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Gray ghost surprise!!
It's always good to wash your fruit in the morning. You may ask...."But why?".....The answer...because it means you're facing your big sliding glass doors and might spot something wonderful out in the open space behind your house. That's exactly what happened. I saw a hawk come swooping in and land right behind my fence. I assumed it was our resident red-tailed hawk.....but when I went over to look...it was flying away from me and I could see it had a white patch on top of it's tail which could only mean a Northern Harrier. However, what I didn't expect was that it was a MALE harrier or as many call it a Grey ghost!!! We have never seen a male harrier hunting behind our house. I made some inaudible sounds with my excitement.....grabbed my camera and bolted out of the back door. I really didn't expect it to hang around very long, and it didn't. It flew out of sight, but then back in sight, and then repeated this numerous times. Finally he started making some circles and made a few passes right in front of me. He also managed to fly with some very nice fall colors behind him in the distance. I will have a few more to share, but here are some of my favorites.
Nikon Z9 with Nikkor 180-600mm F5.6-6.3 lens at 600mm, 1/1600sec, F8, various ISO's from 360 to 720, handheld and cropped. (Please view images large for best details) Nov 16 2024 Northern Colorado
Northern Harrier of Mercer
The Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) also known as the Hen Harrier is a bird of prey. It breeds throughout the northern parts of the northern hemisphere in Canada and the northernmost USA, and in northern Eurasia. This species is polytypic, with two subspecies. Marsh Hawk is a historical name for the American form.
It migrates to more southerly areas in winter. Eurasian birds move to southern Europe and southern temperate Asia, and American breeders to the southernmost USA, Mexico, and Central America. In the mildest regions, such as France, Great Britain, and the southern US, Northern Harrier may be present all year, but the higher ground is largely deserted in winter.
Harriers have an owl-like face. The concave facial disk and relatively large off-set ears enable the bird to use triangulation of sound to help locate prey such as mice, voles, juvenile rabbits, frogs, pheasant chick, and other birds in dense vegetation. The female Harrier is larger than the male; hence, the female takes larger prey than the male.
For more info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hen_harrier
....when the moment has been waiting all the time....
On the far right is the 'down arrow'- click on that to open 'original' size... click 'open' on original size and then hit F11 on keyboard for full screen effect...
Harrier landed with some prey and Crow was right there to... help? Crow was close but apparently not too close.
AKA "the Gray Ghost." This is a shot I took last year at WSU. I haven't seen it since they put up a bunch of new buildings on the side of the hill where this fellow was taking a break.
I don't feel like writing a story about how insane this is so I won't. Those that appreciate will appreciate.
CEFX 3109 and CITX 3089, both probably the last all gray leasers running on a Class 1, lead CP 385 (Bensenville-Glenwood) through my old stomping grounds a few minutes after sunrise. It couldn't get more gray, save that Canada hopper, if one tried. Pretty damn cool, thankfully the WC was in town putting their Commercials away which stalled these guys long enough to knock the ISO down and give me a decent opportunity.
“The Circle of Life”
Judy Royal Glenn Photography
*A Northern Harrier, a.k.a. the Gray Ghost downs a mouse in Cades Cove, Tennessee, amidst the scorched landscape from a controlled burn. The landscape seemed other-worldly.
It was neat observing the Gray Ghost soaring through the Cove. As he flew, he banked right and then disappeared behind a hill. I wanted to see where he went, so I topped the hill to see the harrier plucking a mouse—striping it of its fur. Before long, there was a white ring of fur surrounding the harrier.
One day, all will change when Christ reigns over the earth. The Bible states, “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.” (Isaiah 11:6, ESV)
To purchase wildlife and nature fine art prints, please visit my website:
www.judyroyalglennphotography.com
Location: Cades Cove, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
#CadesCove #GreatSmokyMountainsNationalPark #GSMNP #SmokyMountains #smokies #GreatSmokyMountains #grayghost #northernharrier #CadesCove
We were getting ready to leave our hotel room in Banff when Jack took his act to new heights, I only had enough time to grab the iPhone and snap a couple of shots before he returned to earth.......
Historically Pyewacket refers to an imp, but in Jack's case the name refers to a mischievous yet sweet benevolent "familiar spirit"
Boy is he a tough catch with a TLR......I took advantage of a sparrow that had attracted his attention........he did his "I'm a hunting dog" act which gave me a brief second to quickly focus........the composition sucks though.....
I decided to crop the border off this film shot........change is okay
Yashica-Mat 124G
Kodak Ektachrome 100
Central Ave.
I contend this location to be the mouth of the Soo Line. Sure, there were other spots in which to enter or depart Shoreham Yard, but this was certainly the most impressive arrival and departure spot. It's pretty easy to visualize the second main sitting where the road is, and further down the "golf course" it opens up to four tracks. Those four tracks were hammered on a 24 hour schedule not unlike any other important yard in America, but the nestled confines of Shoreham were unique. Of course the yard included buildings for paint, heavy repairs, a car shop, and a roundhouse that was only recently torn down. Fond Du Lac, Stevens Point, even Thief River Falls can certainly boast of their importance as well, but Shoreham, through my rose-colored glasses, was the pinnacle.
The grandeur had certainly evaporated by this fall day in 2006, the WC Transfer had the old SOO all to itself. Many days were just like this, as the only traffic that the CP had to traverse the Central Avenue control point would be occasional ballast trains, and the one-off call for headroom for the intermodal shuffler called the "House Job." No 940 for Chicago would be calling.
As it was to the neighborhood unaware, they may have thought at least four trains still used these tracks on any given day. While Shoreham no longer functioned as SOO's Minneapolis hub, and the Withrow Sub itself stopped being a thru-route, there was still action in the form of the trackage rights holder. For those of us who enjoy the "why and how" of the story, the general operation during this era was as follows:
The Stevens Point based road crew (Train 5, T005, STNB, and in CN years A40581) would deliver the inbound train off at New Brighton a few hours after midnight if on time, and the Transfer crew would get on and start the day by dumping off their UP, TC&W, PGR(?), and MNNR destined cars into the MNNR yard at said location. Generally speaking, it worked best to have the BN cars on the rear of the train, CP's in the middle, and the MNNR cars on the head pin to simplify this.
Next, they would take the remainder of their train (CP and BN's) West into Minneapolis. Often they would cut their BN cars off in one of two locations West of CTC New Brighton (Townhomes or Stinson) before descending down "Shoreham Hill." If the CP pickup at Humboldt would be short (10 cars or so), they also could leave the BN's on the high line (where the CN boxcar sits above) if both cuts would clear the respective switches they sat between. The latter was a rare occasion during 2006.
On their way back East from CP's Humboldt Yard, they would stash their pickup in between the Foley Wye, or if too much footage as was the case this day, they would leave the cars on the high line. After tying down the CP's, they would go fetch the BN cars again, usually heading back up the hill to Stinson. Once tied on, they would get a lineup back down into Shoreham on "the loop" and then wait for the BN to take them.
After trading cars at Northtown, it's time to head back into Shoreham and pick up the aforementioned CP's again at the Foley Wye or Central Ave. All of the above has happened on this day, in as little as six or seven hours often, as they wait for the signal up the hill only to shove back onto the cars sitting on the high line. They will make Shoreham Hill from a dead stop, lord willing and the creek don't freeze.
Once they arrive back at New Brighton, there are still more handbrakes to tie and air tests to be done. The train, now Eastbound, pounds across the MNNR diamond and pulls up to the East leg of the wye between the mainline and the yard. If they had Ashley Furniture intermodal from the BN on the headend, they would cut behind the last intermodal car and shove down into the yard to make the final pickup with the MNNR. The MNNR traffic was usually heavy in steel coils, boxcars of 50' and 60' variety, lumber, and seasonally TCWR grain hoppers.
After pulling out of the MNNR and back onto the main, the conductor would drive the air test and put the train back together one final time. The usual move was to shove the train back West to clear the CTC signal guarding the CP/MNNR diamond, although on some occasions if necessary for other moves they would head to Cardigan Jct. or even Withrow, MN. Keep in mind, during the 2005-2007 years, it was semi-regular to get trains of 150+ cars heading back to Stevens Point. This was no neighborhood local.
This game of hot potato and track polishing was an everyday occurrence until the CP quit running all of their traffic over the BN's St. Paul Sub. Westbound traffic out of St. Paul yard now only uses the BN for about two miles before getting onto home rails at Soo Line Jct. With that traffic pattern change, all of the rigmarole above simply cannot take place anymore, and therefore the CN-CP interchange was moved to Cardigan Jct (IE: out of the way), and the train no longer ties down on the main at New Brighton.
While the Transfer no longer makes four trips up and down Shoreham Hill, the neighborhood isn't missing out on any action. The gray SD40-3's are sure lacking, though.
Harrier landed with some prey and Crow was right there to... help? Crow was close but apparently not too close.
post snack time...
[taken in the wild...not a baited, not a zoo shot, nor a raptor show bird shot]
On the far right is the 'down arrow'- click on that to open 'original' size... click 'open' on original size and then hit F11 on keyboard for full screen effect...
Gray ghost surprise!!
It's always good to wash your fruit in the morning. You may ask...."But why?".....The answer...because it means you're facing your big sliding glass doors and might spot something wonderful out in the open space behind your house. That's exactly what happened. I saw a hawk come swooping in and land right behind my fence. I assumed it was our resident red-tailed hawk.....but when I went over to look...it was flying away from me and I could see it had a white patch on top of it's tail which could only mean a Northern Harrier. However, what I didn't expect was that it was a MALE harrier or as many call it a Grey ghost!!! We have never seen a male harrier hunting behind our house. I made some inaudible sounds with my excitement.....grabbed my camera and bolted out of the back door. I really didn't expect it to hang around very long, and it didn't. It flew out of sight, but then back in sight, and then repeated this numerous times. Finally he started making some circles and made a few passes right in front of me. He also managed to fly with some very nice fall colors behind him in the distance. I will have a few more to share, but here are some of my favorites.
Nikon Z9 with Nikkor 180-600mm F5.6-6.3 lens at 600mm, 1/1600sec, F8, various ISO's from 360 to 720, handheld and cropped. (Please view images large for best details) Nov 16 2024 Northern Colorado