Northern Waterthrush on the Quarry Loop Trail

Oil on Panel - 4 x 4 inches

     A spring visit to Banning State Park in Minnesota finally allowed for some good photos of a Northern Waterthrush. I've seen this bird before, but never while it was actively seeking a mate. This handsome male sang frequently from tall pines, which was how I found it, and the Merlin App identified it as a Northern Waterthrush, not a Louisiana Waterthrush. They can be difficult to tell apart on looks alone. It was very active, flying to and fro over the Kettle River along the Quarry Loop Trail where large flat rocks hang over the river – great spots to sit and enjoy all that nature has to offer. During fall migration, Northern Waterthrushes have come through my neck of the woods in mid-August and seem rather friendly, ready to pose for my camera, if only for a short while. Of course, it helps if I’m lucky enough to be outside when they come through.

My photo of a Northern Waterthrush at Banning State Park, MN on May 10, 2025.


My photo of a Northern Waterthrush and a Northern House Wren fledgling on Aug. 20, 2020 at my home in Duluth, MN.

Stay wild, my friends!



Copyright notification: The internet is a scary place. I have seen my artwork on unauthorized websites. This is called stealing, also known as copyright infringement. The only authorized websites allowed to display my artwork are www.beccamulenburg.com, www.beccamulenburg.blogspot.com, and galleries currently showing my work. Any other website, posting, sales of my work, or the like, is illegitimate and operating under copyright infringement which is against the law.  Anyone found to have infringed a copyrighted work may be liable for statutory damages up to $30,000 for each work infringed and, if willful infringement is proven by the copyright owner, that amount may be increased up to $150,000 for each work infringed. Please be aware. Copyrights do not transfer with the sale of any of my artworks.


Location: Duluth, MN 55811, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Beginning of the End

Image
Oil on Panel - 4 x 4 inches Copyright notification: The internet is a scary place. I have seen my artwork on unauthorized websites. This is called stealing, also known as copyright infringement. The only authorized websites allowed to display my artwork are www.beccamulenburg.com, www.beccamulenburg.blogspot.com, and galleries currently showing my work. Any other website, posting, sales of my work, or the like, is illegitimate and operating under copyright infringement which is against the law. Anyone found to have infringed a copyrighted work may be liable for statutory damages up to $30,000 for each work infringed and, if willful infringement is proven by the copyright owner, that amount may be increased up to $150,000 for each work infringed. Please be aware. Copyrights do not transfer with the sale of any of my artworks.
Read more

Crossing Paths

Image
Oil on Panel - 4 x 4 inches            Last year, Red Crossbills visited my feeders containing black oil sunflower seeds between May 15 and May 28th. Those sightings remain the only time I've seen these perfectly-named birds.       Compared to most birds, there’s a lot more to learn about Red Crossbills. The following paragraph taken from allaboutbirds.org [accessed Feb. 10, 2025] summarizes this bird well.       "Traditionally considered a single species of multiple races, Loxia curvirostra may actually comprise more than half a dozen separate species—each of them showing a mix of traits so close to the others that they are inseparable in the field. Even taxonomists with specimens in the hand are often uncertain of what they have. Birds of different bill sizes and shapes apparently prefer different conifer species (the smallest types feeding on hemlocks, the largest on white pines), but the differences must be measur...
Read more

I am Not Thor

Image
4 x 4 inches - Oil on Panel      This is my oil painting of a Common Raven.       In 2003, Vladimir Putin visited the Tower of London in the UK, a legendary castle that employs a Ravenmaster to care for a minimum of six ravens whose sole purpose is to prevent the Tower from crumbling and the kingdom from suffering great harm should they, the ravens, ever leave. It’s quite a superstition, but the Brits take it seriously.       During Putin’s visit, he was greeted by a 12-year old raven named Thor who was perched on the steps that lead up to the White Tower. Thor said “Good morning” to the Russian president. It wasn’t an unusual reception, Thor was known to greet anybody; but what the president thought about the raven’s greeting is unknown. One source described Putin as being “taken aback”.       There are all sorts of stories about ravens being harbingers of death or impending doom, so it might be interesting to k...
Read more