So Many Questions

A scientist I am not. A person who cares for the earth I am. My passion is not just wildlife or beautiful areas, but also includes a precious finite resource - our soils.

When I drove past this plant tonight and noticed steam being released to the sky, I wondered how much carbon dioxide was also being discharged. Were critical levels of carbon dioxide venting from the stacks? Have the cumulative levels rising upward been threatening to the environment? If the carbon dioxide is captured, pressurized, piped, and sequestered hundreds of miles away, will our earth habitat be better for it? Really, will we be better for it, or will a limited number of people make possibly collect large amounts of money (including taxpayer dollars) at the cost of insult to our soils?

As a curious fellow who reads often, and as a Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioner who has had plenty of discussions about how soil is not just dirt, but is its own ecosystem, I am concerned about the impact of burying pipelines that extend between states to deliver carbon dioxide to holes in the ground for “permanent” capture.

If the pipeline construction project has such a minimal impact to the soil, why do so many producers oppose the project? Why is threat of eminent domain being tossed around? Why are our lawmakers currently discussing legislation to prohibit eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines (and maybe other products)? Why?

If pipeline construction is touted as minimally disruptive (the soil will be returned), then why are special construction processes (horizontal/directional boring) offered as a goodwill effort where rivers and wetlands are crossed? Do we know the answer? Is it possible that the best efforts to return the soil to pre-construction quality is not possible? Is it possible the construction process is destructive and is threatening? Shouldn’t all soil be considered fragile, since it is? Our soil is valuable. Our soil is not simply replaceable.

Nature Imitates Human Displays

How appropriate that on this Valentine’s Day I am fortunate enough to find and photograph two adult bald eagles sitting side-by-side on a branch high in a conifer. And how ironic is it that the birds appear to be displaying emotions we sometimes see in humans.

Kristy and I often comment when we see pictures, often announcing a long, milestone anniversary, of couples who appear to be completely disillusioned by the decades they have spent together. Frequently one, but sometimes both, look grumpy, angry, displeased…

Peak-A-Boo Bald Eagle (and Repetition Explained)

With the current bald eagle courtship and nesting season well underway, eagle observations are frequent and sometimes, like today, more interesting than routine.

I found today’s featured bald eagle on the backside of a conifer, almost appearing as if it was playing “Hide and Seek” with me. While the bird did its best to hide from me, it did not take flight to avoid me. With an eagle on perch and me ready with my camera, I shot a few photos.

Initially the eagle may have had the opinion if it could not see me, then maybe I could not see it. That wasn’t the case and the partially hidden eagle allowed for interesting compositions. Eventually, the eagle allowed a clear view and more images were recorded.

Regarding frequent bald eagle pictures…

Naomi or George

Kristy and I are visited on a routine basis by adult bald eagles. Due to frequently seeing multiple birds, we are assuming them to be a pair with young in the area.

We have named the birds Naomi and George in honor Kristy’s parents. Neither, from what I remember, was particularly fond of birds. Still, the connection to Kristy’s parents warrants the honor of naming beautiful birds after them.

This morning I was attempting to leave when I noticed…

I Might Believe Anything on This Topic

Astrophotography has got to be my least familiar photography topic. As much as I try, other than the obvious stars and the moon, I struggle to know what is out there in space during the dark of night (that really is not dark!).

Once again tonight I went looking for the green comet. Like previous attempts, I am finding a very bright spot that may or may not…

I Took My Canoe For A Ride

Ice changed my plans for paddling today.

The afternoon was going to be on the Shell Rock River, enjoying the protected water corridor, but when I arrived there was too much shelf ice at too sharp of an angle for me to…

I’ll Fly Away

My photo for today isn’t much…just an image of an immature rough-legged hawk. As much as I tried, I was not able to capture a better image of this bird. It simply did not want a picture taken.

As I Explained

Wow! What a nice turnout and engaged audience for my nature photography presentation tonight! I sincerely appreciate so many of you taking time out of your schedules to look at photos, talk stories, and ask questions. I sure had fun!

Near the end of my presentation I explained how when I started my “Picture a Day” project eighteen years ago I wondered if I would find something each day to photograph. I mentioned that I quit worrying about finding a photo subject because something always came through.

Today, even tonight, I was not certain what image I would record and share with viewers. After all, it was dark, the day was long, and…

Tough as Ducks

During the spring migration I often spend time attempting to photograph waterfowl in flight. Bird in flight imaging is challenging - the birds are moving, my camera and I are moving, and exposures and focus are ever changing. In other words, there are many moving parts that need to align to produce a single image that is acceptable. For that reason, my success rate on ducks in flight is considerable lower than when I photograph stationary birds.

With our heavy blanket of snow forcing ring-necked pheasants to field edges, I have had ample opportunity to practice photographing nearly stationary birds in fields along road edges. Yes, some of the pictures have been interesting and worked, but what I have wanted was nicely lit, correctly exposed and focused rooster pheasant in flight images. Today I came pretty close.

If you look carefully you can see…

Restoring Balance

(Note: This image was created last night, after a very long weekend.)

I do not hide that some of my responsibilities in life have dramatic impacts on my emotional well-being. Considering I routinely respond to disasters, medical emergencies, and death scenes, it became important that I found a technique to bring balance back to my emotions after particularly trying incidents.

This past weekend was challenging for many of us. Our EMS pagers sounded more often than normal. With EMS providers being in short supply, that meant several responses with an ambulance within a short time period.

Yesterday the tones went off for many to respond to a particularly violent trauma call. Many of us worked together for hours to process the scene. As the process was wrapping up, I recognized a need to restore balance again.

Nature is my “go to” when life is weighing heavy on my mind. So last night, cold or not, I…

Moon Phases?

After spending much of the night up or awake working my volunteer job, I did something I seldom do - I slept late today. As a result I was too late to go ice fishing. Normally that would not have been a big deal, but from what I heard from several anglers, the fish were really biting today.

Fish biting and me seeing plenty of wildlife activity at the same time makes me believe the…

Part of the Process

People sometimes ask how I am able to shoot the pictures I do. Some days the process is remarkably easy. Other days, like today, hours of effort are invested in the process with no return.

For more than two hours I stood out in a snowy prairie hoping to photograph a short-eared owl. Not one bird flew close enough for a photo. In fact, the owls I did see were a long distance away. Still, I…

Two Things a Shih tzu Does Not Like

During our afternoon drive today I learned two things our Shih tzu Layla does not like.

Dislike #1 - Layla does not like it when I open the truck windows and turn off the heater to eliminate heat shimmer from distorting my images. The sudden chill makes her ride uncomfortable and she quickly, but briefly, shakes like a quaking aspen leaf in a gentle breeze.

Dislike #2 - Layla suffers from a heavy posterior. When I slow quickly or turn faster than she is prepared for, her weighty back end tends to …

Not Fit For Man, Beast, or Layla

After work today Layla and I drove around the countryside in search of scenery or wildlife suitable for photography. The wildlife was…

Edited For Privacy

For the past while I have been watching red fox activity not too far from our home. Today I was fortunate to record a couple of nice images of the beautiful animal in snow.

For the privacy and protection of the fox, I have edited the images enough to obscure the location of the animal.

Move Along

At an intersection today I found this rooster ring-necked pheasant out strutting on the road, eventually working toward the side of the road, but hardly moving when traffic came along. He showed no fear, even when traffic whizzed by at close range. My slowing to avoid hitting him only…

Selfish Benefit of Deep Snow

Now that we have many inches of snow blanketing the area, one selfish benefit of the white stuff is that it makes observing and photographing some wildlife species much easier than normal. That isn’t so good for the wildlife since it means they are having to work much harder to find life-sustaining food to get them through the worst of winter.

Today I spotted a small flock of horned larks. I paused along the road and this one…

Same Scene - Leading Lines

I am preparing to do a couple/few photography presentations in the upcoming weeks. As I explain photos, one thing to discuss is leading lines. Leading lines guide viewers to follow the path. Leading lines can be straight, angled, curvy, or whatever direction they might take. This wandering water path (leading line) goes back and forth. Did you notice how you…

Traveling with Gramps

It is one thing to have the title of “Grandfather.” It is another to be a “Gramps” or whatever name your grandkids might give you as your relationship with them develops. I have said many times that if I can do at least half of what my granddad did for and with me for my very special grandkids, then I would be doing OK. This weekend my oldest grandson and I went for a drive to explore and did we ever find something interesting that I am sure he will remember for a long time.

The two of us traveled to the Mississippi River to check out the conditions at one of my favored place to paddle the big river. Of course the river was frozen, but that did not mean there weren’t things to see and do.

As we approached the ramp area/parking lot, I noticed several large totes neatly organized in the lot. Several fellows were working around the totes, so the two of us got out to look around and ask questions. What we learned was that we were seeing the fruits of cutting holes in the ice and seining freshwater…

Hibiscus Trumps Winter

My photo for today was likely to have been a hen ring-necked pheasant taking flight against a snowy background had I not noticed our hibiscus was still producing a beautiful blossom. There is another about ready to appear - likely over the weekend.

So, instead of yet another winter image for today, how about we…