Today at the AHATS WOA, I Saw Goats Beard

I caught the goat's beard open this morning at the Arden Hills Army Training Site Wildlife Observation Area.  The butterfly weed and black-eyed susans are about to bloom.  I also saw 5 common loons, a flycatcher of some sort, one female eastern bluebird, 6+ tree swallows (think most were recent fledglings), one northern flicker, a wood duck, a trumpeter swan and heard a gray catbird yapping away. 

Today at the AHATS WOA, I Saw Sunrise

AHATS WOA HDR Bridge_48476_.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I trudged out to the Arden Hills Army Training Site Wildlife Observation Area this morning. It was about 3F with a 5-10mph wind. Cold. The snow was pretty deep and the hard-ish crust made it tricky to navigate on the snowshoes.

I heard a bunch of chickadees, saw one downy/hairy woodpecker and a half a dozen crows. No animal tracks within the observation area.

Here is an HDR of the sunrise.

Previously near the AHATS Wildlife Observation Area, I Saw Fog

Dark and Foggy_46047_.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I got up for sunrise on Sunday and saw some fog on my way to the AHATS Wildlife Observation Area. I decided to pull over and get some landscape shots before I got to the WVA. This black and white one is my favorite of that morning.

Today at the AHATS WOA, I Saw a Gray Catbird

Gray Catbird-48902.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

This gray catbird was hunting from the barbed-wire this morning at the AHATS Wildlife Observation Area.

Yesterday Near the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Sunrise

Sunrise_44592.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Here is another sunrise shot from Saturday.

Today Near the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Fog

Fog and Trees_3938.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

We had a low hanging fog around the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area this morning. Here are a few shots.

Today Near the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Deer

Deer_41882.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I saw some deer today near the TCCAP Wildlife Viewing Area. Usually they run when I drove up but three in this group didn't. This one in particular allowed me to re-position to eliminate some branches in the foreground.







The sunrise was very good behind the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area.

Happy New Year Near the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area

Launch_DSC3531_2.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Previously Near the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Moonset and Sunrise

Moon over Birdhouse_3446.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I didn't get out to the TCCAP Wildlife Viewing Area today, maybe tomorrow.

Previously Near the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Blue Sunrise

Blue Sunrise_3332.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Not really. I had the white balance set to something else, not sure which, so it brought out all the blues. I liked the colors so I kept the shots.

Here's closer to what it really looked like:

Today Near the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Fawns

Fawn_3035.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I saw this fawn along with momma and its twin this morning near the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area. It was still pretty dark out so the ISO need to be high just to get 1/125 sec.

Caught the sunrise over Sunfish Lake too. Used HDR to get some detail in the reflections.

Previously at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Sunrise

Sunrise_8907.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I got up early and made my way to the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area for sunrise the other day. It was so hot and humid that my camera immediately fogged up. I thought I had the lens de-fogged but not quite for this photo. I added a little Glamour Glow from Nik Software's Color Efex Pro4. I still can't figure out how I got that weird single horizontal flare.

Previously at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw The Tree

The Tree D5K-2729-.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Here is shot from September 2010 of The Tree at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area. The bogs had filled the south end of the lake that day.

Here a shot a few months later:

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw a Chickadee on a Wire

Chickadee on a Wire-1160.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I made it out to the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area tonight for the summer like weather. There wasn't much excitement out there other than I was out there enjoying being out there.

Here is a shot of chickadee singing on the barbed-wire that surrounds the area. If you know chickadees, you know how quick you have to be to capture them with a camera.

I also saw:  a pair of bluebirds, some song sparrows, a crow, a harrier and a pretty cool sunset.

Today Near the TCAAP WVA, I Saw a Kestrel on a Wire

Kestrel on a Wire_9599.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I got spend some time in the AHATS tonight and it was a big night of firsts for me. Although the clouds didn't sync with the photo ops, I had lots of fun.

The bird on the right is an American Kestrel. I saw a pair of males hunting from the power polls and lines. They are usually very skittish and don't let even a car pull up very close. This one was true to form but when I got out of the truck, it came back with what looked like a skink or snake. The light was awful but I had to document the birds. I'll be posting the sighting on The Raptor Center's website because they track these birds in particular.

The most exciting part of the evening was seeing two beavers.  I was told they were around and saw their lodge up close this winter.  The sun was long gone behind the hills so this shot is very noisy and icky.  I saw five swans on the lake tonight.  These two didn't care for the beaver.  At one point, the beaver slapped it's tail and dove under one of the floating bogs.



I also saw two muskrats grooming each other.  Didn't get a decent shot though but it was fun seeing them.

I accidentally surprised a red-tailed hawk so it let out the classic scream at me as it flew away.  I've heard it countless times in movies and on TV (mostly associated with the wrong bird...dumb Hollywood) but there's nothing like hearing it person knowing it's directed at you.

These two deer were in a group of three...also very dark and high ISO but I like the pose and composition.  I got a decent photo of a male eastern bluebird.  And got a shot of my nemesis coming in for a landing in nice light. 

Lastly, the sun looked really amazing just before it set.

Previously at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Pink and the Sunrise

Pink and the Sunrise DSC_2387, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I'm hoping to get out to the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area tomorrow morning for sunrise. Patchy fog is predicted so I'm hoping to see a scene link this one.

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I saw a full Moon over Trees

Moon over Trees DSC_3835, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

The full moon greeted me at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing area this morning.

I saw the northern shrike that's been hanging around lately but it was way too dark for a decent shot. Also saw some ducks fly over.

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Today at the TCAAP WVA, I saw the Sunrise

Migration DSC_0060, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I got up a little earlier than usual today and headed out to the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area. It was about 13F, a bit chipper. The photo on the right is of one of the interpretive signs in the area. This one has information about waterfowl migration. I sure see lots of waterfowl here.

The shot below is not particularly interesting but I really like the colors. This color lasted only a few minutes. Glad I was there to see it.

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I saw a Pink Sunrise

Pink Sunrise DSC_3738, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I was out at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area for sunrise today. The weather forecast called for mostly cloud and it was correct. After about 5 minutes of sunrise, it clouded over for the whole day.

This is a quick snap of the bridge and some of the interpretive signs in the WVA. Not my best quality work. Had I wanted a better photography, I would've hauled out the tripod and stopped down the aperture. I wanted to get the pink colors of the clouds mostly and that worked.