There were 20 cases of books waiting for me in Pembina, North Dakota. My printer is in Altona, Manitoba and they kindly brought a pallet of books just across the U.S. border so I wouldn’t have to pay duty. And since I was going all the way there, why not do some photography on the way?!
I left Wrenshall at 3:20 am so I could be in far western Minnesota by sunrise. And I made it! Since the radio in the van doesn’t work, podcasts keep me entertained. As I turned off US2 into Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge, I knew it was going to be a spectacular morning. Thick coats of hoarfrost coated everything! Every twig, branch, blade of grass, strand of barbed wire held a coating of thick feathery frost.
Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge was established in 2004 and is Minnesota’s newest addition to the NWR system. It is a vast area, that will eventually encompass 37,000 acres (57 square miles)
It is described by the US Fish and Wildlife Service as “the largest tallgrass prairie and wetland restoration project in U.S. history.” [from wikipedia.com]
Conditions were PERFECT for hoarfrost formation….Temperatures at sunrise were near ZERO degrees F and dead calm, and the day before had been above freezing so I imagine moisture from the melting snow provided the “raw material” for spectacular hoarfrost formation.
Here is some info from http://www.wikipedia.org:
“Hoar frost (also hoarfrost, radiation frost, or pruina) refers to white ice crystals deposited on the ground or loosely attached to exposed objects, such as wires or leaves.[4] They form on cold, clear nights when conditions are such that heat radiates out to the open air faster than it can be replaced from nearby sources, such as wind or warm objects. Under suitable circumstances, objects cool to below the frost point[5] of the surrounding air, well below the freezing point of water. Such freezing may be promoted by effects such as flood frost or frost pocket.[6] These occur when ground-level radiation loses cool air until it flows downhill and accumulates in pockets of very cold air in valleys and hollows. Hoar frost may freeze in such low-lying cold air even when the air temperature a few feet above ground is well above freezing.
The word hoar comes from an Old English adjective that means “showing signs of old age”. In this context, it refers to the frost that makes trees and bushes look like white hair.
Hoar frost may have different names depending on where it forms:
- Air hoar is a deposit of hoar frost on objects above the surface, such as tree branches, plant stems, and wires.”
[Sony A6500 with Sigma 50-500mm f4.5-6.2 OS HSM lens]
Sharp-tailed Grouse in frosty meadow. I ended up seeing 48 Sharp-tails in Glacial Ridge on Saturday.
[Sony A6500 with Sigma 50-500mm f4.5-6.2 OS HSM lens]
Hoarfrost on barbed wire fence.
[Sony A6500 with Sigma 50-500mm f4.5-6.2 OS HSM lens]
Cottonwoods on the edge of the prairie.
[Sony A6500 with Rokinon 10mm manual lens]
Coyote in frosty meadow. I tried squeaking and pishing to bring her closer, and it worked…kind of. She came back towards me, but only within about 200 yards.
3 responses to “Hoar Frost Morning—Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge-March 9-10”
Sam Cook
March 15th, 2018 at 09:57
Cool, Sparky.
(That’s a lot of sharp-tailed grouse!)
…Sam
On Thu, Mar 15, 2018 at 9:41 AM, The PhotoNaturalist wrote:
> Sparky Stensaas posted: “There were 20 cases of books waiting for me in > Pembina, North Dakota. My printer is in Altona, Manitoba and they kindly > brought a pallet of books just across the U.S. border so I wouldn’t have to > pay duty. And since I was going all the way there, why not ” >
Earl Orf
March 15th, 2018 at 11:36
Nice, I especially like the sunrise photo.
Earl Orf
http://www.earlorfphotos.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/EarlOrfPhotos
Seasonal Environmental Explorations
March 15th, 2018 at 12:52
Love hoarfrost Sparky! We just had a similar experience at Rib Mountain State Park. We saw our very first Hoarfrost at the Ice Caves in 2014 in Cornucopia, WI And on Feb 22, 2018 we got a chance to see both Hard and Soft Rime Ice. Really really cool ice formations that accumulate and grow to one side of whatever it is covering. Growing like an ice-cycle with the winds giving it direction. Take a look at our Blog here: https://collectionsbycarolblog.wordpress.com/2018/02/28/hard-and-soft-rime-ice-at-rib-mountain-state-park-february-22-2018/