Pelican Pouch (St. Louis River, Fond du Lac, Duluth, Minnesota)

Most every spring now, a flock of 40 to 120 American White Pelicans stop over at the Fond du Lac, Duluth portion of the St. Louis River on their way to breeding colonies farther north. They spend most of their time loafing on the barely-above-water islands, preening, sleeping and squabbling. Not sure if this guy was yawning or if this is an aggressive act towards a Ring-billed Gull that flew low overhead. I intentionally underexposed the shot to show off the veins of the pelican, and block out the distracting background forest.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/400 sec. at f5.6; ISO 100; tripod]

High-Key Tern (Churchill, Manitoba, Canada)

To make the red inner mouth of this Arctic Tern really pop, I decided to make this a “high-key” image by increasing the exposure of the shot so most of the highlights are overexposed.

[Sony A6500 with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-f5.6L IS II USM lens; Metabones adapter; 1/4000 sec. at f8; ISO 200; -2.33ev; hand-held]

Wild Turkey detail (Our home, Carlton County, Minnesota)

I took this image right out our living room window! And the only lens I had inside was my 400mm f5.6 lens. So I got some extreme close ups of a displaying Tom Turkey. The iridescence in their feathers is a coppery rainbow of colors.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/500 sec. at f6.3; ISO 5000; hand-held through our living room picture window]

Raven Rainbow (Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming)

Two foreground snow mounds frame a friendly Raven looking for a handout. The background “rainbow” is just the way-out-of-focus trees and shadows. I took the color out of the Raven and made him totally black (they normally show blue iridescence in their feathers).

[Canon 7D with Canon EF200mm f2L IS USM lens; 1/400 sec at f2; ISO 100; +1.33ev; hand-held]

Running Grizzly cub (Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming)

Panning at a VERY slow 1/20th of second, I tracked the running Grizzly cub as it hurried to get back to mama Griz. I like the streaks of snow, and the different background blur colors.

[Canon 7D with Canon EF200mm f2L IS USM lens; 1/20 sec at f14; ISO 100; -0.33 ev; hand-held]

Northern Hawk Owl silhouette and Tamaracks (Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota)

The curvy trunks of the Tamaracks are appealing to me in this silhouette. The Hawk Owl is centered so I could frame her with the two background Tamaracks.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/2500 sec. at f5.6; ISO 400; hand-held]

Sandhill crane flock reflection (Crex Meadows, Wisconsin)

As the cranes flew in to roost for the evening at the Crex Meadows marshes, I noticed their perfect reflection on the still open water. I tried to capture the interesting juxtaposition of sky and water. It is an interesting photo…not great…but unique.

[Canon 7D with Canon EF 70-200mm f4L USM lens at 200mm; 1/250 sec. at f6.3; ISO 250; hand-held]

Sandhill Crane panning blur (Crex Meadows, Wisconsin)

Sometimes I like panning at “below-recommended” panning shutter speeds and seeing what I get. It is very low percentage shooting, but sometimes you create something pleasing. Though the crane’s head is not sharp, I still like the overall motion blur of this graceful flyer.

[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; 1/25 sec. at f9; ISO 100; -0.66ev; hand-held]

Mixed Scoter flock (Hudson Bay at Churchill, Manitoba, Canada)

I was laying flat on my belly on the wet rock shoreline of Hudson Bay. And I was wishing I had the Sony A6500 instead of the Canon 7D…Why? Because the Sony has a tilting screen so I wouldn’t have had to contort my neck to look through the viewfinder of the Canon. I love the eye-level perspective and the narrow strip of in-focus water with the blurred foreground and background water framing the scoters. If you look closely you will see that all three North American scoter species are in the frame! Surf Scoter; Black Scoter; White-winged Scoter.

[Canon 7D with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-f5.6L IS II USM lens at 400mm; 1/640 sec at f5.6; ISO 200; +1 ev; hand-held while laying on beach]

Bison fur (Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming)

You can get close to Bison in Yellowstone…Really close! Of course, this was out the car window, so no threat of being gored! I love the wavy quality of their hair.

[Canon 7D with Canon EF200mm f2L IS USM lens; 1/2000 sec at f2; ISO 100; +0.66 ev; hand-held]

Blackbird Blur (Northwest Minnesota)

There are things to shoot even on bleak early spring gray rainy days. This migrating flock of Red-winged Blackbirds took off suddenly and I panned with them at a slow shutter speed.

Sandhill Crane orange silhouette flock (Crex Meadows, Wisconsin)

I tried combining two creative wildlife photography techniques in this image; I underexposed the image to create silhouettes of the flying cranes AND slowed the shutter to 1/25 of a second and panned with them as they flew. In this image, the heads and necks re fairly sharp, yet their wings show a pleasing blur that hints at their flapping motion.

[Canon 7D with Canon EF 70-200mm f4L USM lens at 163mm; 1/25 sec. at f5.6; ISO 100; hand-held]

Arctic Hare [Churchill, Manitoba, Canada]

Talk about a cooperative subject! This Arctic Hare (my first ever!) was browsing willows on the tundra near Hudson Bay. She’d eat a while, then sit and rest and look about. I like this wider shot as it shows a bit of habitat and I love the translucent orange eyeball that contrasts nicely with the vegetation. The hare’s curly pelage also blends with the curvy stems of the foreground flora.

[Canon 7D with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-f5.6L IS II USM lens at 371mm; 1/500 sec at f5.6; ISO 320; +0.66 ev; hand-held]

Beaver [Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota]

Beaver are rarely seen out and about in winter, but this guy must have run out of food and had to risk coming out of the safety of the lodge to eat. I took video of him plowing through the snow to get fresh willows. Because I shot few stills, this is actually a single frame extracted from a video clip, and that is why the shutter speed is a very slow 1/60 second. Fortunately the Beaver was still for a split second and the photo is sharp.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens with Metabones adapter; 1/60 sec. at f14; ISO 200; tripod]

Grizzly cub [Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming]

Kids will be kids! “Coming through Mom!”

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/800 sec. at f5.6; ISO 200; tripod]

Yellow-bellied Marmot [Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming]

I just like the blue and green background…and its a nice photo of a marmot.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/500 sec. at f5.6; ISO 200; tripod]

Grizzly cub [Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming]

What can I say? CUTE! Like a cuddly 200 pound teddy bear.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/800 sec. at f5.6; ISO 200; tripod]

Cottontail [Carlton County, Minnesota]

This photo was taken about as close to home as possible…Only about 20 feet from my front door! I laid down on the gravel of our driveway and slowly crawled closer. Always good to get eye level to your subject. Just a cute critter.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens with Metabones adapter; 1/1250 sec. at f5.6; ISO 500; hand-held]

Harbor Seal [Churchill, Manitoba, Canada]

Every photographer hopes his mammalian subject will yawn. Yawning in a still image can look like a ferocious growl. Not sure what this Harbor Seal was doing but the open pink mouth contrasts nicely with the blue water of Hudson Bay.

[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; 1/2500 sec. at f5.6; ISO 320; tripod]

Moose [Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota]

This photo was taken on the last day of February but I believe it is the same young cow Moose that I found a couple miles away in early November. She was a very tolerant critter…especially for a Moose! Several of us were able to shoot quite close to her as she browsed willows. She would mostly ignore us, but occasionally steal a glance to make sure we didn’t get too close. I like how the shaded woods turned a pleasing purple and the red willows were beginning to pop.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens with Metabones adapter; 1/500 sec. at f5.6; ISO 500; -0.33 ev; tripod]

Pine Marten [Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota]

Marten are cute as a button, but also ferocious hunters. They are able to hunt down Red Squirrels in the trees! Clinton Nienhaus and I were watching a roadside bird feeding station when this guy came from the bog and started feasting on peanut butter left out for the Boreal Chickadees. He paused to lick his lips. Hey buddy, you missed a spot!

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens with Metabones adapter; 1/800 sec. at f7.1; ISO 200; hand-held]

White-tailed Deer bucks [Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota]

I was on my way home from doing some work on our Welcome Center in Sax-Zim Bog when I spotted these two bucks browsing in a hayfield along the road. Unlike most bucks, they did not bolt the minute I slowed the car. In fact, they came closer and closer even after I got out of the car! Maybe it was the many deer flies that made them crazy that day.

[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; 1/1600 sec. at f5.6; ISO 320; -0.33 ev; hand-held]

Grizzly and cub  [Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming]

Ryan and I had a chance this spring to spend much time with a sow Grizzly and her yearling cub. They played and dug grubs and roots, and the cub would even nurse, all the time, ignoring the photographers. I like the eye-level perspective and the fact that they seem to be gazing at the same thing.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/1600 sec. at f5.6; ISO 640; tripod]

Arctic Hare  [Churchill, Manitoba, Canada]

How can you not love a face like this? Like in the other Arctic Hare photo in this post, I love the translucent orange eyes and the oversized black and white ears. He seems to be eyeing me up…wondering if I’m a threat or just a harmless crawling photographer.

[Canon 7D with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-f5.6L IS II USM lens at 321mm; 1/320 sec at f5.6; ISO 320; +0.66 ev; hand-held]

Part 2 of my Favorite 2017 Wildlife Photos. This time, bird portraits…Just nice photos of interesting birds.

Mountain Bluebird [Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming]

The Mountain Bluebird is a very different blue than our familiar Eastern Bluebird. It is more sky blue and almost iridescent. I love the contrast between the snowy Yellowstone landscape and the blue bird. This early migrant risks weather like this to secure the best breeding territories.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/160 sec at f6.3; ISO 100: tripod]

Common Raven [Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming]

Ravens in Minnesota are VERY SHY and fly as soon as you even touch the brake pedal. But in Yellowstone, they can be very gregarious. This guy wanted to join our winter picnic lunch. I converted this image to black and white because it basically already was back and white…a black bird on a snowy background. I took this with the Canon 200mm f2 lens which is extremely sharp and the detail in the bird’s feathers is amazing! You can event see the pine trees behind me in the reflection in the Raven’s eyes.

[Canon 7D with Canon EF200mm f2L IS USM lens; 1/320 sec at f2; ISO 100; +1.66ev; hand-held]

Willow Ptarmigan [Churchill, Manitoba, Canada]

This is probably the one photo that was my number 1 target for all of 2017. I knew I was going to Churchill, and I’d only caught a brief glimpse of this species once before (from a train to Churchill in 1987) so I really wanted to see and photograph a male Willow Ptarmigan…and colorful tundra flowers in the background would be a bonus. I got all my wishes!

[Canon 7D with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-f5.6L IS II USM lens at 164mm; Metabones adapter; 1/500 sec. at f5; ISO 800; +o.66 ev; hand-held]

American Avocet [Oak Hammock Marsh, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada]

I love reflections, and this American Avocet made a compelling subject with its beautiful plumage. Oak Hammock Marsh near Winnipeg, Manitoba is a great place to see this “shorebird of the prairie.”

[Sony A6500 with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-f5.6L IS II USM lens; Metabones adapter; 1/400 sec. at f5.6; ISO 100; hand-held braced on railing]

Black-backed Woodpecker [Orr Bog Boardwalk, Orr, Minnesota]

Every autumn look for critters to photograph against the backdrop of brilliant yellow Tamarack trees. Their needles turn from green to yellow in mid October and make for stunning landscapes, reflections and backgrounds. This Black-backed Woodpecker obliged (though I wish there wasn’t the branch jutting out towards me that is out of focus).

[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; 1/320 sec. at f5.6; ISO 320; tripod]

Great Gray Owl [Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota]

Great Grays are built for the harsh climate of the boreal forest….wind, snow, cold can’t keep them from hunting for voles under the snow. This one was out at dusk listening intently for scurrying sounds under the snow pack. Shot at 1/60 second to allow the snow flakes to blur a bit….Fast shutter speeds in these conditions often turn the snow into distracting white spots.

[Sony A6500 with Sigma 50-500mm f4.5-6.2 OS HSM lens; Metabones adapter; 1/60 sec at f6.3; ISO 1250; tripod]

Common Loon [Carlton County, Minnesota]

My kayak is tiny, and really a whitewater boat. But I regularly take it out to a small lake near me to photograph a family of loons. The cockpit is cramped but I love the near eye-level intimate images you can get from being so low to the water. These loons tolerated my presence and would often come close to check me out.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/1000 sec. at f5.6; ISO 400; hand-held from a small kayak]

Marsh Wren [Itasca County, Minnesota]

The feisty Marsh Wren lives in cattail swamps across the northeast and northern plains but it is fairly uncommon in northeastern Minnesota. I took my kayak out to a wild lake near Grand Rapids and found

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/2500 sec. at f5.6; ISO 320; hand-held from small kayak]

Nelson’s Sparrow [Churchill, Manitoba, Canada]

What’s the matter with you, Sparky? Why would you put a sparrow as one of your favorites of 2017? Well, the Nelson’s Sparrow is an uncommon bird of restricted range (basically the northern plains and prairie provinces) and only found in very specific wetlands. They are normally very shy and don’t often come into the open. I found this male singing in a patch of tundra about a mile from the road.

[Sony A6500 with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-f5.6L IS II USM lens; Metabones adapter; 1/3200 sec. at f5.6; ISO 400; tripod]

Pacific Loons [Churchill, Manitoba, Canada]

Yet another tundra bird that I’ve always wanted to see and get a nice photo of. I like this composition but wish I’d had better light…and used a smaller aperture to get more of both birds in focus. But really stunning birds!

[Sony A6500 with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-f5.6L IS II USM lens; Metabones adapter; 1/400 sec. at f5.6; ISO 100; +o.66 ev; hand-held]

Short-eared Owl [Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota]

A fun surprise on a cold early November day in the Sax-Zim Bog was the sudden appearance of a large raptor floating down the ditch line of a back road. At first I thought it was a Rough-legged Hawk but then it landed and I saw that it was a Short-eared Owl! My 9th owl species seen and photographed in the Sax-Zim Bog. I crawled across the icy road to get semi-close. I was careful not to spook her. The sun was getting low, so the light on her was beautiful. She hunted for another day but I wasn’t able to get another decent photo.

[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; 1/400 sec. at f5.6; ISO 100; hand-held while laying down on an icy dirt road]

Long-tailed Duck [Churchill, Manitoba, Canada]

Another tundra bird that I’d always wanted to photograph in breeding plumage (and this male is nearly there, but note that the top of the head still has some white on it). Like their name implies, the long tail is an identifying characteristic but it is often dragging in the water. I like how visible it is in this photo.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/1250 sec at f5.6; ISO 250: hand-held]

Lincoln’s Sparrow [Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota]

Every bird has a distinct personality…I’m sure other birds know this…but we humans can sometimes notice the difference in how bold or shy certain individuals are. This Lincoln’s Sparrow, a denizen of open taiga-like Black Spruce bog, was one of the bold ones. He obligingly perched and sang for me while I shot lots of video and took many photos.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/500 sec. at f5.6; ISO 250; tripod]

Eastern Kingbird [Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota]

Sure I’d prefer this Eastern Kingbird to be sitting on a more attractive perch, like a weathered wood post, but the real star here is the blurred out background of yellow flowers.

[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; 1/1000 sec. at f5.6; ISO 320; hand-held and braced on car window frame]

Common Eider  [Churchill, Manitoba, Canada]

Am I sounding like a broken record? Probably my number 2 target of 2017, and I knew I’d see them on my June trip to Churchill, but I never dreamed I’d be able to get eye-level with this gorgeous sea duck as it fed on Hudson Bay! Love the blue background.

[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; 1/3200 sec. at f5.6; ISO 320; hand-held]

American Three-toed Woodpecker

Simply and nice eye-level portrait of a rarely seen bird. The American Three-toed Woodpecker is a resident of deep Black Spruce bogs in the Far North. In Minnesota they are most common in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area along the Canadian border. But this year they seem to be more common as far south as the Duluth area. No one is sure why they sometimes make these irruptions south.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/400 sec. at f5.6; ISO 1250; hand-held]

Black Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Surf Scoter  [Churchill, Manitoba, Canada on Hudson Bay]

Admittedly not a good photograph, but I had to include it because it is a very rare photo…All 3 North American species of scoters in one frame! Maybe only birders will get excited over this photo, but I’m pretty proud of it. These 3 were part of a much larger mixed flock floating and feeding on Hudson Bay.

[Canon 7D with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-f5.6L IS II USM lens at 164mm; Metabones adapter; 1/640 sec. at f5.6; ISO 200; +1.0 ev; hand-held]