A pair of bumble bees enjoying a patch of fireweed along Highway 61 just north of Grand Marais, MN. I was on my way to Grand Marais when I noticed this beautiful patch of fireweed. What I didn't know when I pulled over to take pictures of the flowers is that the patch was filled with hundreds of bumble bees. The bees were really working the flowers over. They only stayed on one flower for a few seconds at a time, so it was difficult to get a good photograph of them. I spent about an hour photographing the bees. It was challenging but fun!
A beautiful patch of fireweed along the Lake Superior near Five Mile Rock just north of Grand Marais, MN
Construction Season on Highway 61 :-)
Yesterday there were some really clouds out over the horizon of Lake Superior. As I drove towards Grand Marais I kept glancing at the clouds and eventually I had to stop and make some photographs of them. I knew it would make for a more interesting shot with Five Mile Rock in the foreground, so that's where I decided to stop and make this photo.
A beautiful sunset over Speckled Trout Lake and Swamp Lake from a couple of nights ago. One of my favorite views on this Earth :-)
A recent moonlit night at Middle Falls on the Pigeon River, taken from the Ontario, Canada side of the river. The waterfall was beautiful in the moonlight and the trails of foam made for an interesting foreground.
The hummingbirds love our lilies... so glad to see that our honey bees love them too :-)
Boy, it sure was a nice day yesterday! As luck would have it I found myself in Grand Marais with a few hours to kill so for part of that time I sat on the shoreline of the harbor and watched the summer activity. Boats and kayaks came and went, as did a large variety of people over at the lighthouse. When I first sat down along the shoreline the sailing schooner Hjordis was just setting out onto the lake. I made some photos of it as it passed the lighthouse but I wasn't really happy with the way they turned out. So, I decided to wait for it to come back into the harbor to try again.
Over an hour later the boat finally returned and I got a shot that I'm much happier with. As the boat was passing by the lighthouse a group of kids was taking turns jumping off the breakwall into the lake. They paused from their swim antics to watch as the Hjordis sailed past. It was the kind of summer day that everyone dreams about and there certainly were a lot of people out taking advantage of it!
One of our honey bees enjoying the clover in our yard :-) Each year I leave patches of wild flowers un-mowed so that the honey bees from our hive can take full advantage of them. Right now we have a lot of clover and birds foot trefoil blooming around the yard and the bees are all over them... both the honey bees and the native bees. Especially the bumble bees! I don't think I've ever seen so many bumble bees in the yard as I have in the past two days. It sure is fun to have all these busy bees buzzing around the yard!
An evening of fog combined with the elevated vantage point of a fire tower makes for a dramatic image of a foggy evening in the forest of northeast Minnesota!
A burst of sunlight and a beautiful fern last night just before sunset.
Yesterday afternoon and evening the sky got pretty cloudy and some rain showers moved through. Just as the sun was setting the clouds broke and we were treated to some beautiful views of the sky as the day came to an end. I captured this photo looking at the sky over Mt. Rose from the grounds of Grand Portage National Monument. You can see the roof of the Great Hall just to the left of center near the bottom of the photo.
We had several rounds of storms come through the area last night, in some cases making for some periods of heavy rainfall. I made this image just after sunset as one of the storms was passing over the northeast tip of Minnesota. You can see rain falling on the mainland in the distance. I really liked the look of the clouds in this photo. Sure was fun watching these storms roll through!
That's the first thought that entered my mind when I saw this cloud. It made me think of a scene from an alien invasion movie. Like some sort of space ship advancing over the horizon. It sure has been an interesting week for clouds and this is probably the most interesting one I've seen in a long time.
The other day we had lots of fog over the Lake Superior shoreline. Inland, however, it had been sunny and hot all day. As sunset approached I decided to take a drive inland to see if I could find the edge of the fog. Sure enough, the fog only extended a couple of miles away from the lake. I went up to my favorite fire tower to view the fog from an elevated vantage point. It's always a bit surreal to be above the fog looking down on it. Such conditions make for some of the most unique photographs. Such as this photo of a large cloud illuminated by the setting sun as it hovered directly over the towers on Mt. Maude. I sure am glad I decided to make the trek up to this location!
Some light fog makes for a really dramatic sunset over the ridges of Grand Portage in northeast Minnesota!
There is no greater therapy (in my mind) than getting lost in the woods on a bike. Earlier this week I went down the shore to check out the singletrack trails at Britton Peak near Tofte, MN. I had a blast exploring these trails. And while I didn't actually get "lost", I did enjoy the challenging nature of these trails. Some sections were very rocky and rough but there were lots of smooth, flowing sections as well. It was a great afternoon spent on the bike :-)
Happy 4th of July from Grand Portage, MN! The fireworks display last night was top-notch as always. We enjoyed the view from the sandy beach of Grand Portage Bay on Lake Superior by the warmth of a campfire. I hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday weekend!
What a great weekend it's been for the Milky Way! Here's a shot from the other night when I was out driving around looking for photos to make of the night sky. Last week I traded in my F-150 for a more well-rounded and versatile vehicle, a Subaru Outback. I loved the truck, but I already love the Outback more. It does almost everything the truck did and some things the truck couldn't do, such as achieve highway MPG's in the mid to upper 30's. I'm looking forward to lots of photographic adventures that this vehicle is sure to take me on!
The Milky Way sure has been bold and beautiful these past few nights! I made this photo from the beach in front of our house, overlooking Lake Superior on Grand Portage Bay. If our forecast stays clear the Milky Way should remain really prominent for a few more nights, as the new moon occurs on Monday, July 4th.
