Abstract Zinnias

A few abstract photos of my Zinnias.

 

Some of my favorite fall photography locations

Gile Flowage– is located just south of Ironwood, Michigan. What I like about Gile Flowage is that you can photograph at sunrise and sunset and get some great photos. In fact, at both times you can photograph the color of the trees and just turn around and then photograph the rising or setting sun.

Copper Peak International Ski Flying Hill – Copper Peak is the largest artificial ski jump in the world and the largest ski jump in North America. The top of the jump is nearly 1200 feet above lake Superior. On a clear day you can see for over 40 miles from the top of the jump. Lake Superior and the Porcupine Mountains are visible from the top. The ski jump is open on weekends during fall color season. You can ride the ski lift to the top of the hill and take the elevator part way up the ski jump and then walk to the top.

 

 Black River  –  It is down the road from Copper Peak and offers some great fall views of waterfalls along the Black River. I particularly like to photograph the reflections found under the bridge that crosses the Black River.

Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park – Offers a wide variety of photography locations from the Lake of the Clouds, Union Bay on Lake Superior to mountain streams and waterfalls.

Bonanza Falls – Locate just south of Silver City, Michigan on the Big Iron River. It offers great color and some intimate waterfall shots particularly when the water levels are low.

 

Bond Falls – Located just outside of Paulding, Michigan. This is a great place to photograph waterfalls any time of year but it is particularly beautiful in the fall. The last week in September is usually a good time to visit.

 

 

Hiawatha National Forest – is located just south of Munising and offers some great photography opportunities along the many lakes in the area. The peak colors in the national forest are usually a week or so before the colors in Pictured Rocks. Most of the lakes are best photographed early in the morning. More information can be found in an earlier Blog.

Petes Lake

Moccasin Lake

Red Jack Lake

Council Lake

Thornton Lake

Doe Lake

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore – offers some spectacular photo opportunities. The fall sunset boat cruise is not to be missed. The many miles of hiking trails through the park offer a wide range of subjects for fall photography.

Oberg Mountain – My favorite place for fall photographs on the Minnesota North Shore. The top of Oberg Mountain offers stunning 360 degrees of the surrounding forests and Lake Superior.

Crex Meadows – stands alone as a destination for photographing the fall Sandhill Crane migration. It is also a great place to photograph fall colors, sunrises and sunsets. You will want to plan on spending the night in Grantsburg, Wisconsin so you can take in the evening and morning flights of the cranes. About an hour before sunset the cranes start returning to the meadows. Folks bring their lawn chairs and just sit and watch them fly into their rousting grounds. You can return to the same location at sunrise and watch the cranes leaving to feed for the day in the surrounding fields. During the day you can drive the back roads south of town to watch the cranes feeding. I have more details on photographing at Crex in an earlier Blog.

 

 

 Pewits Nest – Located in the southern part of Wisconsin just outside Baraboo. It’s a small gorge with a stream flowing through it. The top of the gorge is covered with large maple trees. If you hit it right the maple trees are spectacular. The gorge itself is worth the trip even after most of the leaves have fallen.

 

Blue Hills – The Blue Hills rise about 600 feet above the surrounding area. The Native Americans called this area  Paja Toyela or the Blue Hills. This makes for a great fall drive. We usually take county road O west from Rice Lake, Wisconsin. Less than a mile past the Christie Mountain ski area we make a left on Fire Lane Road. This goes past the Blue Hills Cross Country Ski Area. We take a left on Perch Lake Road. We make a small detour to Audie Lake then return to Perch Lake Road. We then take North or South Buck’s Lake Road.

Lost Creek Falls – a beautiful series of waterfalls along the Lost Creek River. They are located just south of Cornucopia, Wisconsin just off of county road C. The falls are well marked and offer an easy 3 mile hike out and back.

 

Flowers from around the Farm

The Dahlias an Zinnias are blooming on the farm.

 

The Bachelor Buttons are also blooming.

Flowers and Grass at Hoffman Hills

Recently photographed flowers at Hoffman Hills Recreation Area.

Purple Coneflower

Evening Primrose

Big Bluestem

Grey-headed Coneflower

Prairie Blazing Star

The Bridge

On our hike around the Ice Age Trail, Chippewa Moraine Segment loop we encountered a bridge that was under water. We walked the detour only to discover that it was possible to walk across the bridge without getting wet.

House Wrens

I was a bit at loose ends after the Eastern Bluebirds fledged. I did notice that a pair of House Wrens had taken over the house that the Eastern Bluebirds had used to raise their first batch of young. I realized that they would also be fledging soon so I setup my bird blind near the house. I spent a few hours each morning photographing them.  I could  tell the young  were  about to fledge because they were sticking their heads out of the house.

They seemed to be a bit more aerobatic that the bluebirds. They liked to land on top of the house then work their way down to the opening.

I’m not sure what was going on in this sequence. One of the adults was feeding the young when the other adult turned up and apparently wanted to get into the nest. At one point the second adult was standing on the back of the adult feeding the young.

The adult feeding the young went into the nest and then the second adult tried to land but ended up on top of the house. It might have been a bit crowded in the house since the young were big enough to fledge.

They continued to feed their young but all of this feeding led to a number of visits to remove poop from the nest.

In spite of all of the activity there was still an opportunity for a little rest and a good scratch.

This was fledge day. Unfortunately I missed the first two fledglings leave the nest. They were a little too quick for me. The third fledgling was a little more hesitant. It came out of the house but hung on for quite some time before flying over to the woods.

 

Hiking the Ice Age Trail, Chippewa Moraine Segment Loop Trail

Last week we drove up to Bloomer to hike the on Ice Age Trail. We were surprised to find as much color as we did.

 

We encountered this bird on the trail. I’m not sure what it is but we were able to watch it for quite a while.

There were some nice reflections in the water.

Lots of toadstools and mushrooms out along the trail.

It was relatively warm and there were a lot of frogs in the ponds. They were not making any noise.

There were a number of trees that showed signs of recent beaver activity. This looked to be an ambitions project.

The ferns were turning color in the woods.

The Leaf

During a walk around the Ice Age Trail, Chippewa Moraine Segment loop trail I found this nice leaf and photographed it on various backgrounds.

 

 

 

Summer birds hanging around Crex Meadows

Not a lot of bird activity during the dog days of summer at Crex Meadows Wildlife Area.

 

Black Terns Feeding

While visiting Crex Meadows I encountered some Black Terns feeding in a small pond. It was difficult to photograph them because they are so fast. Once they caught something the headed across the road into a swampy area where I assume they had their young.