Steam Shovel Sally

Year 6,

Birds nest in unusual places, and “Steam Shovel Sally” is a prime example of that fact. Yesterday morning was “Birding with Grampa”, and Sally performed and exceeded  my expectations. When one takes young children birding (at their request) it is important to have fun, and not spend a long time in the field. I figured “Steam Shovel Sally” would appeal given the location of the nest (at the top of an antiquated old steam shovel). Ospreys are cool big birds, and Sally flew around for us several times … stooping into the nest. We topped off our birding excursion with breakfast at McDonalds and a Merlin landing only 30 feet from us while that falcon hunted at the mouth of the Lester River.

Right now I am waiting to hear sounds from my grandkids, then its off to look for our local beaver. I am including one more image of my young American Kestrel from one of last week’s birding trips. I finally had the opportunity to process the photograph.

Waiting for Godot Bird

Year 6,

I am not certain who was Waiting for Godot (YouTube link), me or the Northern Flicker chicks. Over the past few days they have been screaming for their supper (hard to call it singing). Mom and Dad are starting to ignore them in an attempt to get them out of the nest hole. This is not cruel on the part of the parents, but smart. I’ve already watched as some local crows raided the nest hole one week ago and ate one of the chicks. While I took photographs of that event, they were gruesome and I decided not to post same.

Yesterday evening after supper I decided it was time to take the classic photos of the flicker chicks trying to eat a parent. It is dangerous feeding these youngsters given the sharp long beaks! This feeding took place about ten minutes before I lost my light. I had been outside watching the nest for over an hour before the parent decided to give the kids a final feed of the day.

Northern Flicker Feeding

In the first two images one of the chicks is looking for a meal, and then demanding same!

The other images tell “the rest of the story”

I also want to thank Jeannette L. for inviting me over to her beautiful country home near Brule, Wisconsin. While most of the birds were not interested in posing for the camera, we had a delightful birding excursion. Highlights for me were seeing all the Eastern Towhees and an American Bittern. This Bluebird was at the limit of my camera range. I thought it was going to fly down and feed its hatchlings, but this meal was for itself!

Bluebird

Finally, I’ll end with two duck photos from this morning’s bicycle ride. Near the end of my ride I took a brief hike off bike along the Lester River. I will admit I could not identify the Hooded Merganser juvenile till I got home with my photographs. The Common Mergansers were an easy ID, and I have been watching this family for over a week. An excellent resource for bird identification is Merlin Bird ID from Cornell University. This app takes your photograph and displays likely matches. For my juvenile hoodie this was very helpful.

If you’re still with me, this morning’s 20 mile bicycle along Lake Superior was memorable in many ways. The world is quiet and calm at 6:15 in the morning. Unfortunately my enjoyment ended in a painful manner. A hornet flew into my cycling jersey (zippered down at the neck partway down my chest to help keep me cool). I was stung multiple times on my chest before I could stop my bike and resolve the situation. Ouch.

Snowy Searches for Color (poll results)

Background, Year 6

Snowy Searches for Color … the polls are now closed and the results are tabulated.

Wow! My thanks for all the great feedback. 145 of you voted, and many people provided additional comments. You voted in a resounding manner … for … Snowy in a Field! 82% of you voted for this cover.  Thank you so very much.

The most common comment for this cover is it looked like this owl was searching for color. Many of you also noted I needed to increase the cover text font size (done).

Here is a low-res mock up of the new cover as voted for by you!