Cannon River in November Twilight

Cannon River from the Canada Avenue bridge - click to see larger version

Returning to Northfield from an appointment in Stillwater this afternoon, I cut over from Highway 47 onto Canada Avenue to come into town from the east side. Crossing the sturdy new bridge (right next to the historic Waterford Iron Bridge that was awarded $95,000 in the recent Partners in Preservation competition for restoration funds), I was struck by the beautiful late-afternoon light and the shirring on the water's surface from the breeze. I parked beyond the bridge and walked back to capture this view.

Return of the Dark Brown Ducks

Two years ago I noticed a dark brown duck with a mottled whitish front to its neck hanging out with the local mallards on the river in downtown Northfield. It was suggested to me that it might be a domestic Swedish duck or a cross with one (here's a photo from another source, FowlBlog.com, that looks quite similar). Last summer I saw it again, or another very like it.

A couple of days ago I saw two of them, snoozing on the eastern bank near a lot of mallards (above). They were very sleepy, so I didn't get a shot of one with its head up, but you get the general idea. If you click on the photo, you'll be able to see it much, much larger.

Here are some of the other ducks that were in the vicinity. It was nap time for most.

More Scaup Photos

Today at lunchtime the lesser scaup I saw yesterday was snoozing on the near side of the river, head tucked in on the edge of the ice with a female mallard for company. (The female scaup has blocks of color arranged similarly to those of the male, but with a brown head instead of black and without the bright white of the male's lower body.)

Then I think it became aware of my presence and seemed more bothered by it than the mallards typically do (in fact, they often come toward me in hopes of being fed), so it started to swim away. Despite the almost impenetrable glare of the sunlight on my LCD screen, I managed to capture a couple of pretty decent photos.

Yesterday I hadn't been aware of the yellow eye, which is quite dramatic in the dark head. Also, I didn't mention that the scaups are diving ducks, not dabblers.

This is really a beautiful duck, isn't it?

Different Ducks

Now that the ice is mostly out along the stretch of the Cannon River I keep my eye on, mallards have moved in. Today they were clustered on both sides of the river, facing the sun for the most part, soaking up the rays on this slightly warmer day that's supposed to lead into some even warmer days to come.

Mallards on the east bank

Mallards on the west bank -- but what's that on the right?

At this time of year we start to see less-common kinds of ducks stopping on on their way north to their summer breeding grounds. Near one group of mallards (above), I noticed a lone, smaller, whiter duck.

This duck had a bluish bill, a dark head, a very noticeable white lower body, a pale gray back, and a dark tail.

There are two ducks fitting this description: the male greater scaup and the male lesser scaup. Because the lesser scaup winters all across the southern tier of states, as close to us as southern Missouri, while the greater scaup does not (my Sibley guide shows it wintering along the east and west coasts, while the range map on the link above doesn't even show a winter range in the U.S.), chances are very good this was a lesser scaup. I wonder why he seemed to be alone today; I hope he finds his fellow scaups again.

I'll be watching with interest to see if other less-common ducks make an appearance on the river this spring. In early April three years ago, I saw and photographed a couple of pied-billed grebes on the river. In the second week of April two years ago, I noted I had been seeing a pair of hooded mergansers all week. When the ponds in southeastern Northfield lose their ice, we've had great luck seeing a wide variety of ducks for a few weeks, even including loons. We'll be checking that area out later this week, I'm sure, as the ice and snow melt away and daylight savings time opens up the evenings for birdwatching walks.

River's Edge in March Snow; Ice Going Out

Without a lot of narration, here are some shots of the Cannon River above the dam during yesterday morning's wet snow. The ice was definitely on its way out, and in the final photo, taken today, there is a broad swath of open water at last. This is almost exactly the date the ice went out last year: see this March 10 post and this one on the 11th, and this one with video of a huge ice sheet going over the dam on March 13. In 2008 I noted the ice was out on March 18.

The Cannon Freezes

On Monday the Cannon River just upstream from the dam was mostly covered with snow-topped ice, with just a narrow channel of open water down the middle. One of my Facebook friends posted about how lovely it was to go skiing in the Cowling Arboretum with the nearby river still open. I agree that open water in a snowy landscape is a beautiful sight, so dark and shining.

On Thursday I realized that although the scene looked the same (see below), the channel down the middle had frozen. It only looked like an open channel at first glance because there was no new snow to cover the new ice with a coating of white. Today's heavy snows will rectify that.

Mallards on an October Day

I don't really have anything to say about this photo. I just liked the cluster of ducks on the plaza, and the way they were arranged as the female approached me, and the fine array of speckles on her breast and neck.

The Water Recedes

 Here are some photos taken yesterday and today from my usual observation spot on the east bank of the Cannon River near Fifth Street. Though the water has come down considerably, note the log stranded on the water-covered lowest step in the photo above.

 Monday the barriers were still up along the riverfront...

... and Ames Mill still seemed to be a ship afloat.

 

 Sand the waters left behind

 High-tide mark in the parking lot. We along this stretch of the river were lucky; much of the real damage occurred in the next two blocks to the north, where the river is constrained between retaining walls and buildings that come right to the river's edge. (Here's a story in the Star Tribune about the large fish left behind on that riverwalk!)

Debris on the Sesquicentennial Legacy Plaza

Northfield Flood Photos, Saturday morning

Having missed out on being downtown yesterday, I did a little rubbernecking this morning by 5th and Water streets, Bridge Square, and the rodeo grounds and dog park area between Culver's and the pedestrian/bike bridge. The downtown bridges are still closed, and access to the riverbank area is blocked, with prominent National Guard and police presence, so there are no dramatic photos taken from the bridges or riverbank. You can see my Picasa album below.

Northfield Flood September 2010

Northfield Flood

This dramatic photo, showing the flooded River Walk on the east side of the Cannon River, is from the KYMN Radio Picasa Web Album updated at 10 a.m. More recent photos can be seen here.

Here is another album: Griff Wigley's photos from locallygrownnorthfield.org.

And another: Rob Hardy's photos in the Northfield.org Flickr set.

I usually would be at work, just across the street/parking lot from the river on the far side of the bridge shown above. But I am at home with a fairly miserable cold, so I am missing most of the excitement.

This flooding follows a storm train that dumped 5-7 inches of rain on Northfield and up to 11 or more inches further south (from whence the river flows) Wednesday through Thursday.

Riverfront Scenes with Clouds and Geese

I was intrigued by the towering bank of cumulus cloud behind Ames Mill yesterday while the sun shone down from otherwise pure blue, storm-cleansed skies.

There was a feeding frenzy as adult and already-adolescent mallards and geese rushed to grab the food that was being tossed to them by the couple shown above. I never saw a single young mallard duckling this season -- they must have been on a different stretch of the river -- but now there are plenty of almost full-grown ones about, already showing hints of their adult coloring.

This teenage Canada goose born only a few weeks ago already has his adult chinstrap, but there's still some downy fuzz to be seen. (Click on the photo, or any of the others, for a closer view.)

,

Giving One Foot a Rest

A mallard by the east bank of the Cannon River this week ...

Goslings Close Up

I was experimenting with how close I can crop in on goslings with this new camera. With the higher zoom (up to 12x on the optical zoom, compared to my old 3x), so I can get closer in to start with, and a larger photo size than previously, I can crop in quite a bit and still end up with a decent photo.



Several of the photos here are further crops of photos in the previous post, which were themselves already cropped. The one below is about at the limit -- it's starting to lose resolution -- but for web use it's still not bad.

I particularly like the lighting and the downy texture on the somewhat larger goslings below.

Goose Daycare

This seems an inordinately large swarm of goslings (22, at least) for this pair of adults, but Canada geese are known for setting up "creches," where a small number of adults watch over goslings from more than one family. If you click on the images above or below and look more closely, you can see that they are not all the same age. Look for differences in neck and bill length, as well as overall size.

Somehow I missed this next one on the first round, so I've added it now. I think the caption on this one should be "Like Herding Cats!" -- You can just see by the snaky neck on that day-care lady (or day-care gent) that its singular thought is, "Now you pesky kids GET over there where you belong!"


Here (below) is a single family group with younger, yellower kiddos. How quickly they grow up.

High-Water Sunset, Cannon River

I took these photos Sunday evening when Dave and I were walking along the Riverwalk at sunset. Despite the swift, high water the mallards are making themselves at home now that the ice has broken up. (Today I saw a pair come in for a water landing, then turn abruptly sideways like skiers to slow themselves and move toward the bank.) The water is spilling over the west bank today, and is up as far as the rodeo bleachers south of downtown. It's hard to believe the river was still ice-covered above the dam a week ago.