Goldfinch in Transition

Every spring I enjoy watching the goldfinches change from their winter drab to summer bright color. "Molt" seemed such a strange word until I did some research; it comes from Old English mutian which means "to exchange" ... that makes sense! Only recently I learned that this complete color change is unique in their subfamily. Did you know that their diet affects their color? The brighter beak and feather color, the more appealing the males are to females as it indicates a male that is better at finding good forage.

Spring Flowers

Witchhazel 'Arnold Promise' (which is Hamamelis x intermedia 'Arnold Promise') is a wonderful shrubby tree. They are the first to bloom in our yard - before leaves form - usually in February or March depending on the weather. This year, ours started blooming last week!

Their clear yellow strap-like flowers grow are in clusters along the stems and are really best appreciated up close. From a distance, the plant offers a bright yellow spark in a drab early spring yard. The flowers close during freezing weather, and reopen when it warms.

This small tree grows to 20 feet tall and wide with lots of twiggy branches covered in textured 3" long green leaves in the summer - a perfect backdrop for perennial flowers. In the fall, the leaves turn a beautiful golden yellow to occasional orange.

It's what we call a "3 season" plant - since it has interest in the spring with it's flowers, summer for it's texture and shape, and again in autumn with it's beautiful golden color.

Bonus Prize

I have been trying to get a photo of one of the Hairy Woodpeckers that frequent our feeders, but they are so skittish I haven't been successful until now. This female kept landing on the suet feeder and then departing. And when I snapped this picture, I happened to catch a fly-by Cardinal in the background!

Hairy Woodpeckers look very similar to Downy Woodpeckers, but are larger. They are the most prolific woodpecker in North America. An interesting tidbit: while females incubate the eggs during the day, at night the males take their turn staying on the nest.

Sharp-Shinned Hawk

For the longest time, we weren't sure if this was a Sharp-Shinned or a Cooper's Hawk. Some local raptor experts told us it looked to be a Sharp-Shinned based on this and several other photos.

While trying to find more information, I came across a page at Project FeederWatch (a project from Cornell Lab of Ornithology) that has a great side-by-side comparison of the differences between Sharp-Shinned and Cooper's hawks.

Project FeederWatch is an ongoing winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America. Participants throughout the U.S. and Canada record bird sightings at their feeders. It's easy and fun to do, and your observations will help reseachers document and understand the distribution and abundance of birds that visit feeders in North America.

River otters Enjoying Lunch

River otters look like such cute creatures, frolicking and playing in the water and along the shore. They are also excellent predators with superior vision, smell and long whiskers that let them sense what is around them even in murky water. We watched as these two caught and devoured an burbot (also known as eelpout and by other names) in Voyageurs National Park this past summer. At first I wondered about the otters' tastes, but then in researching I found that there are actual tournaments for this unusual fish.

The Helix

The Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) located in Aquarius was discovered by Karl Ludwig Harding some time before 1824. It is one of the planetary nebulae closest to earth, but it's exact distance from us is still uncertain it seems. Some sources I've read say about 700 light years, others as close as 450. It was the first planetary nebula found to contain 'knots' of nebulosity. Like all planetary nebulae, it is the gas cloud created at the end of the life of a Sun-like star. The remaining stellar core is so energetic it causes the gas cloud to fluoresce.

This image was taken using GRAS-013, at http://www.global-rent-a-scope.com/ (Tak Sky 90 - FL 416mm @ f/4.6, SBIG ST-2000XMC) and some adjusting in Photoshop Elements.

The Last Sunset

What an incredible sunset! We had just returned from a nice dinner with friends, and as I looked over my shoulder I saw this view of Kabetogama Lake (Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota). The camera on my phone couldn't catch all all the depth of color, but it definitely gives you the idea of how peaceful the evening was.

And to think that the Sun is 93 million miles away and can sometimes act up with sunspots, flares and coronal mass ejections that can sometimes cause all sorts of trouble.