Chicken Fight *(Tympanuchus cupido) - Moorhead, MN*
*Nikon D500 + Nikon 200-400mm f/4 VR*

Epiphany of a Euphemism

May 13, 2017 in May 2017, Block

Have you ever made a serendipitous connection between the words you use and the actual meaning or origin of a phrase or term? In my case, I was struck by a sudden burst of enlightenment while sitting in a blind on Easter Sunday. Located on the border between Minnesota and North Dakota, Bluestem Prairie SNA is one of the best places in North America to view a prairie chicken lek. For those who are unaware, a lek is a unique mechanism that facilitates mate choice during a brief reproductive window. Typically, females congregate on a small patch of land where males will dance, display, drum, sing and fight as a way to demonstrate their potential fitness. With characteristics that remind me of graph paper, the lek is carved up into tiny territorial units. The would be suitor competes to maintain the integrity of his plot while attempting to lure a female onto his land. Male bravado is evident by the puffing of chest and feathers followed by many mock charges and idle threats.

In Full Display *(Tympanuchus cupido) - Moorhead, MN*
*Nikon D500 + Nikon 200-400mm f/4 VR*

Showing off for the Ladies *(Tympanuchus cupido) - Moorhead, MN*
*Nikon D500 + Nikon 200-400mm f/4 VR*

While a few mammals participate in leks, this reproductive strategy is relatively common in birds. Studied heavily by ecologists, grouse and their relatives are a textbook species that rely on the lek mating structure. During my two-day visit to the blind at Bluestem Prairie, I was enchanted by the mock charges and almost-battles between competing prairie chicken males. Everywhere I looked, I saw birds daring one-another to cross a border, step into the ring, and take a punch. About one of ten challenges resulted in a physical altercation, but most of these agonistic behaviors were nothing more than mere bluff. Somewhere during my shoot I began to employ the euphemism “chickening out," as the competitors would stare each other down only to run away and fight another day. Like an epiphany, it dawned on me that this phrase… “to be a chicken” was likely derived by someone staring at birds like these, and looking for an explanation to this strange and captivating behavior.

Chicken Fight II *(Tympanuchus cupido) - Moorhead, MN*
*Nikon D500 + Nikon 200-400mm f/4 VR*

Did you know... the Greater Prairie Chicken is also known as the Pinnated Grouse?

Special thanks goes out to The Nature Conservancy for allowing me to use their observation blinds.

Reflecting on Earth Day 2017

April 22, 2017 in April 2017, Block

The cliche "Every Day is Earth Day" has never meant more to me than it does today. Like the lives that preceded us and the species that will follow, our anatomy, physiology and behavior was crafted by millions of years of evolution. Selection for survival has reinforced the value of the immediate reward, and emphasized the importance of living in the now at the expense of considering the future. We are a short-sighted species and our desire to live for today has enabled humanity's collective intellect to ignore the importance of climatic stability. While I am not invoking evolution as an excuse for willful ignorance, I do understand how we have arrived at this place.

The pro environmental campaigns of the 1960's and 70's like "Pitch In" and "Give a hoot! Don't pollute," now seem trivial when compared to the issues we currently face. Once the hallmark of Earth Day activities, trash removal and recycling appear to be little more than feel good attempts to ease a guilty conscience. The hard work of climate remediation will require both a personal and collective sacrifice, something that will be a real challenge for species that thrives on short-term gains. The relentless attack on the planet by business and political forces only serve to feed an inherent desire to reap an immediate reward during the one life we live. The narrative that declares that climate science is bunk, is just the right candy for a brain that wishes to have it all at no personal cost. Recognition that we are the problem as well as the solution is the first step. Once we allow ourselves to dignify the truth and recognize that honoring the future has the potential to enhance the present, the evolutionary instinct to survive may lead to the solution we seek and need.

Today is the day we honor the Earth, but today needs to be Every Day if we hope to honor our home in the future.

Beaver Bay- Lake Superior, MN
Nikon D810 + Zeiss 18mm f/3.5 ZF

In Like a Lamb : Out Like a Lamb

March 31, 2017 in March 2017, Block

March 2017 was much like the winter it ushered out as record highs sandwiched a brief freeze. Foreshadowing the inevitable warming trend made evident though years of data, the once frigid Minnesota winter now seems to be an inconvenience rather than a way of life. Is the cold and snow a thing of the past, or will we be humbled by winter’s power in the future?

Split Rock after Dark - Lake Superior, MN
Nikon D810 + Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII

Photographically speaking, winter 2017 was a bore. The absence of snow and ice left me unmotivated and uninterested in the mundane brown landscape that remained. My years of whining about shooting the cold now seem to be more jest than reality, as the loss of winter’s photographic treasures make me wish for the frigid days I once lamented.

Moonrise on Lake Superior
Nikon D810 + Nikon 16-35mm f/4 VR

Icy Cascade
Nikon D810 + Nikon 16-35mm f/4

Winter's Last Gasp... a February Gallery

March 01, 2017 in February 2016, Block

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