Spring Moonrise

Welcome back!

Zine Review

Before I get into the blog, just wanted to mention that I created a couple of “zines” (aka small magazines) a while back, bringing together some photos I’ve taken over the years into a thematic collection (see the Zines link above if you want to order one). I took a course to help learn how to do this, and the course guide, Ted Forbes, was kind enough to review them. If you’re a photographer and haven’t found Ted Forbes’ Youtube channel yet, it’s well worth looking at. He gets a lot of viewer submissions, so there are always multiple works to look at. Skip to 8:50 if you just want the review of my stuff, but if you’re into photography it’s worth looking at the other reviews, people really do amazing creative work out there:

April Bonanza

On with the blog. This month has been a bonanza for birds and wild weather, ending with a sweet moment of calm:

But that’s skipping to the end. There were a lot of stories that played out in the month prior, I’ll try to package them tightly. Rewinding to:

Re-winter

The “melt” had begun before I returned from Vietnam, but to my (and few others) everlasting joy, we were treated to a little snowstorm that covered everything again. The playground and picnic area at Birds Hill Park became my camera playground:

I’ll admit I’m partial to the second shot, even though it’s just garbage cans…something about the distant “mirror” makes it work for me.

This goose doesn’t appear to trust the re-formed ice:

Re-winter Reprise

The first snowstorm quickly melted, but then to my (and no others) everlasting joy, we were treated to a second snowstorm. The Assiniboine river was flowing freely, but the snow and colder temperatures covered the river in fat blobs of slush. The mergansers didn’t seem to mind though:

The nightly freeze also handed me a frosty scene on the ground:

Fightin’ Goldeneyes

Around this time a couple of pairs of Goldeyes (two females, two males) began vying with each other for space on the river. It was a challenge and treat to try to track their aerial acrobatics. Here one of the females got a bit separated, but made up for it by flipping practically upside down and diving right back into formation:

Then they all splashed down into the river and the two males began fighting like mad, while the female made a quick escape:

In the end, one of the females got nesting rights to a nearby tree cavity, from which she eyed me suspiciously:

Fightin’ Raptors

While we’re looking at bird fights, a few weeks later I was lucky to witness this interaction between a short eared owl and a marsh harrier. They’re a bit far away, but it was still interesting to watch play out. I think the owl won this round:

Light Etching

As the weather warmed, the willows and poplars began to bud, which I always find looks fantastic when backlit by the late afternoon sun. The first is with a medium telephoto. The second is with my bird lens to pick out the tree (far left in the first shot) which hosts a conference of crows:

People say to avoid harsh sunlight, but it depends what you do with it. Earlier that day I got lost in the “questionable” patterns in birch bark:

Moonrise over East Shoal Lake

If you’re still with me, I appreciate it, and we’re coming to the end. In a rare moment apparently known to others as “planning ahead”, I realized the moon was getting full and would rise over one of my favourite lakes in the next few days. Perhaps the half melted lake ice would make it look extra special…icing on the lake, anyone? I almost never plan my outings, because I enjoy the process of exploration, discovery, and surprise, but this was too promising to pass up. The weather looked like it was going to cooperate as well.

This time, I even hauled out a camp chair, but didn’t use it much, as there was plenty to photograph while waiting, including the raptor fight above; these ducks, with a loon munching on what I think is a big leech:

…and this squadron of seagulls coming in low in the setting sun:

Then the moon entered stage left, my favourite of which is the title shot (second below). However, I included all these to make an interesting point about light and colour:

Over the course of 45 minutes, the ice really changes colour. With the seagull shot, it is “white” but really has blue dark patches and faintly yellow highlights. With the sun down and the moon just clearing the haze (first shot above), the yellow is gone, and the blue light from the sky above dominates, and paints the ice very blue. As the series progresses, it slowly becomes white again as the sky above loses colour and the moon takes over. Added bonus is the wind died and turned the lake into a reflective pool.

Eventually it was time to go, with a parting shot of the moon itself (the bird lens makes a nice small telescope), and the landscape it paints:

The sunset in the other direction was very nice as well, but this blog is already too long, so I’ll leave you with just one more, a sunset shot from a week earlier:

Okay, enough! Thanks for bearing with it. It would be crazy if the next month is as productive as this one, but I won’t say no.

Cheers, take care, and enjoy the nicer weather!