We enjoyed a great fireworks display at a neighborhood gathering that we attended somewhere in north Iowa on Thursday, Independence Day, the 4th of July, 2024. (Click on images to see larger)
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Sandhill Cranes in Nebraska (3/12-3/15/2024). It was estimated by aerial surveys that there were over 429,000 birds. Turn your phone sideways to view the video or better yet view on your computer screen. The photos below the video were taken from the car. Click images to see larger.         I got up early and hiked down to the shore of a private wetlands in North Iowa in the dark to photograph birds at sunrise and I wasn't disappointed. There was one lonely Sandhill Crane, two Trumpeter Swans, several Canada Geese and several Greater White-fronted Geese. Video: I got up early and hiked down to the shore of a private wetlands in North Iowa in the dark to photograph birds at sunrise and I wasn't disappointed. There was one lonely Sandhill Crane, two Trumpeter Swans, several Canada Geese and several Greater White-fronted Geese. Click or tap images to see larger.            The Blue Jays, Cardinals, and House Finches were active at the bird feeders today. (Also Chickadees, Juncos, House Sparrows, and a flock of European Starlings.) Click or tap images to see larger.   
Starting out New Year's Day 2024 with a morning of paddling on the Winnebago River. A quiet, slow float with some interesting ice disks (pancake ice), Canada Geese and a Bald Eagle leading the way as it soared from tree to tree in front of us. Life is good. A Pine Marten in northern Minnesota at the Sax-Zim bog. Photo from the car. I waited over two hours for this critter to appear. It was a regular visitor to this location. (Click or tap images to see larger.)
I went to the high falls of the Pigeon River at Grand Portage State Park, MN to take photos looking north over the falls of the predicted huge aurora borealis storm. It was cloudy when I arrived, but from about 10:30 PM until 3:30 AM I took photos with clear sky and a bright nearly full moon lighting up the falls. From this location the terrain slopes up behind the falls and there are many tall trees, so I really couldn't see the horizon, but there was slight color in the sky above the distant trees. At about 3:30am the predicted storm had not arrived so I hiked back to the car to warm up and take a quick nap. Unfortunately I slept through the huge Northern Lights that were multi-colored reaching way overhead in the couple of hours before sunrise. Sigh! The falls were mostly frozen over with one stream of flowing water in the middle. Despite being cold it was a nice night for a walk in the woods and to enjoy the falls. The left side of the falls and river in this photo is Minnesota and the right side is Ontario, Canada.  Sunrise at Hollow Rock, Lake Superior, near Grand Portage, MN (click or tap image to see larger).  A short video of the sunrise at Hollow Rock, Lake Superior Landscapes at Thingvellir National Park, Iceland are formed in the rift valley in the divide between the North-American and Eurasian continental plates. The lava fields are torn apart by tectonic forces, leaving gorges and fissures which stretch across the country but are easily seen here at Iceland's oldest national park. There is much more history here as the meeting place of the country's parliament from 930 to 1798. (Learn more - https://www.visiticeland.com/article/thingvellir) Click or tap images to see larger. Iceland has many geothermal areas and hot springs, with water super heated by the magma below. Many of the cities and towns are heated by the hot water which is piped to homes and buildings throughout the country. We visited three of these thermal areas during our travels. Here is a short video. Iceland is a land of fire, ice and water. Born of volcanoes (many still active), there are dozens of glaciers and hundreds of waterfalls largely from melting glaciers. The largest contiguous glacier is Vatnajokull National Park, covering over 4,000 KM, which has several outlet glaciers and includes within its borders several active volcanoes and the Skaftafell and Jokulsargljufur National Parks. We got up close to calving from the glaciers at the Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon. (My spelling of Icelandic words is an approximation because I do not have an Icelandic character set on my computer.) Click or tap images to see larger.        As we traversed Iceland on our 9-day 1000+ mile journey we visited several waterfalls. Except for the first couple of days most were on cloudy, rainy, windy days. At some we didn't get out of the car because it was raining hard. (Click or tap images to see larger.)          These are some of the coastal areas we saw in west, southern and southeast Iceland. (Click or tap images to see larger.)                  |
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July 2024
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