I hiked in to the Canosia Wildlife Preserve Great Blue Heron Rookery this morning. There is a fantastic swamp / pond that has been formed by the HUGE beaver dam. Birds and other mammals love the handiwork of the beavers (many generations).

In the story of bird migration, it is almost always the males of each species which return to summer nesting grounds first … followed by females later in the spring. Two Tree Swallows found a drowned birch tree … perfect for a nest. A Battle Royale was joined … very fierce and very short (less than one second). This battle was repeated many times as each male tree swallow desired the optimale nesting hole. Enjoy!

The “challenger” lands just above the defending champion, who notes his presence.

The Battle! (last image is of the challenger falling away and giving up for the moment)

The “champion” post fight with his nest hole!

Near the end of Mary Poppins – when the blue bird of happiness a-wing -there comes a shift in wind direction. This was important because Mary Poppins had agreed to stay only until the wind changes. With the weathervane’s spin, it is time to leave.

Birding is a bit like the Mary Poppins movie. This morning the winds blew strongly out of the south for one of the first times this late winter. When I went out birding this morning I saw numerous bald eagles migrating north on the south wind. This evening I will drive over to Superior, Wisconsin in search of Snowy Owls. The same strong winds which brings Bald Eagles back to the Northland, will drive the Snowys up to the Arctic. Today is a changeover day.

Bald Eagle taking off in the Canosia Wildlife Area.

Yesterday morning at 7 am I checked up on one of my local Osprey families. I knew that fledgling will soon occur, and I wanted to see them once more before that becomes much more difficult. I think Mom Osprey wants her youngster to fly. At one point she flew to a dead snag 20 yards distant from the nest and spend the next 20 minutes screaming at her children!

Canosia Wildlife Preserve Osprey Photographs

The other fun event occurred during my bicycle ride yesterday afternoon. While cycling past McQuade Harbor I spied a wedding couple with a classic ore boat in the background. I jumped off my bike and took this photograph. Via a local Facebook group I managed to track down the wedding couple and will be delivering to them at no charge a high res, non watermarked version of the image. While their photographer certainly took great photos, it was only from my perspective across the small harbor that this pic was possible. I wanted the new couple to have the image as a wedding present.

It’s nice to see happy events in these unsettling times. As a fyi, I always carry a camera and monopod when cycling.