Was Up North for a couple days checking on things and the loons are back. Now, have some babies! They haven't had any progeny for a few years. Also, I saw a couple of warblers and am a little surprised they're back this early-

The loons:



And a male Yellow-rumped Warbler in breeding plumage:



Saw what I'm sure is a Pine Warbler but couldn't get a good shot. Both they and the Yellow-rumps were way up in the tops of the trees.

Am heading down next week to Magee Marsh east of Toledo right on Lake Erie for the warbler migrations...

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Nice.

Nothing exotic here, just cardinals and chickadees and finches. And sparrows of course. OTOH the red throated hummingbird made a first appearance at the feeder this week, which is always exciting.

Your post does suggest to me that I should spend some time on the banks of the Ohio River and see what is there. I walk the banks but have not had the patience to sit and watch.

My bird feeders are very busy. The cats are fully entertained watching the Bird Show. And of course the buzzards came back to Hinckley, Ohio




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/2019 08:19AM by cbelt3.

I had wild turkeys in my backyard yesterday. I have never seen them in my area before (western burbs of Chicago)

JPK

Quote
JPK
I had wild turkeys in my backyard yesterday. I have never seen them in my area before (western burbs of Chicago)

JPK

It's only the beginning. Soon you'll see them everywhere.



When I was a kid I never dreamed that wild turkeys and bald eagles would become part of my daily life, but they have.

Interesting that you bring up the turkeys. When we started building our cottage back in '02, we were tripping over turkeys. Now, poof! gone. See one or two on our property now and then...

Edit: here's an image from Thanksgiving '03. It was shot on the two-track to our cottage:

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/2019 10:01AM by DP.

Love the loons! One of my early 'wonders of nature' moments as a youngster was out on Lake Winnipesaukee at dawn, the lake like a mirror, mist all around, and the loons going off nearby. Around here, the nesting pair of redtails are back and jousting for territory with other neighborhood pairs; the ospreys are back, and the owls have gone quiet, indicating that things are happening in the nests. All the robins are competing for territory, and they and the other smaller birds are busy building their nests. The sandhill cranes are calling in the area, and sometimes they land on my place early in the morning.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/2019 12:46PM by btfc.

Glad to hear about the Loons. We are very dismayed that their numbers seem to be decreasing in northern Minnesota.

Glad the loons are back. I've only seen a couple of the mergansers so far this year, but then, I haven't been home much during the day.

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And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.
—Friedrich Nietzsche
Western Massachusetts

I thought this thread was going to about mosquitoes.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.