Jim Ryan Outdoors

Odd Broad-winged Hawk?

2010-05-11T21:25:00.006-05:00

Sorry for the late post, I have had software issues that prevented me from generating these photos for comment.

Sunday, I saw this bird in Rosemount - in a developed neighborhood with mature trees (off McAndrews Rd).

I got a pic or two while it perched and saw it fly away. These are the best ones (cropped).

Definite Buteo shape in flight. The trailing edge of the the underwing was dark, the underside was mostly pale and faintly streaked -sorry, no better description than that.

But the color is confusing - Are gray Broad-wings expected? Could it be a Red-shouldered? Gray Hawk seems way out of the question. I have limited experience with Broadwings.

Do old BRATs ever Die?

2009-01-11T18:57:00.004-06:00

I ran across this in my birding travels and had to take a picture. Not sure why

Odds & Ends

2008-11-19T21:12:00.009-06:00

While I was in South Central Florida a few weeks back I went out birding with my sister. As we cruised along a long, lonely road in the middle of nowhere we came upon this sight. It was intense and kind of mesmerizing

There were over a hundred Turkey Vultures circling a dead cow in the pasture. I took another brief video because I couldn't zoom in with my little camera:

Here's another clip from Duluth in September. I seem to have a thing about the wind:

Here are a few photos I just liked but they don't have a theme:
Unknown flower (above) - I do know it turns into this: below

Sunflowers in my friends yard
I saw this out in the mud and had capture it - what can I say? It's just weird.

Many of Duluth's Finest birders came out for the possible Pacific Golden-Plover that was chased on September 20th.
Ecobirder & Kim Eckert trying to get a better look

Interesting patterns in the mud - watch out! This is the same mud that nearly swallowed me up and created my picture on the right margin.

The textures & patterns on this large rock fascinated me

The shadows, subtle hues and stark contrast have an appeal to my eye here.

Just a warm & lovely memory for me

Deer Season 2008

2008-11-12T23:07:00.005-06:00

Well the deer were plentiful, as evidenced by the DNR allowance of up to 5, that's right - 5 deer per hunter in certain areas this season and our trail-cams had plenty of action, including several big bucks.

Unfortunately on opening weekend the weather was harsh - temps in the upper 20s with 25 - 35 mph winds all day long. It is tough being out in the open in weather like that, especially sitting motionless (or nearly so) for 1-2 hours at a time. Here are a few pics of some of the areas I was hunting:

The weather wasn't much better on the 2nd day: slightly less windy (20-25mph) but it was colder in the low to mid 20's. Brrrr. And the deer were not moving much. I did not see even 0ne deer at all during the legal hunting hours. Bummer! No venison in my freezer this year...I am too booked up with other projects to spend any more time in the woods hunting deer this season.

What I did on my 'Summer Vacation'

2008-11-01T21:15:00.012-05:00

Here is a whirlwind photo tour of some of the places I've been since late spring. Didn't have my camera along for every spot but here's a few highlights:

Early June - My son Calvin graduated from Centennial H.S.

Mid June - Birding 'up North' in Minnesota - Aitkin County

July - Pickerel Lake in St. Paul, MN - playing with my camera

August - Western MN & Eastern South Dakota - birding

August - Southern MN - birding

about to board the LL Smith research vessel for a tour of Duluth Harbor
The Duluth skyline is defined by the Lift-bridge
Wisconsin Point Light HouseSturgeon lake - lodging for grouse hunting trip in Itasca County

September - Up North Hunting & Duluth Harbor Birding

Sunrise on Lemon Bay - Englewood, Florida
A stately Live Oak with 'spanish moss in South Central FloridaTypical Florida Pine Flatwoods

Florida scrub country looks so different than Minnesota!

October - Southern Florida visiting Mom & Dad

Catching up...

2008-11-01T20:37:00.007-05:00

Hello out there,
It's been way too long since my last post, but I've been so busy I haven't sat down to photoshop my pictures let alone blog. I guess I've been trying to cram in a lot of fun at the end of summer and into fall. I have some summer pictures I'd like to share on this weekend of setting the clocks back, as we enter what I like to call Minnesota's 'Season of darkness'. I hope these brighten your day and bring back fond memories of summer:

Birding in South Dakota & SW Minnesota

2008-08-07T18:37:00.005-05:00

OK, so I was at a Shorebird workshop last weekend and had a great time.

Part of that fun was staying at the Prairie Marsh Farm owned by Ken & Mary Lou Larson.

After the workshop was over we had some work to do. Bad storms smashed much of the area on Thursday, July 31st and trees and limbs were down on the farm (it was much worse elsewhere). I spent over an hour hauling limbs and then I got to help mow the lawn, farm style:

I had a blast driving a tractor for the first time and spent about 2 hours cutting the sizable lawn.

A Season of Bluebird Nest Monitoring

2008-07-29T10:49:00.000-05:00

Since early April, I have been heading out to Afton State Park, volunteering to keep tabs on 10 bluebird next boxes. It has been interesting every week, with something new to offer. I haven't take many photos, but decided to take at least a couple this last time out there, just for the memories. Boxes are often put up in pairs, as Tree swallows will often compete with Bluebirds for the same spot. The two species can often tolerate one another as neighbors, but will not tolerate another of their kind so close. I did not have such an experience with my nests this season, but so goes the theory.

The most intriguing occurance this week was seeing two Monarch butterflies connected in what I assume to be a mating coupling. The 'top' butterfly was able to fly all over the place with relative ease all while remaining attached to the 'bottom' butterfly. That was amazing to me.

Western Kingbirds in Anoka County

2008-07-28T09:12:00.000-05:00

I re-found this family of birds reported by Chris Brown. The parents were hawking insects and feeding the begging babies

Summer Glory

2008-07-25T14:54:00.000-05:00

Caught a few flower photos today, missed an awesome cloud formation. Some before and after rain showers.

Bluebird Territory on a Windy Day

2008-07-16T21:51:00.000-05:00

I have been monitoring bluebird nesting boxes at Afton State Park since April and Sunday was really windy. Watching the stiff breeze move the grasses was mesmerizing and I wanted to share a bit of that feeling.Later it was still blustery. In this clip you can see cloud shadows race across the grass and one of the bluebird houses I check at the end (after I shake when getting bit by a fly)

The Photographer within

2008-07-16T21:13:00.000-05:00

Now that migration has settled down, I am exploring the world with my camera (Fuji S700) and am slowly learning how to take pictures that please me. It's an exciting process trying to capture the feeling I get when I see something I feel is worth preserving and sharing with others. The challenge is to preserve it in a way that is compelling and beautiful. Here are a few recent samples:

Birds, birds, birds

2008-07-01T23:53:00.000-05:00

I have been doing quite a bit of birdwatching since March when the waterfowl migration begins. I would say I have put at least 2000 miles on my car just birding since then (gas prices be damned!!) and have been out as far as South Dakota, MacGregor and St. Peter since my last post. Reward? I have 205 species for the year, only 3 short of my best ever total from last year and I've got 6 months to go! More later...BTW these are not my photos! I borrowed them from elsewhere. Thank-you to the creators of these fine shots of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Black-crowned Night Heron, Broad-winged Hawk

Cats & a Cardinal

2008-02-24T20:40:00.000-06:00

A cardinal silently graced my evening on sit day #10. I did not get a picture of it - I didn't have my 10x zoom camera with me and he moved too fast through the yard to get a good shot anyway but it sure was a nice surprise, especially after commenting on what a wildlife desert I picked.

Today was relatively warm (upper 30s) and hazy - we have a temperature inversion here and driving around town today it was quite noticeable, more so than yesterday when I also detected the blurriness in the air.

The cats were also very active and I saw 5 of them again. The black one was hanging out on my other neighbor's porch - like he lived there. Does he? Hmmm - time may tell.

My secret spot is a desert for wildlife so far

2008-02-23T19:35:00.001-06:00

Today was sunny and in the lower 30s:
Maybe it's the time of day and the season, but aside from the neighbors cats, I haven't seem much besides a squirrel and a chickadee on one day only.

I did get out somewhere else on Wednesday night to see the lunar eclipse and take some photos, which all turned out horrible! Just horrible - comically so. I'll tell that story some other time.

Today, I saw no wildlife at all and ended up taking a few more pictures:

Sit Spot Challenge Day 5

2008-02-19T23:08:00.000-06:00

Another cold one today
(2 degrees when I was out about 10:30 this morning), but the Sun was very bright and I had to take more photos -

I also watched the cats and they watched me. I saw 4 of them today - all behind the fence, so there were no photo ops of them today but I'm sure my time will come...in the meantime, here are more Macro shots of snow and weathered wood, etc:

Camera Fun

2008-02-18T22:41:00.000-06:00

I was out about 10:30 this morning and It was really cold again today (about 4 degrees), with a bit of a breeze and some light sun.
OK, so for my sit spot today I didn't really sit - it would have wrecked the snow on my deck! I took a bunch of pictures, several of which make me pretty happy - the photographer in me is waking up! Here is a sample:

Day 3 of Sit Spot Challenge

2008-02-17T17:28:00.000-06:00

It was gray much of the day but the sun peeked out a bit in the afternoon and I kinda went crazy with my new camera and took a bunch of photos. You'll see more of 'em later. Temps in the 30's again today.

I actually heard a crow and then a chickadee too. First wildlife sensed in this challenge. I also saw a squirrel and 4 or 5 of the cats that live in the neighbors yard. I got photos of 3 of them but one was just the tail as it slunk away.

Blackie hissed at me and ran away before I could get a good pic of him
Calico never knew I was there
Gray Eyes was ready to bolt when he saw me but I shifted my body language and he stayed long after I got a shot.

My first bird digiscoping attempts

2008-02-16T22:19:00.001-06:00

I was hardly prepared for these. I was actually on a date and did not have my adapter to mount my camera to the scope so just hastily snapped a bunch of photos of this eagle at Prescott, WI on January 26th

I did have my camera (Fuji Finepix F650) at nearly full zoom (5x) and my scope is a Fuji Super 60 (angled) w/ a fixed 25x eyepiece. It has super long eye relief and so vignetting is not a problem, but the slow shutter release is (without a mount anyway)

First Post

2008-02-16T21:57:00.000-06:00

Today is Day 2 of the 30 day secret spot sit challenge. I have photos from each day and I will be posting them. The sunset is from yesterday. It looks all warm and cozy but it was 7 degrees out! Today's sunny one was 34 - quite a big difference for one day.