Wolf Howl

About 25 people showed up to go on the "Wolf Howl" last night.  As you can see, the Wheeler family was dressed appropriately for the occasion. After a presentation at the visitor center by Steve Hoffman with a slide show of the different wolves captured by Dale Bohlke's trail cam, we all carpooled out to the Meadows. Although we had experienced howlers, the wolves were not co-operating. We stopped at several spots around the refuge and listened intently but no wolves answered back.  The evening was not a disappointment though as it was a beautiful, mosquito free night. Especially memorable was the cloudless view of the sky from Riegel Overlook.  We stood silently and took in the beauty of the evening stars and watched in awe as several meteors streaked across the sky.

Afterwards we went to the rest area where a bonfire was going.  We roasted marshmallows and made S'mores. The end to another great evening at Crex. Many thanks to the Crex staff for organizing another enjoyable event at Crex. 

 

 

 

Mushroom Time

Another 2+ inches of rain today, on top of 4" last week. The wetlands are indeed wet with the crew checking the dikes for any problems. Between showers today I went looking for mushrooms. Hot, wet, and dark equal perfect mushroom weather and habitat. I'll let people smarter than me identify them, I just like to photograph them. The common white ones were developed using HDR techniques to preserve the detail in the caps.

Starry, starry night

We went looking for the aurora borealis last week and didn't see it but I decided to try some light painting while waiting. The sky was star filled otherwise completely black and quiet.
Dale

Recent Wolf Images

The scent post trail cam was checked after a month with several interesting captures of wolves, cranes, and deer. Two wolves came through during daylight and their summer coat is a marked contrast to the winter one. A pair of them marked the scent post one night. This pair wolves firmly established their territory by marking this small oak bush. The sequence is interesting with what appears to be the female waiting for the male to mark first; age before beauty? I don't know enough about wolf behavior to interpret this behavior. My style is to shoot first and ask questions later. For the last several months only 3 wolves were beeing seen in the pack and it appears the pack is back to four animals: a brown, a black, and two grays. If there are pups maybe they will be brought to the scent post for a portrait shoot.
Dale

Butterfly Battles

Several species of butterflies were jockeying for position on this fox scat a few weeks ago. It was a quiet morning and after laying down near the scat for a few minutes the butterflies became very active and tolerant of the camera. This footage was taken on the same day as the previous still images.
Dale

Skipper Behavior

I recently did some dusty belly photography on the Corduroy Dike until a car came along and stopped the fun. Several butterflies were busy at fox scat and this an image shows a skipper depositing a drop of water and then using its proboscis to collect the nutrients in solution. A connection between a red fox and skipper butterfly seems impossible until you see something like this; another example of the complexity of nature.
Dale

Nature's Bounty

While roaming the Meadows last week I found a patch of blueberries already ripening so my husband and I went "pickin" this morning. Thank goodness there was a strong wind as it kept all the bugs away. Just watch out for the Poison Ivy that seems to be mixed in among the blueberries.
Kathy J.