My family has taken over an entire resort on Lake Vermillion’s Black Bay. Special family times are the rule when you have the grand couple (Molly and me), our three kids (and their 3 spouses) and eight grandkids … plus three family dogs!

Whether it is the older grandchildren or the the younger they all like to sleep in till after 8 am, which gives your truly the opportunity to still go out birding at 6 am and be back for family breakfasts at 9 am. Life is good.

The Lake Vermillion / Cook area has some great Boreal Forests and Bogs, within minutes of our rented cabin. This morning I drove Johnson Road to the east of Cook, and then crossed over Hwy 53 to visit Plum Creek Road to the west of Cook. My route stayed very close to the Rice River. The birding was fun, and the dirt roads were basically reserved for my own use.

Right now Hawks are dealing with chicks that are demanding food, as evidenced by this Broad-Winged Hawk and Kestrel. The raptors need to hunt almost continuously which makes finding them much easier. I actually flushed this Broad-Winged by accident, but came back to the same exact spot 30 minutes later … the hawk had also returned!