I head down to Crex Meadows Wildlife Area near Grantsburg, Wisconsin to search for my Lifer Olympia Marble butterfly. I also stumble upon one of the most beautiful turtles in North America…the Blanding’s Turtle (which promptly “mauls” me 🙂
Vesper and Grasshopper sparrows are singing, along with Eastern Towhees, Trumpeter Swans and Eastern Kingbirds.
It is hot, and the mosquitos are awful, but I find multiple species of butterflies to photograph including Hoary Elfin, Juvenal’s Duskywing, Silvery Blue, and, my main target, Olympia Marble…the butterfly that looks like its been brushed with gold foil!
Churchill Manitoba on Hudson Bay is a premiere destination for bird photography and birding. It is one of the most accessible tundra habitats in North America. Home to Arctic Hare, Willow Ptarmigan, Short-billed Dowitcher, Tundra Swan, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Nelson’s Sparrow, Common Redpoll, Common Eider, Pacific Loon, Red-throated Loon, Hudsonian Godwit, Beluga Whale, Harbor Seal and more.
Cape Merry is an awesome spot to watch the hundreds of Beluga Whales feast on Capelin fish in the Churchill River. Many Red-throated Loons are flying by at eye level!
In part 2 of my June 2022 trip, I take you along on a birding and bird photography trip; Halfway Point, Fox Drive, Twin Lakes Road, Goose Creek Road, Coast Road. We also do some bushwhacking out on the wet tundra looking for birds and nests.
I get a little too close (accidentally) to a Parasitic Jaeger nest. I also takes you along on a zodiac tour of the Churchill River with James of Sea North where we get up close and personal with dozens of Beluga Whales.
(Yes, this was June of 2022…and it has taken me 10 months to finish this part 2 video!)
It was a blast going through my 19,753 images from 2022 (15,259 on Canon R5 and 4,494 iPhone11) and finding my most memorable wildlife photos. Trips to Churchill, Manitoba, floating blind in the prairie potholes of North Dakota, Crex Meadows in Wisconsin and other parts of wild Minnesota netted some cool outdoor experiences:
Close range Hawk Owls, an adorable Saw-whet Owl, Short-eared Owls, Red Fox dens (in 2 states and 1 province!), Western Grebes performing their courtship “Rush Dance,” hunting Mink, frosty Long-eared Owls, and more.
Top Tens in several categories including “Creative Wildlife Photography,” “Wildlife Behavior,” “Animal in the Landscape,” “High Key,” “Landscape & Vernacular Architecture,” and more.
Blizzard in October: Teddy Roosevelt NP, Badlands in North Dakota, NP in South Dakota & Yellowstone.
What a crazy trip! When I think back on it, I only remember the tough stuff… getting kicked out of Yellowstone (they closed all the roads and rangers had us leave) and the nightmare of white-knuckle driving through a North Dakota blizzard.
But when I look at the photos we got, I realize what an amazing trip it was! Mountain Bluebird flocks in the snow at Teddy, a sow Grizzly eating rose hips only yards from us near Wapiti, Wyoming, a Badger cooperatively hunting with TWO Coyotes, backlit Raven breath, and so much more.
[DISCLAIMER: This was filmed about a year before I got my Canon R5 so cut me some slack on the video quality :)]
Is it possible to get into the heart of a Western Grebe colony and witness the amazing and complex courtship of these water birds? It certainly is….if you use a floating blind/floating hide. In this episode of Shooting with Sparky he and Ryan take you out to central North Dakota’s prairie pothole region where spring bird courtship was in full swing! Western Grebes were the star of the show, performing their courtship rituals right in front of us including the “weed-dance,” “dip-shaking,” and of course, “rushing.”
Bird photography/Bird video from a floating blind is not an easy thing…but the Canon R5 makes it MUCH more possible. The animal-eye tracking works wonderfully when shooting at water level.
Other birds encountered included Eared Grebes, Red-necked Grebes, courting Forster’s Terns, American Avocets, Dunlin, and we visit an old friend at their nest, the Ferruginous Hawk.
Virtually Live 16: Sax-Zim Bog in early Spring: Birding—S2E1 April 2021
Birding in the Sax-Zim Bog in April can often mean birding in snow…and we had snow on both mornings of shooting…April 14 & 19….but the birds are returning! In Virtually Live 16 (Season 2, Episode 1) we search for Sandhill Cranes in the hopes of capturing video of them performing their courtship dance. Sparky finds a cooperative and cute Porcupine along Nichols Lake Road, Ring-necked Ducks on Nichols Lake, and he shares some very cool sightings from this past winter and early April—Great Gray Owl, Porcupine, River Otter, Mink.
It was just like the old-timers talk about….Flocks of geese everywhere! I hit it right again this year (thanks to eBird reports, the Minnesota Birding Facebook Group and intel from my birding buddies, Kim Risen and Steve Millard. Thanks guys!
Definitely got my much-needed dose of mega-goose migration on the prairie. The cacophony of goose cackles and swan honks is definitely worth the 8 hour round trip. The 25-35 mph winds made video and sound recording challenging but I did my best.
North Ottawa Impoundment in Grant County, Minnesota was the hot spot. Five species of geese including tens of thousands of Snow Geese, thousands of Greater White-fronted Geese, and lesser amounts of Ross’s Geese, Canada Geese and Cackling Geese. But back roads in Grant and Ottertail and Traverse counties held numerous flocks. I’d see a smudge on the horizon, throw up my binoculars and the smudge would come to life as a massive flock of geese.
Tundra Swans were also moving in impressive numbers.
I also searched for Short-eared Owls in prairie areas (SNAs, WPAs, WMAs) and did flush one but did not see any hunting.
Three Ross’s Geese (note greenish base of the stubby bill that separates them from Snow Geese) [North Ottawa Impoundment; Grant County, Minnesota]Snow Geese coming in to North Ottawa Impoundment, Grant County, MinnesotaSnow Geese and waxing moon [North Ottawa Impoundment; Grant County, Minnesota]Goose flock, silo, setting sun [Ottertail County, Minnesota]Greater White-fronted Goose [North Ottawa Impoundment; Grant County, Minnesota]Northern Pintails [North Ottawa Impoundment; Grant County, Minnesota]Snow Goose flock [North Ottawa Impoundment; Grant County, Minnesota]Snow Geese and waxing moon [North Ottawa Impoundment; Grant County, Minnesota]Ducks and rising sun [North Ottawa Impoundment; Grant County, Minnesota]Greater White-fronted Geese [North Ottawa Impoundment; Grant County, Minnesota]
All photos and video shot with Canon R5 and Canon 100-500mm lens. Additional video shot with Panasonic GH5 and Sigma 50-500mm lens (“toy” miniature time lapse), and iPhone 7+
The BRRRRdathon—World’s Coldest Birdathon episode of Virtually Live. The BRRRRdathon is an annual fundraiser for my non-profit, Friends of Sax-Zim Bog.
This week we are birding in Grand Marais, Minnesota on Lake Superior just south of the Canadian Border. Sparky is participating in the Wintergreen non-motorized division. We go along with his fat bike birding. But he takes an early morning detour inland into the Superior National Forest where he finds an amorous bull and cow Moose! During the BRRRRdathon we see Long-tailed Ducks, White-winged Crossbills and more. Find out who won this year’s event.
As Executive Director of Friends of Sax-Zim Bog, I sometimes have to run supplies up to the Welcome Center, and on today’s early afternoon jaunt I spotted a Coyote crossing the road a long ways ahead. I pulled over and waited, but I wasn’t too excited since on every trip to Yellowstone we seem to get our fill of “yote photos.”
Timber Wolf in Minnesota’s Sax-Zim Bog: December 30, 2020
I squeaked to try and get it to come back out of the woods. It did, and to my surprise the “Coyote” turned out to be a Timber Wolf!
I knew from previous experience that they will sometimes parallel roads while hunting, so I pulled ahead slowly and stopped at a game trail that gave me a bit of a window towards the bog. And sure enough, I saw just the back of a wolf quickly move across the trail.
Timber Wolf in Minnesota’s Sax-Zim Bog: December 30, 2020
Now I was getting a bit more confident that I could intercept one of the rarest (or at least rarely seen) of Minnesota’s abundant wildlife. About a half mile up I found a trail I figured it would cross. It was about 15 feet wide and I quietly got out of my van. The woods were silent under the still of last nights 6 inches of snow.
I walked about a hundred yards in and waited. Sure enough a couple minutes later the wolf appeared! But instead of simply crossing the trail and vanishing, it turned and took a few steps toward me. It couldn’t figure out what I was, which enabled me to get a minute of video and photos. I imagine it was 50 yards away. Amazing experience! Magical experience! You never know what is around any bend in Sax-Zim!
Timber Wolf in Minnesota’s Sax-Zim Bog: December 30, 2020
[Canon R5 with Canon 100-500mm RF lens at 500mm; 1/500 second at f7.1; ISO 1000; handheld]
Video of Timber Wolf Sax-Zim Bog Minnesota
[Canon R5 with Canon 100-500mm RF lens; 1/500 second at f8; ISO 1000; handheld
Timber Wolf in Minnesota’s Sax-Zim Bog: December 30, 2020
[Canon R5 with Canon 100-500mm RF lens at 270mm; 1/500 second at f5.6; ISO 800; handheld]
Timber Wolf in Minnesota’s Sax-Zim Bog: December 30, 2020Timber Wolf in Minnesota’s Sax-Zim Bog: December 30, 2020
[Canon R5 with Canon 100-500mm RF lens at 270mm; 1/500 second at f7.1; ISO 1000; handheld]
Palisade Head Peregrine Falcon Watch May 1: Wildlife Photography
A spring day at Northeast Minnesota’s Palisade Head on Lake Superior. Sparky is hoping to photograph Peregrine Falcons today, but he has more luck with Common Mergansers, Least Chipmunks, Song Sparrows and a flyby Peregrine. Wildlife Photography, Bird Photography
June 11, 2023
Sparky Stensaas
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