Common Loon Family Feeding Time (videos)

Year 5

I spent a delightful long family weekend at our remote cabin on Northstar Lake near the Canadian Border. In describing the location to friends it is cool to note we are the first lake in the Hudson Bay Watershed … no Mississippi River water donation from us!  I have been monitoring three particular loon families near us, and two have just hatched their chicks. The third family is still incubating. Saturday morning was calm and beautiful, and this one family let me be part of their morning breakfast! I floated near by for over 30 minutes and enjoyed a fantastic time! It is interesting when one realizes that Common Loon chicks eat plants, not fish when they are very, very young. Take a look … no minnows were on the breakfast menu.

Enjoy! (videos follow still images)

My Friends, the Common Loon Family!

Feeding Time (creature from the dark lagoon!)

First Yodel

Hitching a Ride

The Dad!

Videos: (in this order)

  • Wing Climbing
  • Feeding
  • Hitching a Ride

The Season of Song!

Year 5

After the extreme quiet that pervades the forest in the winter, the sound and song in the woods is fantastic on this Summer Solstice Day! This morning up at Hawk Ridge (2 miles from my house) this Song Sparrow demanded I take its photograph, and not an image of the Chestnut Sided Warbler which was also sharing the pine. I agreed!

Upon getting home, I birded my own forest using my ears once again. A squawking easily caught my attention and I was rewarded with watching two Yellow-Shafted Flickers attack a crow. Given the intensity of the attack, I knew their nest hole had to be nearby. Thus, I quietly waited and watched. Ten minutes later I was rewarded and discovered their home. The chicks have obviously hatched, but are not yet big enough to look out the hole and demand food. That day will come. This nest hole means I am now monitoring two woodpecker holes (also a Red-Bellied Woodpecker pair) within 150 yards of my front door. Now if I could find the Pileated Woodpecker hole!

Are enjoying the Season of Sound? The best birding right now involves hiking to new locations and then stopping to listen for extended periods of time. The birds will tell you where they are if you are willing to listen!

A Summer Color Explosion!

Year 5

I decided to stay home this morning and focus upon my local birds. With many chicks getting near fledgling size, the parents are very busy feeding which makes them easier to find. This morning my male Pileated Woodpecker posed for the perfect photograph! I love Pileated Woodpeckers and Lupines, and the combination of the two was fantastic! Better yet, many of the birds consider me “Mr. Bird Seed”, and will allow me to get closer than the norm. Such is the case with Mr. and Mrs. Pileated. They visit my suet feeders several times per day. I took this photograph in my own yard.

Having the right habitat in one’s yards also helps immensely. I never cut down trees, and what little yard I have is a mixture of long trail grass and perennials. The only reason the tree in these photographs shows evidence of having been cut is the trunk fell across my driveway. After storm cleanup I pushed the trunk and branches into my yard’s forested area. The Pileated Woodpeckers have appreciated that fact.