trb_rurex photos on Flickr

the black urbex room by Blackbiker2010

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looks through by Blackbiker2010

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1889 Commercial building in Silver Plume, Colorado by Adam Myers

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#brvvip #ipulledoverforthis #mercantile #colorado #architecture #trb_rural #style_and_decay #decayofthelower48 #renegade_community #backroad_visions #trb_rurex #renegade_rural #raw_country_ #diamonds_of_urbex #americanruralmag #historicpreservationgroup #westernarchitecture #colorado #rockymountainscolorado

That’s Cold by Henry Hintermeister

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Traipsing through some snowy woods yesterday I was surprised to hear and then see a Belted Kingfisher alight on the top of an old dead tree above an open stream. He didn’t stay long but long enough for me to locate him from 30 yards away and shoot a few frames. I wondered why he was still here in Minnesota near the end of November.

When I got home I did some research and found that Kingfishers are considered a partial migrant and can survive cold temperatures if open water is available. Most Kingfishers that breed in Canada, Alaska and northern Minnesota migrate to the southern United States, the Caribbean, Central America or even northern South America.

However, it is not uncommon to see them remain near open water during the winter in the central or southern part of our state. It is a mystery to me how they make the choice to stay or migrate.

One migration fact I found interesting is that when migrating long distances, females tend to fly further than do the males. Probably a lesson of some sort there.

(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)

Grace in Flight by Henry Hintermeister

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The Great Blue Heron when standing knee-deep in murky water hunting for careless fish can often appear almost like caricature of a pre-historic creature. It has curves where no bird should curve and long, bony knees that look like hollow straws with claws at one end.

But when they are airborne they take on another dimension, one of grace and if caught in good light, a surprising amount of color.

In our area, I have never seen a heron winter over but bird experts say some do in the far southern parts of our state or where there are open waters such as around power plants or on parts of the Mississippi River that are ice-free.

Herons are well-known for their ability to pause in place, sometimes for minutes, before striking with lightning speed to capture the object of their hunt.

Though best known as great fishers, they do add other things to their diet. During their summers here in Minnesota they can eat snakes, frog, insects, small mammals and even small ducklings. Gophers and voles also have to be very wary around herons.

(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)

Columbo by Henry Hintermeister

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This beaver appeared to have Detective Peter Falk’s trademark phrase on the show Columbo down "Just one more thing" as he was about to bid my wife and I farewell earlier this week.

As we rounded a wooded area surrounding a hobby farm, we drove along the shoreline of a large wetland pond. As I slowly drove, I noticed this fellow about 15 yards away swimming parallel to our vehicle and keeping a steady, though beady, eye on us.

But his curiosity got the better of him and after about 30 yards of swimming next to the road, he climbed out of the water and sloshed up on the road where we had parked enabling me to take a few shots.

I might have heard an urgent cry from somewhere in our vehicle when I was exhorted to shut the window, bringing about a retort that I knew somebody who had watched too many Walt Disney programs years ago when animals like beavers could fly.

The beaver came within about 6-8 feet of our vehicle, probably the closest I will ever be to a beaver in my lifetime although that is not a stretch of the imagination anymore in view of my age.

It helps to be an old codger to remember the TV show Columbo as it surfaced way back in 1968 and for a time captured a healthy audience across our country.

Falk, who had lost an eye to cancer when he was three years old, starred in Columbo for over 7 years and recently the show reruns have been regaining popularity with a younger audience who weren’t alive when it was first on television.

(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)

Through the Mist I Wandered Softly. #trb_rural #trb_country #trb_rurex #splendid_outskirts #picturetokeep_rural #bpa_rural #ruralexploration #renegade_rural #rural_rebels #everything_collabs_n_edits #snapseed #stackablesapp #distressedfx #artistry_flair # by Yvonne Thomas