Picture of the Day for January 31, 2016

The stars normally seem brighter during the cold winter nights, but this January it has been hard to see the stars with all the cloudy days and nights. And even though I have taken photographs of the stars in the winter time, it is more fun to do it in the warmer weather when you don’t need extra batteries warming in your pockets and don’t have to try turning camera knobs with heavy gloves on. But I do know the winter star constellations more than the summer ones due to all the trips to the lambing barn in February, but I took this nighttime church picture before the snow came.

Star Constellations and a Church

Star Constellations and a Church

Picture of the Day for January 29, 2016

The forecast calls for freezing rain tonight which is never good during January in Wisconsin as I was slipping and sliding on my path today and it felt almost as steep as this waterfall. The Native Americans, who originally settled in the area around this falls, believed they heard the voice of the Great Spirit within the roaring of the falls and gave it the name “Gitchee Manitou” which means Great Spirit, but it is now known as Big Manitou Falls.

Big Manitou Falls

Big Manitou Falls

Picture of the Day for January 27, 2016

The wind was blowing the snow around today, so it probably could have turned this old windmill which was built by a Finnish immigrant and homesteader, Jacob Davidson. It is one of a very few grist mills in the Midwest, and the only one in Wisconsin known to be of Finnish origin. The mill built in 1900, sitting on a bluff overlooking the Amnicon River, was used for milling local grains from 1904 to 1926. The windmill located near Lakeside, Wisconsin, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Davidson Windmill

Davidson Windmill

Picture of the Day for January 26, 2016

The other day I had a lone Redpoll at my bird feeder. Normally they come in a large group but only stay for a short time so I don’t know if this female was on a scouting trip to see where there are feeders and if I will be invaded soon. At the moment, there wouldn’t be room for anymore birds as the finches are stocking up on seeds while it is snowing.

And while a lot of the birds go south for the winter, the Common Redpolls do to, but their southern range is here in the cold winter areas and not the sunny warm areas. Their summer range is on the lands around the Arctic Ocean. Common Redpolls can survive temperatures of –65 degrees Fahrenheit and will tunnel into the snow down four inches and more than a foot long to stay warm during the night.

Common Redpoll

Common Redpoll

Picture of the Day for January 22, 2016

This tiny butterfly with a wingspan of only an inch, if flying around during the winter, would be hidden under the huge snowflakes falling this morning. Earlier this week, it would have turned blue from the sub-zero temperatures. But the Spring Azure overwinter as pupas, and the ‘Spring’ Spring Azure emerges in April and May from a long pupal stage that started early summer the prior year. The ‘Summer’ Spring Azure waits until early summer to emerge.

There is a lot of debate on the Spring Azure on whether it is a diverse species with several sub-species or to be many full species. The butterfly I saw is most likely the Summer Spring Azure, as how some of the references would identify it, since its black markings are smaller than the Spring Spring Azure, plus it was spotted in late summer which is when the two batches of summer variety emerge.

Summer Spring Azure

Summer Spring Azure