Every spring for the last 10 years or so, a flock of between 30 and 120 American White Pelicans have stopped over along the St. Louis River near Fond du Lac Duluth, Minnesota. A great vantage point is Chamber’s Grove Park. The pelicans are probably on their way to large breeding colonies in the far north of Minnesota or possibly Manitoba.

I made these short videos a couple years ago, but am finally getting them out into the “webosphere.”

They are fascinating creatures to just sit and watch…Enjoy!

Watch an American White Pelican swallow a very large fish in slow motion.

This one is filmed entirely with a DJI Phantom 4 Pro drone…Note how the pelicans completely ignore it.

Living in northern Minnesota, there are few ducks we don’t regularly encounter. But this May trip to Yellowstone National Park was special in that there I had a chance to photograph three species that I’ve never photographed before…Harlequin Duck, Cinnamon Teal and Barrow’s Goldeneye. All gorgeous western waterfowl that are rarely seen in the Midwest.

Harlequin Ducks at LeHardy Rapids on the Yellowstone River [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/60 (Why? I must have been shooting video and switched to stills forgetting to up the shutter speed), tripod]

Harlequin Ducks at LeHardy Rapids on the Yellowstone River. I used a very slow shutter speed to make the water silky smooth but still wanted the ducks sharp. A different look. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f18 at 1/5, ISO 100, tripod]

Harlequin Ducks at LeHardy Rapids on the Yellowstone River. They sleep/doze in the middle of the rapids, all the while being splashed in the face with water! [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/60, tripod]

Harlequin Ducks at LeHardy Rapids on the Yellowstone River. I chose a slower shutter speed to highlight the color in the water. It took many frames but most of the Harlequins are fairly sharp. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f14 at 1/8, tripod]

Harlequin Ducks at LeHardy Rapids on the Yellowstone River. Harlequins are like “Dippers of the Duck World”…they dive and gather food underwater in fast moving rivers and rapids. Fun to watch them moving UPSTREAM in fast water. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/250, flash with Better Beamer, handheld]

Barrow’s Goldeneye in flight on the Yellowstone River. Not my best duck-in-flight shot…it’s turned away from me a bit…but my best Barrow’s Goldeneye flight shot! We have Common Goldeneyes in Minnesota. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/2000 (to freeze the wings in flight), handheld]

American Wigeon at LeHardy Rapids on the Yellowstone River. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/2000 (to freeze the wings in flight), handheld]

Cinnamon Teal male in the Hayden Valley. This was my closest and best sighting of a Cinnamon Teal ever! Gorgeous! I crawled over the snow to get close enough for a shot. Love the red eyes too. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/1600 (just in case he flew), handheld]

I was quite surprised to come across these two White-faced Ibis in an open stream in the snow-covered Hayden Valley. I did not know they migrated through the park. Strange to see a tropical looking bird in this mountain valley! They are gorgeous with iridescent green and burgundy plumage. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/1000, handheld]

[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/1600, handheld]

This was my last image before the Coyote rushed me. It is obvious from his intense eyes and forward-focusing ears that I was his prey.

I’ve never been attacked by mammal when in the field shooting…sure I’ve been dive-bombed by Skuas in Iceland, terns in Alaska and MN but never charged. Ryan spotted this Coyote first…It was crossing Slough Creek and never once looked at us. I decided to lay up against the river bank to see if he’d come out of the woods near me. Ryan went east to see if he could cut him off in the meadow. A few minutes later here comes the Coyote, only 50 feet away and slowly stalking something. But he was staring at me. I didn’t put 2 and 2 together that THE COYOTE WAS STALKING ME! I took video until he got within 30 feet or so. I then switched to taking stills. I got off 2 or 3 shots and then I stuck my head behind the camera again to check the LCD and when I looked around my camera a second later the Coyote was in my face! His head was above mine and he was only six feet away. I jumped up and started yelling at him…He sauntered off…He did not run…I finally found a rock and chucked it at him. He kept going. No time for fear until it was all done. My heart was beating! The Coyote had covered the last 25 feet is a split second…If I was a rabbit I wouldn’t have had a chance.
Watch the video and “reenactment” below

Coyote canine teeth are large and efficient killing tools…And I nearly got to experience them.

It’s a pretty unique photo…But little did I know he would be hunting me very soon.

We let a nearby campground host if he’d heard any strange Coyote stories lately…He laughed and said, “About an hour ago a couple in the campground were approached by a Coyote that just walked up to them to within 3 feet!…Not stalking just like it was begging.” We later found out that a woman had been bitten pretty badly by a Coyote a week previous in another part of the park. I don’t think this guy had rabies…eyes were clear, fur nice and thick, no foaming mouth…but this behavior is a bit unnerving. Anyway, a ranger was dispatched to the area to check it out…but we never did hear what happened to the Coyote of Slough Creek.