Today at the AHATS WOA, I Saw Clouds

Storms rolling into tonight at the Arden Hills Army Training Site Wildlife Observation Area.

Today at the AHATS WOA, I saw clouds.

Today at the AHATS Wildlife Viewing Area, I saw clouds. Not many birds yet. I did see two trumpeter swans flyby, but they didn't stop. The lake is still frozen. Saw four chickadees, two downy or hairy woodpeckers, one crow and a couple mallards.

Today at the AHATS WOA, I Saw an Osprey

This osprey flew over with a fish...missed that shot. It ate it in a dead tree and then flew over me on its way back to Turtle Lake.  It was moderately windy with cool storm clouds tonight. 

What else I saw:  6 turkey vultures, 3 loons, 1 eastern bluebird, song sparrow, 3 or 4 barn swallows about a half a dozen tree swallows, crows, red-winged blackbirds and one trumpeter swan. 

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Clouds

Clouds_4240-.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

We had some severe thunderstorms this afternoon so I headed out to the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area when it was over.

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw a Tree and Cloud

Tree and Cloud2_44779_.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I saw the sun peaking through the clouds periodically this afternoon so I grabbed my gear and headed out to the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area.

Previously Near the TCAAP WVA, I Saw a Foggy Sunrise

Foggy Sunrise_42337_.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Here is another shot of Lake Marsden covered in fog. The tracks in the foreground are from wild turkeys mostly. There might be some deer and coyote tracks mixed in there too.

Today Near the TCAAP WVA, I Saw the Water Tower

Water Tower and Hut_9960_.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

The clouds were really neat while I was near the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area tonight. I kept a sharp eye out on the light but got caught off guard when the sun peaked through and lit everything up with this brilliant rose colored light. I've been meaning to get up close to the water tower with the ultra wide lens so I high-tailed up there as quickly and safely as I could. I managed to get about 10 minutes of shooting before the light faded.




...and I didn't forget monochrome once the color faded:

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Clouds

Cloud_0936.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I saw the clouds all day and couldn't wait to get out to the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area to shoot them.

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw a Deer and Sunset

Deer and Sunset_0366_.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Had to do a little handheld three exposure HDR to get the deer to show up without blowing out the sunset. I'm starting to like using HDR to get those extra stops. I was going to realistic but I think there is a little "Elvis on velvet"ishness in this one. What do you think?

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Butterfly Weed

Bridge and Clouds_.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

The orange flowers you see in this shot are called Butterfly Weed. They are in full bloom at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area today. If you like bright orange flowers, stop by soon.

I made this particular shot and processed as an HDR from three exposures two stops apart, handheld. The sky and clouds were too bright when I exposed for the grass and flowers. HDR worked perfectly for this situation.

Previously at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Angry Clouds

Angry-D5K4862-.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Here are a few more shot of the great sunset yesterday at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area. These were taken with my Nikon D5000 and a Nikkor 10-24mm DX lens. All handheld.

I used the Nik plug-ins Viveza and Dfine on all the and added Color Efex Pro 4 to the most saturated one at the bottom.

Previously at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw Lighting and Shelf Cloud

Lighting and Shelf Cloud-110701-DSC_9226.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

This nasty looking shelf cloud approached the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area back on July 1, 2011. There was a lot of lightning but this is the only shot I got of it. I was too scared to haul out the tripod. As a severe weather spotter, I knew it wasn't very smart hanging out where I was...outside the car, in a high spot, due to the lightning. The clouds were pretty scary looking but I didn't see any rotation or wall clouds.

I've learned so much about photography since then and hope I get the opportunity to shoot clouds like this again soon. It was tricky holding the camera steady against the bridge with a 1.6 sec shutter.

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I Saw a Vibrant Sunset

Vibrant Sunset D7K-7697.jpg, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

I did see a vibrant sunset but it wasn't exactly like this shot. I added a lot of editing (not HDR) to this shot so I could see the grass and the trail then enhanced the clouds a bit.

Below is a shot from a few minutes earlier that is straight out of camera.

Previously at the TCAAP WVA, I saw Snow

Bridge DSC_4962, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

The winter at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area has been pretty lame this season. Very little snow. Here is a shot from March 2011 when we had lots of snow. Hopefully, things will turn around soon.

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My Top Favorites of 2011

I don't exclusively take photos at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area although I click more there than anywhere else.  Some of my clicks at the WVA made my top favorite list for 2011 (scroll to the bottom for a link to the whole slideshow).

Frosty Barbed-wire

Tree Swallows (they didn't nest here)

The biggest fish I've seen in Osprey claws

Watched this caterpillar for weeks...missed the butterfly

Watched this snake wriggle in and out of this hole.

Two egrets flying by the harvest Moon

Finally caught a deer jumping over the fence.

I made a big print of this, wow!

Here is the complete slideshow with 30 various photos. Click on the four arrows in the lower right for a full screen show.

Previously at the TCAAP WVA, I saw the Bridge and Sun

Bridge and Sun DSC_1071, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Made this shot in May 2011. I spend nearly all daylight hours during the week in an office so this is the best you'll get during the week until spring.

Today at the TCAAP WVA, I saw Cotton Balls

Cotton Balls DSC_3523, a photo by Mully410 * Images on Flickr.

Today, I got up early enough to see the sunrise at the TCAAP Wildlife Viewing Area. When I got there, the sky was perfectly clear. After about an hour, the clouds started rolling in as little puff balls.

I found this composition for the first time today.




I got my best shot at the TCAAP WVA of a black-capped chickadee.