Tag Archives: MN North: Mouth of the Lester River

The Colors and Sounds of Summer!

Year 10, ,

Tuesday will be the 1st of August, and the formal kickoff of the fall migration here in the Northwoods. While a few bird species are already southward bound, the bug eaters will pull out of the woods in early August. Chirping warblers will be history for another year. In the meantime, it is a time of plenty. I’ve been enjoying both the sights and sounds of Summer.

Most days start off around 5 am when my resident pair of White-Tailed Deer Bucks visit my bird feeders. The bucks are in velvet.

White-Tailed Bucks in Velvet

and the movie (video link for email subscribers)

This morning it was 5:45 am when I started my morning hike. Sunrise on July 28th was at the same time, and by being out in the woods right at sunup it is easy to find hungry owlets which are begging for a handout from Mom. Such was the case this morning with the Great Horned Owlets. I heard them from 250 yards away, and quickly set up shop underneath the white pine tree where they were hoping to get a visit from Mom. I could hear her responding to their calls about another 200 yards distant, but there were no food deliveries this morning.

FuzzBall and Junior Great Horned Owlets

And the movie … I have no idea what the owlets were watching! (video link for email subscribers)

Did I mention the sounds and colors of summer? This is the time of year when I often sit in the garden next to the Bee Balm. The Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds often announce their visits by first checking me out inches away from my head … thus the humming sound. If the wind is calm enough I am able to hear the hummingbirds singing to each other.

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird (female getting food for nestlings)

The Red-Fox kits are still leading a life of leisure. Hunting excursions to the near by hay bales are required, but still the kits do not head out on true hunting excursions.

Red Fox Kit Hunting on a Hay Bale

One event that takes place now is many loons, ducks, grebes and geese lose their ability to fly as flight feathers moult.  This Red-Necked Grebe was fishing Lester River three afternoons ago. There are lots of first of year smelt, trout and salmon begging to be eaten!

Red-Necked Grebe

Quite often the drive over to where I intend to bird is beautiful. Yesterday morning a bit before 6 am rain was working its way out of the region, and thus I was able to chase a rainbow near the Artichoke River.

Chasing a Rainbow in Bog Country

Artichoke River at Sunrise

Finally I love living near Lake Superior (about 800 yards). While most of North America is in the midst of a heat wave, our temperatures rarely exceed 75F. The windows in our home are always wide open which brings the sounds of summer inside every minute of the day. Life is good!

Finally, I initially forgot to insert the Alligator Snapping Turtle in yesterday’s post. Thus for my email subscribers … here is “Speedy with an Attitude”

Make Way for Mergansers!

Year 10

Obviously a take off the classic children’s book by Robert McCloskey, Make Way for Ducklings (Wikipedia link). Perhaps you would like your memory refreshed about the duck family’s search for a home (YouTube link for email subscribers)

In my case, it is the Common Merganser family of Lester River. Momma duck eventually would like to get the ducklings out into Lake Superior, but at such an early age the waves would be to strong for her chicks. Thus, the Merganser Family stays near the mouth of the Lester River where I found them towards the end of yesterday afternoon’s bike ride. This morning the family was sunning on the gravel bar at the river’s mouth.

Make Way for Common Mergansers!

Motoring Around the River

Rest Time

Feeding Time Again!

The Birds of Summer! (Barred Owl & Rain Crow)

Year 9,

Rain Crow! I had never heard this term before yesterday’s Cuckoo Quest blog post. However one of my readers (Lisa) commented how cuckoos reminded her of how her Grandma used this name for cuckoos. Given cuckoos are somewhat rare for the Northland and thus I don’t see many, I needed help from Google. Apparently “Rain Crow” is a familiar name used for cuckoos, particularly on hot muggy days before storms. Cuckoos often call out for a loooonnnng time just before a storm. While the name is applied more often to a Yellow-Billed Cuckoo in the southern part of the United States, I did find references to the Black-Billed Cuckoo also being called a Rain Crow.

Well, storms we had yesterday. Some humdingers passed through the area just after sunset. I enjoyed watching the initial storm clouds dance across Lake Superior around 9 pm last night. All I can say about the kayaker, “Stupid Is as Stupid Does” (Forest Gump). I took these two photographs near the mouth of the Lester River. I was already seeing lighting strikes about 800 yards to the east of the kayaker. The glow on the clouds in the pictures is from some sun peaking through clouds to the west.

Now on to Mr. and Mrs. Barred Owl. A good friend of mine invited me to accompany him to some family property yesterday evening. We had a grand time. Make certain to watch the video to see how the Barred Owl pants in an attempt to beat the heat (video link for email subscribers). It also shakes its entire body to belt out a “Who cooks for you?”.