Monthly Archives: June 2025

Cuckoo Quest 2025!

Year 12

Some folks like ducks. Some folks like hawks, and then there are individuals who LOVE cuckoos! Apparently I am that kind of person. I remember while on a self-supported bicycle tour in northern Scotland, even though I biked 833 miles I NEVER saw this fabled bird. I would take hikes after a full day’s ride to attempt to obtain a sighting. The cuckoos would be calling out just before sunset … “cuckoo, cuckoo”; yet nada. I was truly cuckoo.

Thankfully, in the last nine years I have learned the finer art of finding cuckoos. However, it was with trepidation that I headed out this morning at 6:55 am. Would Cuckoo Quest 2025 be successful? Apparently the numbers of this famous bird are a bit down this year. I think a primary food source of the cuckoo, the tent caterpillar, is not in the same abundance as some years.

Cornell describers the probability of spotting the Black-Billed Cuckoo (learn more) in this manner: “Uncommon and elusive, the Black-billed Cuckoo skulks around densely wooded eastern forests and thickets. Its staccato song can be heard day and night, but getting a look at its slender brown body and namesake black bill may take a bit of patience.”

The Black-Billed Cuckoo!

Cuckoo Quest 2025 was Success!

Owling by Bicycle!

Year 12

I have taken three amazing bicycle rides in the past week. I load my bike on the car’s rack, and drive somewhere deep into the Minnesota Boreal Forest Wilderness. Once I reach my desired starting point which is always near a bog, I then bike for about 8 miles on a dirt or gravel road. My last three rides have yielded sightings of a Black Bear, a Bull Moose, and yesterday morning a Great Gray Owl. My private STRAVA account indicated for yesterday’s owl ride I biked for one hour, and spent 52 minutes stationary with the owl!

Here are a lot of images, but the morning was extra special. The Great Gray Owl granted me amazing views while it hunted, often near where I was standing. You will note that the owl in a number of pictures is holding its wings a bit open. The tall grass and trees were wet from both overnight rain and morning ground fog. The owl was drying off as it hunted.

And my Owling Bicycle Birding Setup (video link for email subscribers)

And me … check the background … an owl!

Common Merganser Morning! Ducklings Learning to Fish!

Year 12,

Two mornings ago I walked the stairs down to the Lester River at 61st Avenue East. This dead end road rives access to both the Lakewalk, the tunnel to Brighton Beach, and the ability to observe the Lester River from both the ravine’s edge, but also from the shore deep within the ravine. The trees provide the ability to hide from animals and birds, and I took full advantage of that fact and watched Mom Merganser shepherding her brood through their first fishing lessons. I personally think there is nothing “common” about these ducks! Enjoy.

Common Merganser Family on the Lester River (video link for email subscribers)