Amazing spring of 2013

As many of you have already realized, the late spring has had some interesting effects on the migration of birds this year. It seems to be a silver lining to a long and drawn out winter. I have noticed different species of birds in greater abundance and the appearance of other birds that I had not seen in past years at me feeders. I am sure that veteran birders have an explanation for this phenomenon, but in the meantime, I am going to continue enjoying the show and capture as much of it as I can with my cameras. 

 

The first batch of photos I posted here today are from a couple of recent trips my wife and I took to the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge across the river from Winona last week. The other images were taken around my feeders and the Winona area.

 

Please enjoy and remember to click on the images for a better more detailed view.

 

Al

 

 

A large Red Squirrel kept an eye on us from the top of a budding tree at
the refuge.



An Eastern Kingbird on a thorny perch.

 

Palm Warbler

 

A White-tail deer family grazing at the refuge.

 

A Great Blue Heron enjoying a nice fish it just caught.

 

Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

 

Great Egret

 

Cardinal

Images from around my house and Winona.

 

 

 



An Indigo Bunting showed up for one day at my feeders.

 

A Northern Tufted Titmouse would visit my feeders occasionally.

Female Cardinal.

 

Pam and I hiked the hill behind our home early one morning for a
view of the valley.

Early morning view of the Interstate Bridge from Latsch Island.

A pair of Cardinals feeding at my feeder.

A unique auction in Winona

This past Tuesday I had the pleasure of attending and photographing a tractor and farm implement seat auction at the American Legion in Winona. AK & S Auctions conducted the sale that consisted of  350 plus cast iron seats from a collection of the late Loren Fimian. I thought it would be a great opportunity to photograph a rare and unique auction. Although the crowd was not huge, there were serious buyers and collectors from across the country. To my surprise there is an organization comprised of these collectors that has catalogued these unique seats.

In case you missed this unique Winona event, I have posted the following photos from the auction.

Please enjoy and remember to click on the images to enlarge them. Also feel free to share on Facebook.

Jon Kohner and an assistant identifying bidders and Tom Kohner seated,
recording the sales.

An array of cast iron seats on one of the tables full of colorful
seats.

Barb Kohner handed out bidding numbers to the auction bidders.

More seats from this amazing collection.

 

The auction was serious business for the bidders and collectors.

A rare and old seat.

 

Another view of the auction.

A detailed image of one the the cast iron seats.

Helpers displaying the seats being auctioned by Jon.

 

Wide angle view of the auction.

More cast iron seats.

Capture Minnesota Vol.II Contest

Twin Cities Public Television notified me a few days ago that 3 of my submitted images have been selected for publication in this years book Capture Minnesota Vol. II. I am obviously thrilled to have some of my images published in this book.

The published photographers are not compensated monetarily except for the award winners. Here is a link to the book if you are interested in purchasing a copy of Capture Minnesota Vol. II.

Capture Minnesota Vol. II book

To help celebrate this event, I will be offering for a limited time of 5 days a limited number of 10 prints of each of these images.   This special promotion will be for 11x14 inch stretched canvas prints.  The limited time sale price is $50.00 per canvas print. Additional details and previews are available on the following links.

Feeding at the river stretched canvas print

Fall sunrise over Homer stretched canvas print

Ice boats on Lake Pepin stretched canvas print

Please contact me with any questions.




These are my 3 winning images.

Fall sunrise over Homer

Feeding at the river

Ice boats on Lake Pepin

Earth Day 2013 at the Levee in Winona

In a rare break from the winter snow this spring, Earth Day at Levee Park in Winona was a breath of fresh air this past Saturday. The sun was shining the sky was blue and everyone seemed to have a smile of their face. It was a break from cabin fever and everyone was going to enjoy it even if it was a little chilly out.

Pam and I headed down to the Levee about mid afternoon and on arrival were met with unmistakable  odor of fresh cooked Kettle Corn. This was going to be a fun afternoon. There was live music, a belly dancer, vendors, adults and children playing. Pam ran into her Tai Chi instructor Brice Wilkinsen and enjoyed doing a signature form of Tai Chi in the fresh spring air.

The photos below are from our trip to the Levee Park. Please share this site with others to help promote the revitilazation of the Levee Park. It is a really nice venue.

Please click on the images to enlarge them for better detail

Live music and a belly dancer

 Levee Park

The riverfront at Levee Park

Some vendors

Pam and Brice practicing Tai Chi

Wide angle of the chalk drawing area

This Coast Guard ship gave out a horn blast for all of the kids waving as it passed.

Hummingbird Hygiene

   Since spring is having such a problem showing up this year, I had to dig into my photo archives from last summer to find something to blog about. I tried to find something a little out of the ordinary to display and write about that didn't contain snow in the pictures. (Apparently everyone is tired of seeing snow pictures :))

   As many of you know, I am partial to the delicate and fragile Hummingbird. I have observed and photographed them for the past several years with a lot of curiosity and fascination. I have taken many photographs of them in picturesque settings while they were flying, hovering and feeding at colorful flowers and nectar feeders. Many of these Hummingbird images have been purchased throughout the world via the stock photo agencies I employ. However, I also photograph them in settings that are not observed by a lot of people. These are images that are not big sellers or advertising quality in subject matter.

   The sequence of Hummingbird images in this blog are of a Hummingbird that was perched in a tree and obviously oblivious to my camera and comfortable enough to do a little preening and primping. When I photographed this bird, I just kept clicking away as he was very busy assuming contorted positions and I was more than curious to see what he was up to. I was pleasantly surprised the last couple of days as I prepared these images for the blog and I Hope you enjoy seeing these uncommon images of this neat bird.

   I an not an expert birder so the captions may not be completly accurate. Feel free to use your imagination and think up your own captions.

CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM FOR MORE DETAIL

This is how we clean our beaks

This is how we clean our feet

Preening my feathers

Fluffing up my neck feathers

Touching up around my feet

Have to clean under my wings

 

Have to clean over my wings

 

Touch up the front a little bit

 

Fluff up and air dry

Winter storm photos

I received such great attention and support on Facebook for some of the images of the snowstorm on March 5, 2013 they I decided to post them on my blog. So this post is for those of you that did not get to see them on Facebook. I hope you enjoy the images as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Please click on the images to enlarge and fully enjoy them.

The snowy path behind the Levee Wall.

The Lake Park Bandshell.

Veterans Memorial Park at Lake Winona.

Ice fishing on East Lake Winona.

A view looking across East Lake Winona.

A storm is on the way!

The latest weather update is predicting a 6" to 10" band of snow destined for the Winona area tonight through Tuesday. That means we only have a couple more storms left before spring! I have not gotten out as much as I should to prepare photographs for my blog so I will just wing it and hope for the best.

 

With the new year, I decided to do a little re-branding for my websites and business. You will notice a different look and logo that I am now going with and I hope it will enhance the images for you that I post here and on my website.

 

This post will be a mixture of images from the past year or so and will also include some images that I have posted on my Facebook page recently. My apologies to my Facebook followers for the duplication.

 

You can also follow me on my Muddy River Photography Facebook page. I always appreciate a "Like" on the page.

Muddy River Photography Facebook Page



I photographed our Valentine's Day Roses a couple
of weeks after the day. They still look nice even though
they are slightly wilted.

An ice coated tree early on a Sunday morning.

The J.R. Watkins Building in Winona.

The Winona Count Courthouse.

The ornate Levee Wall in Winona.

A Cardinal from earlier this winter.

A Blue Jay from earlier this winter.

A new portrait style I have added to Muddy River Photography.

A Bald Eagle Portrait.

I am also adding custom designed Iphone Skins to my
product line.