NATURE NOTES: October 2017

Goldfinch in winter plumage. Had about 50 Goldfinches on our prairie this morning.

Red-bellied Woodpecker at our new platform feeder.

Another beautiful morning in Southern Minnesota. Too see more of our over 2000 nature photos go to the right and click on any month desired.

Sunset looking west on our driveway, 10-25-2017.

Junco. The first Junco's arrived from up north at our place on Oct. 2nd this years, but a big wave of them came in this week. Many with spend the winter with us.

Red-breasted Nuthatch. Three Red-breasts arrived at our feeders in late Sept. this year, and at least two are still here. Some years they move father south about now, and other years they spent the winter with us before heading back up north in the spring. Last year two spent the whole winter at our feeders.

Green Sweat Bee (1/4 inch), on the one of our last blooming New England Asters.

Fall colors of the Deer Creek Valley between Wykoff and Spring Valley. This spot look great, but most of the fall color has not reached peak here yet.

We have been photographing the same group of turtles in the same spot for years.

Great Egret, Mississippi backwaters.

YELLOWSTONE: A LAND OF GEYSERS, WATERFALLS, WILDLIFE, AND SNOW CAPPED MOUNTAINS

GEYSERS OF YELLOWSTONE

GRAND GEYSER. This is indeed a GRAND geyser. The trees in the background give you an idea how large this geysers really is. This geyser is located on a boardwalk about 1/2 mile beyond Old Faithful geyser, and yet less than 1% of the people who see Old Faithful take the time to see this truly spectacular sight. It has become a fairly predictable geyser(most one would have to wait is 2 hours.)

Years ago it was quite unpredictable and we once waited over 7 hours to see it erupt-and yes it was worth the wait. To see video of this geyser go the Gary Erickson on facebook.

Daisy Geyser. On cool days you see more steam than water when a geyser erupts. Hot summer days are actually the best for geyser viewing.

Grotto Geyser. Grotto erupts almost continually, but only a few feet in the air. The nice thing about this geyser set is that you can get within about 25 feet of them and feel the real power of a geyser. See Gary Erickson facebook for a short video of this geyser.

Riverside Geyser. We were lucky to catch this one during one of the few hours of sunshine we saw on the whole trip.

Great Fountain Geyser. Great Fountain has both a spectacular eruption and a huge pool that, by itself is impressive. See video of this eruption on Gary Erickson facebook page.

Yellowstone geyser/hot pool basin in early morning. Yellowstone is really a giant volcano heated by a huge magma dome. It has erupted as a super volcano in the past. It will erupt again. Do not even think about it! TO SEE MORE OF OUR YELLOWTONE PHOTOS GO TO THE RIGHT AND DOWN AND CLICK ON OCT. 2017.

Castle geyser on a cloudy day. To see a video of this go to Gary Erickson facebook page.

Castle geyser between eruptions.

Old Faithful Geyser. Thousand will gather each hour or so to watch Old Faithful. But you are hundred of feet away in the viewing area. The best geyser watching in on an easy path/walkway system beyond Old Faithful. By walking less than 200 yards you lose over 98% of the crowds and get up close to even more spectacular geysers.

Yellowstone has many small geysers that are often overlooked. As we were waiting for Castle Geyser(the large formation on the left of the photo), Lion geyser erupted. There are many geysers on a walk/path system just beyond the Old Faithful site.

White Dome geyser.

YELLOWSTONE WILDLIFE

Buffalo along the Madison River.

Elk at sundown. This bull Elk was running himself ragged trying to keep the herd in check.

Spotted this coyote across the river as we were waiting for the Riverside geyser to go off.

We had to come in though West Yellowstone as the East, and Northeast entrances were closed by snow and landslides. (The Mammoth entrance was also closed for road work). The weather was cloudy with highs in to lower 40,s-not too bad if your from Minnesota. Had some snow, but not enough to slow us down.

Raven. The wolves, elk, and buffalo may think their top dog in Yellowstone-but we think the Raven are really running the show.

As soon as we got out of the car to eat, this one decided to join us.

Ravens enjoying the view with us.

FALLS, RIVERS, AND MOUNTAINS OF YELLOWSTONE

Fall (308 ft. high) of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. We have been to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, but the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is even more impressive. Photos do not do it justice.

Mountains as viewed from the top of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River.

Mountains frame Lake Yellowstone on a gray cold day.

Mountain view from the Madison River near West Yellowstone.

Firehole canyon falls.

Kepler Falls.

Snow covered trees in the Gallatin Valley on the way into Yellowstone. Had to go in through West Yellowstone as the snow & road work had closed the other ways in.