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  • Heading northeast on Highway 61 from Grand Marais, MN. will lead you to the Canada border.  This is a very scenic drive along the North Shore with stunning views of the landscape and Lake Superior the entire way.
    road_canada.jpg
  • Taken on the Minnesota side of Lake Superior about 10 miles from the Canada border. The heavenly skies frame this vibrant wooded waterscape vista looking across the great lake.<br />
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Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is generally considered the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. It is the world's third-largest freshwater lake by volume.<br />
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The lake is fed by over 200 rivers. The largest include the Nipigon River, the St. Louis River, the Pigeon River, the Pic River, the White River, the Michipicoten River, the Bois Brule River and the Kaministiquia River. Lake Superior drains into Lake Huron by the St. Marys River.<br />
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Over 80 species of fish have been found in Lake Superior. Species native to the lake include: bloater, brook trout, burbot, cisco, lake sturgeon, lake trout, lake whitefish, longnose sucker, muskellunge, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, round whitefish, smallmouth bass, walleye, white sucker and yellow perch. In addition, many fish species have been either intentionally or accidentally introduced to Lake Superior: atlantic salmon, brown trout, carp, chinook salmon, coho salmon, freshwater drum, pink salmon, rainbow smelt, rainbow trout, round goby, ruffe, sea lamprey and white perch.
    Heavens Over Lake Superior.jpg
  • A Twelve-spotted Skimmer Dragonfly in Pastel Colors. The Twelve-spotted Skimmer is a common North American skimmer dragonfly, found in southern Canada and in all 48 of the contiguous U.S. states. It is a large species, at 50 mm long
    Dragonfly on Pastels - Twelve-spotte...jpg
  • A Purple Sunset Approaches over Lake Superior Along Minnesota's North Shore. The North Shore of Lake Superior runs from Duluth, Minnesota, United States, at the southwestern end of the lake, to Thunder Bay and Nipigon, Ontario, Canada, in the north to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, in the east. The shore is characterized by alternating rocky cliffs and cobblestone beaches, with rolling hills and ridges covered in boreal forest inland from the lake, through which scenic rivers and waterfalls descend as they flow to Lake Superior. Americans often refer only to the Minnesota shoreline from Duluth to the international border at Grand Portage as the North Shore
    Purple acSunset Approaches.jpg
  • The Carolina Wren is a common species of wren, resident in the eastern half of the USA, the extreme south of Ontario, Canada, and the extreme northeast of Mexico
    Carolina Wren 2.jpg
  • Hemaris thysbe, the Hummingbird Clearwing Moth or Common Clearwing (wingspan 38-50 mm), readily visits flowers by day throughout the eastern half of the U.S. and Canada, where it ranges far to the north, even into the Yukon. It is not difficult to see why many gardeners would mistake an Hemaris thysbe moth for a small hummingbird as it hovers, sipping nectar from flowers through a long feeding tube. The moth hovers briefly, sipping for only a few seconds before darting off to a new flower. Green body "fur" and burgundy wing scales suggest a small ruby throated hummingbird.
    clearwing humming bird moth shag.jpg
  • The Coccinellidae are a family of beetles, known variously as ladybirds (UK, Ireland, Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand, India, Malta, some parts of Canada and the US), or ladybugs (North America). When they need to use a common name, entomologists widely prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles as these insects are not true bugs. Lesser-used names include God's cow, ladyclock, lady cow, and lady fly
    Little Lady on Top.jpg
  • The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle.<br />
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Though their numbers have grown in much of their range, bald eagles remain most abundant in Alaska and Canada. These powerful birds of prey use their talons to fish, but they get many of their meals by scavenging carrion or stealing the kills of other animals. (Such thievery famously prompted Ben Franklin to argue against the bird's nomination as the United State's national symbol.) They live near water and favor coasts and lakes where fish are plentiful, though they will also snare and eat small mammals.<br />
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Bald eagles are believed to mate for life. A pair constructs an enormous stick nest�one of the bird-world's biggest�high above the ground and tends to a pair of eggs each year. Immature eagles are dark, and until they are about five years old, they lack the distinctive white markings that make their parents so easy to identify. Young eagles roam great distances. Florida birds have been spotted in Michigan, and California eagles have traveled all the way to Alaska.
    Baldy On Lookout.jpg
  • On February 14, 1978, the bald eagle was federally listed as endangered in all of the lower 48 United States except Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan (it was classified as threatened in these states). The species was reclassified as threatened in the remaining states on August 11, 1995. Of course, the threatened status means that bald eagle populations are increasing, but have not increased to the point where they are out of danger.<br />
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A 1975 estimate of the total bald eagles in the world (since they are only found in North America, I could say North America) was between 35,000 and 60,000! Most of these are in Alaska and Canada where bald eagles are not endangered. To give you an idea of how the population has grown in the lower 48 states, in 1963 there were 417 breeding pairs known, and in 1994 that number was up to 4,452<br />
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The American bald Eagle has short powerful toes but long scimitar shaped talons. These are perfect for gripping onto slippery fish. The Bald Eagle has brilliant talon - eye coodornition and is capable of snatching unsuspecting fish from the surface of a lake at top speed and is incredibly accurate when doing so.
    All Feathers and Additude.jpg
  • The Black-capped Chickadee is a small, North American songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is the state bird of both Maine and Massachusetts in the United States, and the provincial bird of New Brunswick in Canada
    Chickadee Out The Window.jpg
  • The Snow Goose has two color plumage morphs, white (snow) or gray/blue (blue), thus the common description as snows and blues. White-morph birds are white except for black wing tips, but blue-morph geese have bluish-grey plumage replacing the white except on the head, neck and tail tip. The immature blue phase is drab or slate-gray with little to no white on the head, neck, or belly.<br />
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Outside of the nesting season, they usually feed in flocks. In winter, snow geese feed on left-over grain in fields. They migrate in large flocks, often visiting traditional stopover habitats in spectacular numbers. Snow Geese often travel and feed alongside Greater White-fronted Geese; in contrast, the two tend to avoid travelling and feeding alongside Canada Geese, which are often heavier birds.<br />
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The breeding population of the Lesser Snow Goose exceeds 5 million birds, an increase of more than 300 percent since the mid-1970s. The population is increasing at a rate of more than 5 percent per year. Non-breeding geese (juveniles or adults that fail to nest successfully) are not included in this estimate, so the total number of geese is even higher. Lesser Snow Goose population indices are the highest they have been since population records have been kept, and evidence suggests that large breeding populations are spreading to previously untouched sections of the Hudson Bay coastline.
    Snow Goose Flight.jpg
  • A Monarch Butterfly in Fluid Style Perches atop A Yellow Wildflower During Afternoon Showers.<br />
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The monarch is famous for its southward migration and northward return in summer from Canada to Mexico and Baja California which spans the life of three to four generations of the butterfly<br />
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Monarchs are especially noted for their lengthy annual migration. In North America, they make massive southward migrations starting in August until the first frost. A northward migration takes place in the spring. The monarch is the only butterfly that migrates both north and south as the birds do on a regular basis, but no single individual makes the entire round trip. Female monarchs deposit eggs for the next generation during these migrations.<br />
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Monarch butterflies are poisonous or distasteful to birds and mammals because of the presence of the cardiac glycosides contained in milkweed consumed by the larvae. The bright colors of larvae and adults are thought to function as warning colors. During hibernation, monarch butterflies sometimes suffer losses because hungry birds pick through them looking for the butterflies with the least amount of poison, but in the process kill those they reject.
    Butterfly Striations.jpg
  • A Wood Duck swims towards the camera casting reflections in the warm water below.<br />
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The wood duck is one of the most beautiful of the North American ducks. In the early 1900s, the species was considered in danger of extinction throughout its range due to market shooting, habitat loss, and hunting seasons that extended into the breeding season. <br />
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With the implementation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918 between the United States and Canada, market shooting was outlawed and judicious hunting season lengths and bag limits were instituted. These changes, together with the construction and placement of nest boxes during the last seven decades, have resulted in a dramatic comeback of wood duck populations.<br />
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Wood ducks are among the most productive egg layers of all the duck species. This evolutionary adaptation occurs because wood ducks experience very high duckling mortality rates. If the first nest fails, the female will attempt up to 2 re-nests to raise a brood.
    Incoming Woody.jpg
  • A Male Northern Cardinals perched on a white feeder in the midst of a cold winter snow storm. The vibrant Cardinal red contrast against the chilly blues and white snow. The Northern Cardinal is a North American bird in the genus Cardinalis, it is also known colloquially as the redbird or common cardinal.<br />
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The Northern Cardinal or "Redbird" is probably one of most popular visitors to backyard bird feeders. Its range extends over most of the eastern USA, parts of extreme southeastern Canada, and south through Mexico to Belize. It has also been introduced to Hawaii. Its variable call, a loud "cheer cheer cheer" or "purty purty purty," is sung by both sexes and can be heard year round. Cardinals are nonmigratory, but some movement does occur in the later summer and fall.<br />
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The male Northern Cardinal is perhaps responsible for getting more people to open up a field guide than any other bird. They're a perfect combination of familiarity, conspicuousness, and style: a shade of red you can't take your eyes off. Even the brown females sport a sharp crest and warm red accents. Cardinals don't migrate and they don't molt into a dull plumage, so they're still breathtaking in winter's snowy backyards. In summer, their sweet whistles are one of the first sounds of the morning.
    Chilly Cardinal Blues.jpg
  • The Red-bellied Woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker of the Picidae family. It breeds in southern Canada and the northeastern United States, ranging as far south as Florida and as far west as Texas.
    Woody Behind The Feeder.jpg
  • Monarch butterflies embark on a marvelous migratory phenomenon. They travel between 1,200 and 2,800 miles or more from the United States and Canada to central Mexican forests. There the butterflies hibernate in the mountain forests, where a less extreme climate provides them a better chance to survive. The monarch butterfly is known by scientists as Danaus plexippus, which in Greek literally means "sleepy transformation." The name evokes the species' ability to hibernate and metamorphize. Adult monarch butterflies possess two pairs of brilliant orange-red wings, featuring black veins and white spots along the edges. Males, who possess distinguishing black dots along the veins of their wings, are slightly bigger than females. Each adult butterfly lives only about four to five weeks.
    Morning Monarch Glow.jpg
  • A banded Wood Duck Hen (female) swims ever so gently throught he stream with a display of vibrant plumage.<br />
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The Wood Duck is a medium-sized perching duck. The female, less colourful, has a white eye-ring and a whitish throat. Both adults have crested heads. Females line their nests with feathers and other soft materials, and the elevation provides some protection from predators. Unlike most other ducks, the Wood Duck has sharp claws for perching in trees and can, in southern regions, produce two broods in a single season--the only North American duck that can do so.<br />
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Female Wood Ducks breed during their first year. The breeding season begins in April in the southern portion of the range. In northern areas, Wood Ducks arrive on the breeding ground soon after the ice thaws, usually in early May. There are, however, reports of Wood Ducks in Canada beginning to nest as early as the second week of April.
    Waterfowl Flow.jpg
  • A Female Dark-Eyed Junco Foraging For Food in the Snow During A Cold Blue Winter Day.<br />
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Females and juvenile birds are generally paler and show a greater mixture of brown in the plumage. Generally, there is less white on the outer tail feathers in juvenile and female birds. There is, however, much individual variation.<br />
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The Dark-eyed Junco is the best-known species of the juncos, a genus of small grayish American sparrows. This bird is common across much of temperate North America and in summer ranges far into the Arctic. Dark-eyed Juncos are neat, even flashy little sparrows that flit about forest floors of the western mountains and Canada, then flood the rest of North America for winter. They're easy to recognize by their crisp (though extremely variable) markings and the bright white tail feathers they habitually flash in flight. One of the most abundant forest birds of North America, you'll see juncos on woodland walks as well as in flocks at your feeders or on the ground beneath them. <br />
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Juncos are the "snowbirds" of the middle latitudes. Over most of the eastern United States, they appear as winter sets in and then retreat northward each spring. Some juncos in the Appalachian Mountains remain there all year round, breeding at the higher elevations. These residents have shorter wings than the migrants that join them each winter. Longer wings are better suited to flying long distances, a pattern commonly noted among other studies of migratory vs. resident species.
    Blue Christmas Junco.jpg
  • This blue jay was resting under a heat lamp on a cold and snowy winter day in my Missouri backyard. Having a pretty close vantage point I was able to get a dent amount of detail in the feathers of this lovely bird. A close look reveals the water droplets from the falling snow that has melted from the heat of the lamp.<br />
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The Blue Jay is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to North America. It is resident through most of eastern and central United States and southern Canada, although western populations may be migratory.<br />
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This common, large songbird is familiar to many people, with its perky crest; blue, white, and black plumage; and noisy calls. Blue Jays are known for their intelligence and complex social systems with tight family bonds. Their fondness for acorns is credited with helping spread oak trees after the last glacial period.<br />
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Blue Jays prefer tray feeders or hopper feeders on a post rather than hanging feeders, and they prefer peanuts, sunflower seeds, and suet. Planting oak trees will make acorns available for jays of the future. Blue Jays often take drinks from birdbaths.
    Winter Heat Blue Jay.jpg
  • The Wood Duck or Carolina Duck is a species of duck found in North America. It is one of the most colourful North American waterfowl. Males are iridescent chestnut and green, with ornate patterns on nearly every feather; the elegant females have a distinctive profile and delicate white pattern around the eye. These birds live in wooded swamps, where they nest in holes in trees or in nest boxes put up around lake margins. They are one of the few duck species equipped with strong claws that can grip bark and perch on branches.<br />
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In good light, males have a glossy green head cut with white stripes, a chestnut breast and buffy sides. In low or harsh light, they'll look dark overall with paler sides. Females are gray-brown with white-speckled breast. In eclipse plumage (late summer), males lose their pale sides and bold stripes, but retain their bright eye and bill.<br />
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Wood ducks breed across most of the central and eastern United States, southeastern Canada and along the Pacific coast from California to British Columbia. The highest breeding densities occur in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. In recent decades, the breeding range has expanded westward into the Great Plains region following development of wooded riparian corridors. Wood ducks prefer riparian habitats, wooded swamps and freshwater marshes.
    Wood Duck Flap.jpg
  • An Eagle grabs a fishy snack to cure a powerful appetite. The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle.<br />
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The Bald Eagle is an opportunistic feeder which subsists mainly on fish, which it swoops down and snatches from the water with its talons. It builds the largest nest of any North American bird and the largest tree nests ever recorded for any animal species.<br />
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The plumage of an adult Bald Eagle is evenly dark brown with a white head and tail. The tail is moderately long and slightly wedge-shaped. Males and females are identical in plumage coloration, but sexual dimorphism is evident in the species in that females are 25 percent larger than males. The beak, feet and irides are bright yellow.<br />
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There are two subspecies of bald eagles. The "southern" bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus, is found in the Gulf States from Texas and Baja California across to South Carolina and Florida, south of 40 degrees north latitude. The "northern" bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus alascanus, is found north of 40 degrees north latitude across the entire continent. The largest numbers of northern bald eagles are in the Northwest, especially in Alaska. The "northern" bald eagle is slightly larger than the "southern" bald eagle. Studies have shown that "northern" bald eagles fly into the southern states and Mexico, and the "southern" bald eagles fly north into Canada. Because of these finding, the subspecies of "northern" and "southern" bald eagles has been discontinued in recent literature.
    Bald Eagle Snacks.jpg
  • The Black-capped Chickadee is a small, North American songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is the state bird of both Maine and Massachusetts in the United States, and the provincial bird of New Brunswick in Canada.
    BCCH Defined.jpg