Herons at 3, 9, 12 o’clock…three out of five isn’t bad

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From what I’ve heard, the Great Blue Heron is a territorial bird. I’ve also been under the impression that they’re also a solitary bird. Apparently not, as I spotted a group of FIVE of them this weekend!

One thing I know to be true: these are very perceptive, alert, and skittish birds. Trying to get near them is a near impossibility, a feat which I’ve tried to accomplish repeatedly in the past two years. I got some pretty good success once so far this year, getting within 50 feet of one of these birds, but didn’t really come away with the greatest of pictures from it. I’ll keep trying.

With these particular birds, I spotted them from afar. I clipped my camera to the tripod and began to advance along the soft muddy shore of the backwater. I would walk ten paces or so, stop, and remain motionless for a while. The birds would see me, of course, since there was no cover for me…but after a while they’d lose interest and go back to snatching fish out of the water.

I originally only saw three of the birds, but then was surprised to spot a fourth playing lookout. I would pan the camera back and forth to keep tabs on all of them as I worked my way closer, and suddenly I realized there were five! As I started to get within what I’d consider “good” photo distance, one bird took off and flew down river a ways. Shortly thereafter, a second birds took flight and went to join its pal. These three, however, held out for a while… allowing me a chance to work my way a little closer.

I was never able to get too close, but thankfully I have one of Canon’s new 300mm zoom lenses. While parked on a tripod it’s able to pull some pretty awesome shots from a distance. I’m still saving for a 400mm prime lens, which should be really awesome, but until that time this’ll have to do.

Guarding the nest, and my first two ticks of the year

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While out on another one of my notorious photo hikes, I was surprised when something caught the corner of my eye. It was this goose, all hunkered down in the rocks. I presume this goose is a she, and I also presume she’s guarding a nest. I documented the find, then moved on so I didn’t cause any further distress.

I got quite a few neat pictures from this particular hike, and I’ll post them as time allows. I also found two ticks crawling on me through the course of the evening, both times on my pant leg. Yuck. I carry insect repellent spray and wipes in my truck, but I had grown accustomed to not needing them. I guess those days are over!

Tuesday night sunset

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It’s been very difficult to find a sunset lately; it’s been cloudy, I’ve been busy, and they are arriving later and later! The sunset is around 8:30pm these days, which is nice; but it’s far less convenient to have to wait four hours after I get off work! In some ways, those early sunsets are very handy. I can stake out a location, get the photos, and be home in time for dinner. Not any more.

This lone tree sits atop a hill northwest of Bismarck. As I grabbed this angle on the sunset, I realized that I had zoomed in on this particular little lonely tree from the other side of the river earlier this afternoon. In that case, however, there was nothing but a gloomy sky behind it. This angle turned out far better.

I noticed up at one of my favorite sunset spots, a vantage point that is endangered and probably won’t be available for much longer, someone had set up some old patio furniture. Truly remarkable spots are hard to keep secret!

Sandbar fire

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It was hard to miss the giant plume of smoke billowing skyward as I drove from Mandan to Bismarck last night. A quick peek from the river’s edge revealed a lot of activity along the sandbar just north of the Expressway Bridge. I could see rural fire, police, and city fire vehicles lining the access road along the sandbar…to me, this indicated that it was likely NOT a controlled burn. From the news report I caught last night, it was not.

One thing you may not know about the Bismarck Fire Department and Bismarck Forestry Department is that they are actually pretty well equipped to deal with such a threat. They realized the fire danger that exists in areas such as this one (or the woodlands south of the city) and have built fire trails in these areas. The fire trails allow them quick access to places that normally would be a nightmare to reach, and these trails allow them to react quickly to fires that otherwise might burn out of control.

Just such a situation happened south of town a few years back in a very remote are and, thanks to the fire trail, the fire crews were able to react and contain the fire just prior to a nasty wind shift. That wind shift would have driven the fire right into the Tatley Meadows trailer park and brought disaster with it.

Kudos to our local responders! If this had spread under the Expressway Bridge, who knows what kind of complications could have resulted. From what I saw, the crew was able to contain this blaze very quickly.

Identify that statue #9

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I know…it isn’t a statue per se, but it should ring a bell nonetheless. I will say this: it goes back to 1877. I blurred out the inscription on the plaque because that might make it too easy. But even if you know what this bell stands for, even if you know its history, I’m also looking for someone who can tell me where it currently resides. Have fun!

Correction: both sides have their t-shirts

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IN a post earlier this weekend I talked about the notorious shirts being sold at NDSU (not by the college, but by its supporters) and quoted the NCAA’s use of them as an example for going after the Fighting Sioux logo. Well, it didn’t take long before someone sent me a link to examples of shirts being sold in Grand Forks, too.

Having been corrected, I can no longer point the finger at NDSU when it comes to the whole Sioux controversy. It’s unfortunate that there are such idiots on both sides, actually. I’ve previously used the example of people that adorn their car window with a caricature of a kid peeing on various logos. It takes a unique breed of person, not one of admirable qualities.

Don’t get me wrong…I still think that UND should keep their nickname and logo. I think any tribe that calls themselves Sioux has no credibility in telling anyone the name is offensive. I also still stand by the university’s efforts to cater to native American students. Unfortunately, t-shirts like that hurt the credibility of anyone standing up for UND in the logo controversy.

It only takes a few jerks on either side to really aggravate the issue. An outside party looking at the t-shirts in question (too offensive to link to here) would assign UND supporters as much credibility as the tribes who call themselves Sioux but then insist that the term Sioux is hurtful and offensive.

Anyway, back to the photography posts. This isn’t an NDSU or UND blog, so if you want to feed the ol’ rivalry any further…go to the Bisonville site. They appear ready for battle.

Before the snow becomes a distant memory…

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I thought I’d share this pair of waxwings with y’all. These two were part of a group of dozens feasting on fallen fruit downtown. Most noteworthy are the colors on the tips of the wing and tail feathers of the bottom bird.

These are some pretty brilliant birds for North Dakota! I’m so accustomed to the more common brown birds of various species, but we actually do get a lot of very colorful wildlife up here. It ain’t the tropics, but we do get our colors.

Friday night windmill

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I haven’t been out with the camera much lately, as demonstrated by the sporadic posting lately. The fact of the matter is that I had a three month old son with pneumonia, involving a three night hospital stay, the Mandan Art Show to prepare for, a freelance DVD job that kept me up late for several nights, and some nasty weather to boot. Tonight broke that string of events…sorta.

I grabbed my photo buddy Ken, whose work is showcased a lot on KFYR TV’s Sky Spies page, and we headed north to catch the sunset. Little PJ was still suffering from a cold, but on the mend. His RSV test was negative, he’d had a fun day at home with mom and afternoon with dad, so it was time to dash out and see what the sky had to present.

I drove us out in the middle of nowhere, near my favorite Northern Lights spot, and found this windmill. I haven’t actually been on this particular road in the daytime, so I never knew it was there before! We took a number of shots from a variety of angles, and this was my result. It’s amazing how different my shots look from the ones Ken took. We had different angles, resulting in a different chunk of sky, so I had none of the gold or brilliant color that he had. Instead I opted for the cool blue of the northwestern sky.

We were about to head for higher ground and set up for the sunset when my beloved wife called to tell me that PJ had spiked a nasty fever. We threw the gear in the truck, pointed it back toward town, and I came home to tend to my little man. A little bit of baby Tylenol cured the fever, and he spent the rest of the evening playing and laughing with daddy until bedtime. I saw that Kevin Lawrence used one of Ken’s windmill photos on the 10 o’clock news, so apparently the brief venture up north turned out as a photographic success for both of us.

I wonder if they’ve got Kenny Baker in there

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I saw this mailbox the other day and, as a Star Wars geek, it certainly caught my eye. The first question to cross my mind was, “I wonder if they’ve got Kenny Baker in there? It’s actually a bit of an inside joke.

My workplace has a handful of Star Wars fans. We don’t come to work in our stormtrooper outfits or anything, but we like the movies. We also try to deny the fact, since it’s pretty much the mark of a nerd. So, when I made a comment one time about “what, did they stick Kenny Baker in there?” I accidentally broadcast my geekdom to the whole office. Like they didn’t know anyway.

Anyway, they’re selling Star Wars stamps, I guess…and that’s the reason for this promotion. The mailbox has a web address on the side (now a dead link) where you could vote for your favorite Star Wars stamp and that sort of thing. I’m a stamp collector and a Star Wars fan, but I haven’t voted yet. Maybe after I’m done organizing my pocket protectors and trying to define Pi to 67,891 digits. If you know the significance of that number, or clicked on the Pi link to see what Wikipedia has to say about it, you really ARE a geek! Welcome to the club. Now hitch up those pants, soldier!

Got a new Greg

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It’s that time of year in Bismarck-Mandan, where all the critters start making an appearance again: birds, squirrels, and bunnies. I’ve written in the past about the various manifestations of Greg the Bunny, and this is the new Greg. He and his girlfriend have set up residence near the back boundary of our property, and I’ve spotted the two of them a couple of times.

We don’t have a garden right now, so I’m not too concerned about bunnies. Last year’s Greg had a liking for my wife’s flower beds, but they make a rabbit repellent for that. So, until we get a garden planted, the Gregs are invited to stay. They’re so cute!