MINNESOTA NORTHWOODS - #10

American Red Squirrel, Bear Head Lake State Park, Minnesota

We don’t have them here in our woods, the American Red Squirrel. They feed primarily on the seeds of conifer cones and we just don’t have this food source. It is smaller than our Eastern Gray Squirrels. If you see them in or near your campsite, there is no reason to set the alarm clock if you like to get out of the tent very early in the morning. The Red Squirrel will wake you up with a loud chatter with the first day light.

During an early morning walk in Bear Head Lake State Park this little guy walked towards me on this fallen, mossy tree trunk and announced my approach with the camera vociferously. I love how its bushy tail is backlit by the light peeking through the trees.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S,   @ 600 mm, 1/250 s, f/6.3, ISO 2000

MOTION BLUR FOR STORY TELLING

Male House Wren

How can we tell the story about the male House Wren, who sits on a perch near the nestbox and sings and chatters like crazy to impress one of the females? Knowing a little about the biology of the critter helps to answer the question. When the wren performs, he holds the upper mandible relatively still, while the lower mandible goes up and down with lightning speed. By using a relatively slow shutter speed (between 1/60 s and 1/160 s) I was able to freeze the eye and upper mandible while the lower one has a slight motion blur. We can use a real fast shutter speed and a powerful flash light to freeze every little feather on this wren, but there is a chance it may look like the wren is yawning, and this would be a totally different story we tell with our photo. A little hint of flash was used for this image to make the color of the wren’s bill stand out, but not to freeze the action.