David Drufke, Minneapolis photographer, storm chasing, sports, outdoor » Wildlife Photography

Horses Under a Stormy Sky

David — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:33:52 +0000

Deer at Lakewood Cemetary

David — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 01:04:06 +0000

Deer at Lakewood Cemetary

Raptor Release at Hyland Park Reserve, Minnesota

David — Sun, 08 May 2011 02:34:39 +0000

Here’s a quick shot from the University of Minnesota Raptor Center’s spring “raptor release” at Hyland Park Reserve in Bloomington, MN. This is one of two red-tailed hawks that, along with a smaller broad-winged hawk, were released back into the wild after being rehabilitated by the center. Bloomington, MN, 05/07/2011

Updated 5/9/11: Added more pictures.

Kensington Metro Park, Nature in Michigan’s Urban Core

David — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 18:40:59 +0000

Sanibel Island and J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge Pictures

David — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 00:48:22 +0000

We really loved the lower Gulf Coast of Florida. We went to Sanibel Island and J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge for a day and saw some amazing things. The most amazing was a bird feeding frenzy, but of course all we had was a crappy Olympus waterproof point and shoot with. We did shoot a little of video with it, that I’m sure we’ll post later.

Ibis and Egrets at Anne Kolb Nature Center, Hollywood, FL

David — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 20:15:58 +0000

Here’s a few pictures from our first day in Florida this November. I miss the warmth on cold days like today!

Birds in North Dakota

David — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 22:54:35 +0000

Bill Doms and I had an unexpected wildlife shoot in North Dakota after the storms we were anticipating didn’t develop as planned. These aren’t the greatest wildlife pictures, but here’s a few species I hadn’t photographed before. All shots are with either the Nikon D700 or D300S and the Nikon 300 vR + TC-17E II.

Woodpeckers in Wildwood Park

David — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 21:28:27 +0000

These pictures are from last year, and I’ve finally gotten around to editing them. The first picture is a red-bellied woodpecker. They are very large, but annoyingly hard to get close to. We actually have one in our neighborhood that I haven’t been able to photograph yet! The second one is a downy woodpecker. I love the second to the last picture. It’s an “impact” photo!

Swans, Geese and Ducks at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge – Black Dog Preserve

David — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 04:15:28 +0000

These wildlife pictures are from December of 2009. I would normally be out shooting along Black Dog Rd quite a bit this month, but it’s closed this year… mostly. About half the road remains closed after two floods this year. The reason this area is so popular for wildlife is because there are three main spillways that keep water open in an otherwise frozen stretch of river. These spillways usually result in a flurry or bird activity in the winter. This year, I haven’t seen much activity. One of the main spillways is being reconstructed and is closed, and another area has seen heavy construction traffic. The last spillway is guarded by a resident pair of bald eagles, who keep the migrant eagles further north east along the river This three mile stretch of road supported over 50 bald eagles at the end of December last year, but we’ll get to that in the next few posts. Here are a few ducks and swans for now. There are quite a few swans usually, but they look pretty grungy this time of year, so they aren’t my favorite subjects.

Swan On The Minnesota River

Swans on Black Dog Lake

Sick Bald Eagles and Break-ins at Lake Harriet

David — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 02:49:17 +0000

What a day… We were finally caught up with our wedding photography work enough to get out an do some wildlife photography. At the last Minnesota Valley Photography Club meeting, we met John Anderson, and he told us about some owl locations. The sun was shining brightly, and with the upcoming forecast, it seemed like the perfect day to get out try to see John’s owls and check on the Black Dog Road eagles which magically appear by the dozens during the month of December. Black Dog was a mess, with a dam replacement and road closures, but we managed to see a eagle eating on the ice, and a ton of common mergansers.

Female Common Merganser

We were more interested in seeing owls today, and there are better days ahead for the eagle migration through National Wildlife Refuge at Black Dog, so we headed up toward Lake Harriet to Robert’s Bird Sanctuary to find a pair of owls. With temps around 10 degrees, we donned our winter gear and headed into the woods.

It was a pretty enjoyable hike. There were tons of tracks, a couple cardinals off in the distance, and a few squirrels knocking snow onto us as they scurried from branch to branch . We came across what looked like either a bald eagle or a snow covered trash bag high in a tree. A bald eagle was the last thing I expected to see in the park, so I assumed it was a trash bag or something else caught in the tree, but then Kristen saw it moving. It didn’t look right though. I took a look through the camera and it’s head was sideways and it wasn’t looking around.

Eagle with lead poisoning

We walked closer. It’s eyes were closed and we noticed it was making sounds like it was distressed/crying, almost like a dog whimpering. These are usually such majestic birds, always perched proudly, with piercing, happy calls, so seeing an eagle like this is something like seeing your dad cry. It’s incredibly sad and very unnerving.

Eagle with lead poisoning

My mind immediately went to lead poisoning. The way it was moving it’s head, it’s eyes closed… it was like something we had scene on an episode of PBS’s Nature about eagles that featured a little segment about lead poisoning. We made a plan to call animal rescue and tried to decide if we wanted to walk the 1/4 mile back to the car immediately to get a phone, or check for the owl which was supposed to be right around the corner. We started walking towards the big oak trees and scanning for the owls, but we didn’t see anything and our minds kept going back to the eagle. How the heck would someone get it down? Would they be able to? We could still hear it. We walked around the curve that headed back to the car on another path. As we were walking, we heard a murder of crows going crazy. It sounded like a dozen or more, and they were making a heck of a racket. I thought they were way off in the distance, maybe a half mile away, but Kristen’s mind went to the eagle. We walked back up the trail and I realized that the crows were closer and I knew they were harassing the eagle. As we got closer, we saw the eagle fall from the tree. We ran over. it was laying face first in the snow. Another lady who was coming from the opposite direction on the trail ran over too, maybe drawn by my barrage of obscenities as I watched it fall on to the ground. It was still alive, but not moving much at all. My first thought was to get it’s head out of the snow to make sure it could breath and try to get it comfortable. As I moved it, it stayed pretty still, only moving it’s head a little bit. I was considering trying to get him out of there, but I was worried about his talons. I moved him a little more, and he stayed pretty calm. I decided to take him out. Kristen and I carried him out quickly. He stayed calm the whole way and would only move when I touched his feet. His talons and eyes were covered with snow. He seemed to be a little more active as my body heat helped to warm him up.

Holding a Bald Eagle

Kristen ran up to the car to get my phone so we could find out where to take him. I unlocked the doors remotely, and Kristen said, “where’s the tripod?” It had been in the back seat, but I moved it too the trunk when we left. I then saw why she asked. Our window was broken out. Luckily they were just after Kristen’s almost empty purse, and left my phone and Gitzo tripod alone. Have you ever called 911 for more than one reason at a time? I have now. First things first, we got connected from the 911 operator to the MN Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota. We got directions and were on way. On the way, we tried to keep him warm and clear the snow from his talons. It was unreal carrying an eagle like that, able to touch it’s beak, it’s talons; being able to see it so close after years of staring at them through telephoto lenses.

The staff at the Raptor Center was great. The medical staff immediately got to warming it up with a heading pad and hair dryer. They took the bird’s temperature and found it was 10 degrees less than it should be. The eagle wasn’t too under weight, which was good. The began their blood work and x-rays as we left. Jeff Fischer, a local photographer and Raptor Center volunteer, gave us a great tour, and it was awesome to see all the birds they had saved. We’ll update the blog when we find out how the eagle is doing! We’ll keep hoping and praying that he’s OK.