Sparky | The PhotoNaturalist

Posts tagged ‘Sparky’

Kites galore and 17 Burrowing Owls! Birding & Bird Photography Inland Florida Part 2

In part 2 of Sparky’s Florida Bird Adventure he travels from Jupiter to Miami and inland to find some amazing birds in interesting locations:

Jonathon Dickinson State Park—Florida Scrub Jays, Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, Brown-headed Nuthatches.

J.W. Corbett WMA—Bachman’s Sparrow, Swallow-tailed Kite family,

Grassy Waters Preserve—a very close Snail Kite catching 3 apple snails

Vista View Park—17 Burrowing Owls!

Sparky also shares his best butterfly and reptile finds of the trip.

Mega-Waves from Lake Superior Storm: Tettegouche State Park, North Shore, Minnesota – October 10, 2018 (photos & video)

October 10, 2018

After unsuccessfully chasing a rare Sabine’s Gull on Duluth, Minnesota’s Park Point, I realized how big the waves on Lake Superior were. I knew that the wind had been blowing hard all night, but I hadn’t put 2 and 2 together…Until I saw the flooding in Canal Park. The parking lot by Duluth’s canal and Marine Museum was already flooded and closed off. I parked as close as I could and skirted the floodwaters behind a hotel. Sheltering in a cluster of pine trees some 100 feet from the shoreline, I started snapping photos. Every few minutes, a series of bigger waves would roll in and explode around the East Pier Breakwall Lighthouse (photo below). I had to frequently turn my back on the lake and shelter my camera from the spray. I had rubber knee-high boots on and a rain coat, but it did little to protect me when a massive wave broke out of my peripheral vision and soaked me up to my waist. This wave must have been significantly bigger than the rest since up to this point only a couple times had the water even reached me. Time to go!

I headed up the North Shore for Tettegouche State Park. The huge rhyolite cliffs there are at a perfect angle for taking on the giant waves of a nor’easter storm. I called my photographer friend Paul Sundberg who intimately knows the photo opportunities on the North Shore (See his website here). It was no surprise that when he answered his cell phone I could hear the wailing wind in the background. He was already shooting the super-waves. He pointed me towards Crystal Bay on Lake Superior near Illgen City. He said the fall colors made for a unique shot since most big storms happen in late spring (no leaves yet) or during the “Gales of November” (leaves all gone). Paul is very generous with his info and I thanked him as we crossed paths at the spot. He’d already been shooting for a couple hours and was headed to find lunch. I took his spot.

The highest cliffs in these photos are about 80 feet tall I believe. That puts some amazing perspective to these monster waves. I took photos with my Canon 7D and Canon 70-200mm f4 lens, while simultaneously shooting video with my Panasonic GH5 on a tripod next to me. I didn’t record good audio just because I didn’t think about it. Wish I would have. Waves Lake Superior cliffs storm Tettegouche State Park Lake County MN Stensaas IMG_4803