knew what was about to happen.  The little Red Fox wanted to play and ran around the gray like a puppy.  He would prance and run toward the gray, putting his head on the ground between his front legs, like a dog's visual play request.  The gray would have none of this nonsense and proceeded to chase the little red into the woods.  He eventually came back and spent his time with us lying in the daytime sunshine.  Free from the antagonistic adult Gray Fox with no sense of humor.

It is difficult to pick a favorite fox of the decade visits from our furry visitors, but the Cross Fox was a true highlight.  As a morph of the Red Fox, his gene is present and a litter of Red Fox can have a combination of cross or red kits.

He also would show up at any time, usually posing on our deck in front of our patio door, looking for a handout.  The cross would sleep on our lawn during the day and try to chase the grays off the yard at night.  It was a never ending and dauntless task as the grays with their kits, always outnumbered the cross.  He would chase one of the grays into the woods and another of the family would come and eat his scraps.  He too would learn, that the daylight hours provided a more friendly atmosphere for his dining.

Depending on the mountain ash berry and crab apple crop, so goes the chances of photographing winter Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings.  Two years ago there was a berry "blight" in the tip of the arrowhead.  There were few berries to be found and I knew not the reason.  That winter was pretty much waxwing-less and quite traumatic for me as I love to photograph these birds.  I was thrilled to see a bumper mountain ash berry crop this fall, but my joy was soon dashed by the advent of thousands of American Robins.  They proceeded to eat almost every berry in the county, leaving only a few for the Bohemian Waxwing I photographed last week.

And one from last November.

One of the winter birds that saves me from a case of "cabin fever" is the Pine Grosbeak.  They are also fruit eaters, but thankfully for winter bird photographers they also eat seeds.

I really enjoy these beautifully color toned birds, I fondly refer to them as the "parrots of the northland."  The males vary in pinkish reds.

While the female Pine Grosbeaks vary from light gray to tangerine.

And a shot of their cousin the Evening Grosbeak.

The loudest rat-a-tat sound echoing through the forest is that of the Pileated Woodpecker.  I have been able to discern the rhythmic differences between the Downy, Hairy, Black-backed and American Three-toed woodpeckers with a high percentage of accuracy.  The Pileated's volume puts them to shame.  I love listening and observing this woodpecker and enjoy the closeness I can get to this bird in the winter.  I don't know why, but the winter months seem to temper the "twitchy-ness" of the Pileated.

I took this shot a few days ago in the yard.

Mary calls the Northern Shrike the "nasty bird" as he dines on whatever chickadee and nuthatch not paying utmost attention.  The shrike shows up every November and hangs out into the spring months.  My chickadees seem to fear this bird even more than the Sharp-shinned or Cooper's Hawks.

The comedian of the forest has to be the Pine Marten.  We see him more in November and the winter months.  He in our opinion is a "10" on the "cuteness scale."

Well, maybe this denizen is also quite high on that scale.

One of the birds migrating from the far north is the Common Redpoll.  They show up at our feeders usually at the end of October and gain numbers through November.  A few years back, we had an infestation of redpolls and they and the siskins ate us out of house and home.  They seem to love our hulled sunflower seeds and niger seed.  These two images were shot as the redpolls fed on Canadian goldenrod seeds.  I think the tiny redpoll is one winters more beautiful birds.

A bird many of you have at your feeder is almost a rarity on our ridge.  We have uncountable Red-breasted Nuthatches flitting busily into our forest.  The White-breasted Nuthatch is one we seldom see, and when we do, his presence is usually short lived.  This November we are fortunate to have two White-breasted Nuthatches, one male and one female.  Hopefully they will stay the winter.

As scenery goes, it depends on the snowfalls that beautify the forest landscape.  Until then, I will leave you with two November images of the Big Lake.

"Snow-squall over the Sawtooth Mountains"

Grand Marais Harbor Lighthouse in Novermber

“It was November--the month of crimson sunsets, parting birds, deep, sad hymns of the sea, passionate wind-songs in the pines." ... L.M. Montgomery