Lately I've been spending some time on a local lake where I've discovered quite a few swans hanging around. There are at least 14 of them, which is the most I've seen at any one time while spending time on the lake. I don't think they're nesting anywhere on the lake, as I haven't seen any cygnets. My guess is that they are using the lake for socializing. At any rate, it sure has been fun to see so many of them so many times this summer.
Tons of fun last night watching the night sky with friends both old and new! We drove out to a nice wide open spot in the woods and spent about 4 hours gazing at the stars. The aurora even made an appearance low on the horizon! We also saw quite a few Perseid meteors and a LOT of satellites. There was a telescope in the group, and we used it to gaze in wonder at Mars, Jupiter and the rings of Saturn. Stars, aurora, meteors, telescopes and planets, great weather, awesome company and good conversation... life is good!
When an animal allows you to observe him or her for a period of almost 20 minutes, it's a special thing indeed. That happened to me a few days ago when I was out paddling my canoe. I was headed downstream back to my vehicle when I saw two otters swimming upstream toward me. As soon as I saw them I let the canoe drift into the grass along the edge of the river opposite from the side the otters were on. They swam right up to an old beaver lodge which they are apparently using as their den. While one of the otters presumably went inside the den, the other one stayed outside and eventually climbed up onto the old lodge and preened itself for a good 10 to 15 minutes.
When it was done preening, it just sat there for a few more minutes basking in the warmth of the evening sun. Eventually it slid back into the water and I'm guessing went inside the den as I didn't see it again. I resumed my paddle downstream and just around the next bend I saw another otter. Or, maybe it was the same one as this one was also very tolerant and let me drift quite close before diving underwater. What a treat it was, and I feel very honored to have been allowed this time with these special creatures.
I enjoyed a pretty amazing couple of days paddling on some local rivers this past week. The weather couldn't have been nicer and the wildlife couldn't have been more cooperative! Well, at least as far as the birds go. I would have loved to see a moose, as I was paddling through some prime moose habitat. Alas, no moose were seen on these outings. I did, however, have some very tolerant ducks swim much closer to my canoe than usual. I also saw a bald eagle, a couple of sandhill cranes, and an adult swan with three cygnets. It was a special day indeed.
Sometimes mistaken for the glow of the northern lights, airglow actually has nothing to do with auroras. Unlike auroras, which are formed when charged particles bombard the Earth's atmosphere, airglow is a type of chemiluminescence that makes the atmosphere glow. The brightest region of airglow is a roughly 10 mile thick zone at an altitude of about 60 miles. We saw strong airglow last night after shooting the Milky Way for a couple of hours. For this photo, I asked my friend to pose on the dock at Chester Lake in Grand Portage State Forest, with the sky glowing beautifully behind him.
What an awesome night for viewing the Milky Way! The stars were crisp and clear, the sky was free of clouds and there was only the occasional hint of the faintest of breezes. A friend and I headed up into the woods to photograph the stars over a local lake that has some nice pine trees right along the lakeshore. No matter how many times I see the Milky Way on such a night, I am always amazed by its beauty.