fauna

Midwinter Crex Meadows

I’d heard rumors of an Artic Owl hanging around Crex Meadows for the past couple weeks, so I decided today to go see if I could see for myself.

This was my first rip to Crex in the dead of winter.

There’s not much going on.

Lots of snow and ice, but since it was only about 11° F the dirt roads were passable. Driving around the perimeter of the refuge, I saw one female sharpie (feeding in some distant birches) and 3 bald eagles. Hiking along Phantom Lake, I ran across lots of tracks, mostly melted beyond id, except for a couple trails of fresh ruffed grouse.

I didn’t see any owls, but on the way out, I caught what my/may not be a wolf, about 400 meters out. I imaged it on the outer limits of the 600mm, and enlarged it as much as possible without it breaking up into pixels. Part of me says “coyote”, but the other part says otherwise. Either way, it was cool to see it, wild and free in what passes for wilderness in Wisconsin.

Eagle Fight!

fauna

It’s been a couple years, but there is again a roadkill in a perfect enough spot to the passing highway as to attract the local Bald Eagle population, and be far enough distant from the road that the birds put up with being gawked at by passing traffic. Unfortunately for me as the photographer, it’s in a cornfield, but we can’t pick these things sometimes.

I counted seven birds, all mature, except for one junior, who was dominating the kill, until this bigger, more aggressive male showed up and proclaimed

“I am a Great Eagle, and what a Great Eagle am I”

I initially posted a small set of photos to social media, but was not all together happy with the images as I initially processed them. I shot them on a dark winter’s morning, with a high film speed. The colors were muddled, the contrast low. I’ve since processed the individual RAW files as HDR images through Photomatix Pro, and am much happier with the results.

red tailed hawks

I caught these two, as I have with so many of my photographs the past couple of years, on my daily commute, this time on my way home. The afternoon seems to be a good time, as I see a lot of raptors here and there along the road, hunting rodents and scavenging roadkill along the road.

I’ve been wanting to get a good photo of a Redtail on the wing – as common as they are, it’s not been an easy task. The 600mm Sigma helps a bit, but they are cagey beasts, and will not allow one to get very close.

I saw these two at the bottom of a long hill as I came out of a long corner. I passed by them actually very close, less than 50 feet – most animals are very tolerant of moving traffic. But I knew that if I stopped the car they would bolt. Luck would have it that a sideroad a couple of hundred yards ahead offered a measure of distance and security between us, and I was able to pull off the road, turn the engine off and slide out the door without too much bother, Even still, the two allowed only a few seconds before they took off, but by then I was zeroed in on them.

fauna

Bison calves.

We’ve got several bison herds in the area – this was taken in the spring of 2021 near River Falls. The calves were perhaps a week or two old, and a delight to watch as they capered about.

While captive, they are certainly not domesticated. I have no doubts that if anyone of the adults decided it wanted to go through the fence that encloses them, there’s not much that would stop it from doing so. I took this with the big 600mm lens, and even at that distance wasn’t entirely comfortable.

Bison are hard to image, I’ve found. Big, dark lumps lumbering around in lightly colored grass fields…

fauna

Bison calves.

We’ve got several bison herds in the area – this was taken in the spring of 2021 near River Falls. The calves were perhaps a week or two old, and a delight to watch as they capered about.

Bison are hard to image, I’ve found. Big, dark lumps lumbering around in lightly colored grass fields…