All Categories - Bruce G. McKee Photos

Autumn Artistry via Canoe - video

2/21/2022

Dale has solo-paddled the Winnebago River in North Iowa in every month of every year for nearly two decades. This film, the third in a series, highlights his Autumn canoe floats, emphasizing river stewardship and passing on the joy of paddling to the next generations. Narrated with his prose and observations of his passion of paddling and nature around him.
Video by Bruce G. McKee, written and narrated by Dale Mills, ©2022 www.brucegmckeephotos.com

Previous canoeing videos in this series:
A February Canoe Float
A Spring Sojourn via Canoe

SuperB owl Sunday

2/13/2022

In honor of SuperB owl Sunday. Here is a short video of some my photos of superb owls.

Great Horned Owl Nesting

2/11/2022

An adult Great Horned Owl in the crotch of a tree. At this time of year it is likely sitting on eggs. (Taken on private property with an invitation from the landowner. Telephoto lens and cropped. Cerro Gordo County.)

Winter Backyard Birds

12/30/2021

Regular birds at our backyard feeders in the Winter include Blue Jays, Cardinals, Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatches, Juncos, House Finches, House Sparrows, Mourning Doves and probably a few more that I forgot about. We have about 15 feeders and use a lot of black-oil sunflower seed and suet cakes. [Click images to see larger]

Lighted Holiday Tree

12/12/2021

I got out to see the lighted holiday tree at the POET bioprocessing plant on Hwy 9, near Hanlontown, IA tonight with a beautiful sunset. [Click images to see larger]

Sharp-tailed Grouse Courtship Video

12/5/2021

I finally got around to editing a video from last April. Sharp-tailed Grouse doing their spring courting ritual at the Valentine National Wildlife refuge in the sand hills of north central Nebraska. You can see the video at the bottom of this page (click link)

Great Gray Owl at Sunset

11/5/2021

Great Gray Owl at sunset with golden Tamarack trees in the background. Sax-Zim Bog, northern, MN, 11/3/2021. Photo taken from the car, 20-30 yards away. (Thanks to Mike Lentz Nature Photography and Monika Bobek for their suggestions on where to find this guy.) Click images to see larger.

A short video of a Great Gray Owl at sunset.

Northern Lights in Minnesota

11/4/2021

Northern Lights from some lonely forest road in Northern Minnesota, 11/3/2021. This was just a couple of hours after sunset, green on the horizon, a few streaks shooting up and a red/purple fringe. In the early morning dark hours the aurora exploded and sent huge streaks of colored light high in the sky. Unfortunately I was asleep in bed by then. Ah, well. It was a wonderful night. I was happy with the photos that I got, alone in the woods, with the Aurora Borealis and billions of stars (until I got cold, tired and went to bed).

Fall Canoeing preview

10/8/2021

A sneak peek at a small segment of our next canoeing video, highlighting some of the joys of paddling in the quiet autumn splendor and passing on the joys and skills of paddling to the next generations. It will be a few months before we are done with this, but we had such a great day of paddling on Wednesday afternoon I thought I'd share a little now. (Also on YouTube https://youtu.be/SCEAaTGMlKA )

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

10/2/2021

Two photos of Ramondskill Falls in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, in eastern Pennsylvania. The first photo is the upper falls, the second is the lower part of the falls as seen from above (the trail to the bottom of the lower falls was closed). Combined they form the largest waterfall in Pennsylvania at about 175 feet, just a few feet shorter than Niagara Falls. (Click/tap images to see the full image.)

Dingmans Falls, another from our trip to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. 130' drop makes it the second tallest waterfall in Pennsylvania. You can't see it all from this viewpoint.

Silver Thread Falls, Dingman's Ferry, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, PA. The falls have an 80 foot drop.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

9/28/2021

We had a short drive through Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio and went for a couple of short hikes to take a few photos. A Great Blue Heron and female Wood Duck were very cooperative. We also visited Brandywine Falls.

Herons at Maskunky Marsh

7/24/2021

It seems that one of the biggest events for Iowa birders and photographers this summer is the appearance of Yellow-crowned Night Herons at Maskunky Marsh near Oskaloosa, IA. They are rather unusual in Iowa, normally frequenting the southern Gulf and Atlantic states. This has been a big deal in this location with hundreds of birders and photographers going to the marsh in the last month to see these birds and other herons, egrets and smaller shore birds.
Part two of this excitement has been two juvenile Little Blue Herons in the past week. They are all white and only look like their adult version by size rather than color. I spent two mornings there this week coming home with hundreds of photos.
Click the images below to see larger (captions below each photo).

Milky Way and Lake Reflections

6/16/2021

A quiet, calm, clear night at Lake of Three Fires State Park in southwestern Iowa. I just had to go out and and try a little Milky Way - stars photography. The stars were bright enough to get a few reflections in the calm lake.

Cerro Gordo Photo Show 2021

5/14/2021

Three of my photos were accepted to the 41st Annual Cerro Gordo Photo Show this year. Always an honor. Photos in the Photo Show can be seen at the Charles H. MacNider Art Museum until July 10, 2021. Click images to see full image.

Eastern Screech Owl photo

Sandhill Cranes flying at Sunrise photo

Early morning reflections of two trees on the surface of a pond.

Woodland Wildflowers

5/8/2021

White Trout Lilies, early morning before the flowers are fully open. This is a woodland flower that blooms early spring. It gets is name from the spotted leaves that may resemble the spots on brook trout or brown trout. There were literally millions of them in this Minnesota forest.

There are thousands of species of Trilliums. They are similar in that they are a woodland wildflower with three large leaves on a single long stem and form a triangle when viewed from the top. They produce a single flower with three petals and three sepals (the small green leaves that support the petals). In most varieties the flower is upright standing tall above the leaves, but these hang upside down below the leaves. They bloom in the spring and don't last long. For me, it is always a joy to find them growing in the woods.

Dutchman's Breeches (sometimes pronounced 'britches') a woodland wildflower that blooms early spring. Turn the flower upside down and it looks a bit like the breeches or knickers worn by men from the 16th to 19th century.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit, a woodland wildflower. The strange name might be because of the similarity of the shape of the old-time church pulpit with the minister or priest standing in the middle. Although, these can either be a male or female plant (maybe a Jill-in-the Pulpit?).