Winter in January!

 "Along the Shelf Ice"

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view) 

January...how many times will I now accidentally write 2015 on checks and such before I finally get it right!?!  I know I'm not alone out there!

We've had a couple snows in the last few days so we look quite like winter again; and the temps are closer to what they normally are this time of the year too.  I usually prefer winter landscapes early in the morning but late afternoon can work nicely as well and yesterday afternoon was a good day outside!

 

 "January on the Waterman"

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view) 

With Waterman Creek so close by, most of the afternoon was spent up and down the valley searching for those snippets of Waterman "treasure" just waiting for appreciation!

There isn't a lot of shelf ice out there due to high water levels but I did manage to find a vantage point with some ice along a gravel bank - with the additional benefit of tracks in the snow adding to the composition...and the creek itself in the valley a few miles south offered up a bright landscape benefiting from a pure blue sky!  

Pleasant scenes and simple compositions...may your winter days be ever so pleasant too!

Happy New Year 2013!!!

 Winter in the prairie pasture here!

(photograph © Bruce A. Morrison)

2013!  Time flies when you're having fun!  Winter has finally arrived on the acreage here and it is beautiful and cold!  The photograph at the blog head is of our north pasture just 3 days ago.  Since it was a bit breezy, I took mostly video footage.  The video is embedded here so you can take a short walk, enjoy the sparkling frost and snow covering the prairie plants and grasses - and not even catch a chill! (I'd recommend enlarging the screen or going directly to the You Tube link for a great view!)

If you subscribe to this blog via e-mail, the embedded link may not show.  If that's the case just click on the following link -

http://youtu.be/OPdT8r2aA70

Happy 2013 to you and your loved ones out there, all our best in this New Year!!!

Count Down 2!!

Great Blue Heron

Wow...March! Ya, I know it's been March since yesterday, but it's been a hard thing to comprehend because everything is still "very" white! The temperature still says "winter" each morning when we wake up, but it's toying with the freezing mark each afternoon and the sun is gaining height in it's arch, making it feel so much warmer on the face outside.

March is great...it's the first month of spring. But what a difference a year can make. Last year this week the Great Blue Herons were returning to their rookery across the creek from us. Today...Ha! No way. The creek is still frozen fast and buried in deep snow. But the rookery nests of the last few years are still standing like beacons waiting their boarders.

The studio work here is still immersed in the Watchable Wildlife web site project; I've downloaded 75 videos this week...now I have to embed them into templates I've set up and do google map work. The easel talks to me every day...all I can say is "I miss you too!" I have a feeling I'll need to scratch the camera's itch as well once the weather makes the "real" turn! From feast to famine and back!

Less than 3 weeks now - counting down!

Carrying On...

Eastern Red Cedar now covers what was once prairie for hundreds of years.

Not meaning to make this another "weather" blog, but I learned from listening to the state climatologist yesterday that this is the first year in perhaps 20-25 years that the arctic polar front is now south of Des Moines, Iowa. If you're as old as I am you'll remember winters just like this one! We've been more than 20 below zero each night since last week. We may be dancing with this weather the rest of the winter! Another note...this polar front cycle usually lasts 10-15 years. Nice to know we may have a lot to look forward to next winter too doesn't it...hmmm.

I had to get out of the studio yesterday afternoon...getting stir crazy. I sauntered down into the Waterman Prairie complex south of here and tried to garner some images from this frozen place. My hands don't work as well as they used to in this temperature but I tried my best.

Subadult Male Bald Eagle

The first thing I happened across was a subadult Bald Eagle that was sitting in a dead snag along the northern edge of the prairie. Unfortunately the bird was sitting at such an angle from the vehicle that I could not get a good base under the camera and telephoto lens for a "sharp" image. I could have stepped out of the truck with a tripod but the bird would have flown immediately.

I've found the vehicle to be your best blind for birds of prey "as a rule"...there are always exceptions. To leave the vehicle for a steadier shot in this case looked hopeless...I was just too close for the bird's comfort. The bird was also situated in such a way that the only shot I had was twisting to my left and shooting over my shoulder...that seldom works...what to do?

I sharpened the image some for this blog and you may not be able to tell from this image but the bird is "not quite there" as far as adult plumage is concerned. This male (judging by it's smaller stature) Bald Eagle is a tad off from it's ultimate adult plumage with some mottling and brownish tinge in the head and tail plumage...I'm guessing maybe it's a 4 year old? Hope to see him again next year...maybe he'll pose for a tripod shot! (Oh, he did fly after I took a handful of photos from inside the truck.)

Near the Waterman Prairie Valley Complex

I wandered down along the valley near the Little Sioux River and tried to capture a sense of the sky as it turned darker to the north with a nice herringbone effect in the clouds. The only thing around to put in the image's foreground were some bales that didn't make it out of the field before the last snow storm. It was late afternoon with only 15-20 minutes of sun left yet the temperature was still way below zero...the only thing in my favor was the absence of wind - thankfully! My fingers still went numb and my batteries failed...replaced them and tried again...uh...I much prefer spring, summer and fall!

The hills off to the left in the far background became part of the greater Waterman Prairie complex this past year! I'm really looking forward to getting to explore it in the years ahead.

The image at the top of the blog is a privately owned piece of property near the Waterman Complex that was once tallgrass priairie. It has been allowed to turn into a monoculture of Eastern Red Cedar trees. Looks very dramatic in it's winter garb but unfortunately does not support a fraction of the diversity that the original prairie would have. It does give winter refuge to a lot of White-tailed Deer, Wild Turkeys, and even a few species of songbirds such as Cedar Waxwings, American Robins and Eastern Bluebirds.

More snow on the horizon here - batten down the hatches!