Preening in the mirror

So I spotted some geese standing at the edge of the ice on Pike Lake.  Then I heard a quack.

And I spotted a hen mallard sunning herself on a nearby dock.

Soon I heard a more distant quack.  And the quacking got closer as I spotted a drake mallard swimming a beeline towards the hen.  I knew the drake would try to get up by the hen, so I waited for the jump. As soon as he splashed to jump, I snapped the shot.  He startled the hen and she took off.

Double duck

A drake mallard on a still vernal pool.  Previously I have seen a pair of mallards on this water.

A Pileated Post

I spotted a male Pileated Woodpecker drumming on a powerline pole this morning.  I even got a short video.  After he drums on the pole, he climbs to watch and listen for any potential mates that noticed his courting rhythms.

Apartment for Rent; Superior views

Peregrine Falcon 

Greysolon Plaza, Duluth, MN. 

Pan-aurora-rama!

I finally got my panoramic images of the March 17th aurora stitched together.  Microsoft ICE!

Two panos stacked; 8 images total; 180 degrees of awesome!

Veiled Aurora

Northern lights peaking through a veil of clouds.  The red ray here was the only one I saw between 1:15 and 2:30am.

Halo Morning! Halo Afternoon!

A halo-of-a-day!  Started out with a solar halo this morning with faint sundogs as viewed from Pike Lake Elementary.

Followed by a full circle halo with upper tangent arc in the afternoon, as viewed from the UMD campus.  The halo was visible for several hours this afternoon.

Some light on the subject 

Halo and arc viewed with the Kathryn A. Martin Library on the UMD campus.

Solar Globetrotter

Halo and arc around a campus light fixture.

Sieur Du Sol 

The Sieur Du Luth statue on the UMD campus with halo, arc, and jet contrail.  

Sorta looks planetary, like Saturn and its rings.

Upper tangent arc very visible here.

The Untamed Sun and the Wild Ricing Moon 

The very large Wild Ricing Moon sculpture on the UMD campus with solar halo and upper tangent arc.

Amazing Aurora

Wow. I haven't seen aurora borealis like this in a long while.  The northern lights are so amazing.

See the time lapse video at the bottom of the page!  And check out the panoramas!

Reflecting in the ice/water on Caribou Lake

30 second exposure as the lights were fading.

Crazy activity!!

To the panoramas!

The land of sky blue waters

Or rather, the land of blue water skies. I have seen this phenomena a number of times, but this is my chance to photograph it. The sky appears to show a lake and land formations. I wish I would have been able to take a photo about 10 minutes earlier but I did not have a good vantage point. Even this shot is spoiled with power lines.

Parking unstructured

Ramping up demolition on an old parking structure near the Essentia St. Mary hospital.

Reflected in the tinted glass across the street