Steam Devils on Lake Superior

Bright sun and "warm" water brought out lots of sea smoke this morning, along with Steam Devils!  Steam devils are small, weak, swirling air masses created by the temperature difference between the water surface (32 to 34 F this morning) and the air temperature (a chilly -10 F).  The sea smoke fog over the water surface makes them visible.  Conditions have to be just right for them to form, thus they are sort of rare.  The bright sun added some nice cloud iridescence as well.  As seen from 23rd St E in Duluth, MN.

I managed to get pictures and video, but the bright sun and the glare off the water made shooting difficult.  It was hard to see without being blinded.  My eyes were watering and the tears were freezing to my eye lashes and cheeks and I kept fogging, then icing, up my glasses.  Such a tough life when I am taking pictures and I should be at work!

Sea smoke, glitter trail, and cloud iridescence.

Steam Devil with iridescence in the spout!

Small spouts visible 

More Cloud iridescence

City on the Lake

Bright sun and lots of glass making interesting reflections and shadows.

Visual benefits of -10 F

A chilly, bright morning means sun dogs! Seen here across a hay field in Saginaw, MN

Cloud iridescence over the sea smoke on Lake Superior as seen from the Copper Top Church in Duluth

And an Erythritic Turkey in a box elder tree

A group of 14 wild turkeys with a erythritic (red) hen. Many of the other turkeys display partial erythritic coloring on their wings. I was hoping to get some pictures of this group of turkeys I usually see when I am at my parents in West Fargo...the red hen was quite a bonus.  A compliment to the smokey colored turkeys I have posted about before.

I hope to update this post more info about erythritic turkeys.

English lessons

When Millennials make signs:

Taken at Kohl's with my crappy phone.

Skipping rocks on the lake...in November

I have been waiting for conditions to be right for this.  A freshly frozen lake with thin layer of ice and no snow. Some rocks skipping across the icy surface makes a pretty cool noise.

Industrial Rd at Caribou Lake Rd

Saginaw, MN

Up close and personal

The birds let me get really close today...4.9ft to be exact, the minimum focal distance on my 300mm lens. Chickadees I expect to be a bit brazen, but the red-breasted nuthatch was definitely being brave. The photos of the downy woodpecker are uncropped, he must have been very hungry to tolerate my proximity.

Mocking Jay

Greetings from Maryland; I'm near Baltimore for an accreditation workshop. I was gonna take another nap, in addition to the two I had on the flights here, but there was gray jay outside my window mocking me take a picture of him. Well, he was too skittish, but I found some other stuff to photograph. Things like flowers that I won't get to see around Duluth for six months or more!

hydrangea

Holly and berries

hydrangea

Yew and "berries"

Immature European Starling in a Black Cherry tree

A flock of acrobatic starlings

rose bush