I am Ready!

Today was a luxurious, 50 degree, spring day in southeast Minnesota. I believe it was our first 50 degree day of the calendar year. I know it felt amazing.  I had been out a few days ago, taking pictures of migrating ducks. That day, I went on a walk for the sake of walking and failed to bring my camera. I had to run home and then drive back down to the lake with my camera to get some pictures of those ducks, but they all stayed in the middle of the lake and made photographing them difficult, even with my long lens. I was excited that migrating season had begun! I had two full days of work before I had some spare time so I could go out again. This afternoon was my chance, and the weather was perfect, as I said before.

Drake and Hen Canvasbacks

Drake Wigeon 

One problem: when I got to the lake today, there weren’t any migrators. I eventually found a couple, waaay out in the middle of the lake. Even so, I kept walking. All of a sudden, something very large flew right past me. I started snapping pictures. It was a great blue heron. It was so close that I had a hard time even finding it in my viewfinder, and I missed most of the pictures. I got one amazing shot, though, before it landed, and a couple of pretty good ones. 

This picture is straight out of the camera, with no cropping or editing.

The heron settled in on a tree branch in the water for a few minutes before flying off again. This time I was ready and I got a few more good shots.

I love this one, in front of the Rochester skyline.

The day wasn’t over. I wanted to pack as much as I could into the afternoon, so I headed over to Quarry Hill after wandering around the lake for a bit longer. Quarry Hill Pond was still pretty frozen over, and I didn’t see any migrating ducks. There were a few Canada geese and mallards, the stuff Rochester is made of every single day, but nothing extraordinary. I wandered around the bird feeders to see the song birds, checking out if there were any migrating song birds. I did see (and hear, of course!) a red-winged black bird. Now that’s a sure sign of spring! I enjoyed the songbirds, but wanted to spend some more time by the pond. As I walked along the path, I saw a muskrat pop his head up and go straight back down into the pond. I stood there at the pond’s edge for a few minutes, still as could be, hoping that the muskrat would surface again so I could take his picture. He did not, but then I saw movement off in my peripheral vision. There was a fox, loping along the path perpendicular to the one I was on. So cool! I have seen a couple of foxes before in the wild, but this was the first time I have encountered one at Quarry Hill. The fox saw me, and probably heard my camera. I kept snapping. The fox was probably only there for 30 seconds, tops, but still – I SAW A FOX! When I had my camera at the ready!! He even turned his head and looked straight at me before disappearing into the woods. This was a great day.

He's looking at me. 

 Spring break is almost here. I am ready for the influx of migrating birds. I am ready for the world to spring to life and turn green. I am ready for a little bit more time to walk around out there in the beautiful world God made, with my camera in hand. I am ready.