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To get a sense of
migration patterns up north of critters, birds, (and some humans, ha!) we're going to try blogging
some of our observations this year . . . . . .
click on above photos for
bigger views - these are daily winter woodpeckers to our feeders (pileated,
hairy and downy)
2008 Spring
 April 12 - Got up to 65
degrees today - it's spring, yeah! Took a walk and saw a
butterfly, wow. Still have banks of snow, but the roads have
melted. Saw a pair of Tundra Swans flying overhead and wondered
where the heck they were going to land. All the lakes around
here are still frozen solid. We fed birds all winter, and the most
common permanent residents to visit our suit cakes and sunflower seed
feeder: Red-Breasted Nuthatch, White-Breasted Nuthatch,
Chickadee, one pair of Cardinals, Gold Finches, Purple Finches, Blue
Jays, Chipping Sparrows, Crows, and the woodpeckers above.
 April 14 - A blizzard hit!
23" of snow. Cripes, it's winter again. Flocks of gold and
purple finches are swarming our bird feeders. The Pileated, Hairy
and Downy Woodpeckers are also hitting the suet feeders rather strongly
today as well. (We have identified at least 5 different Pileated
individuals.)
 April 15 - There is a 20
foot circle of lapping waters around the mouth of the culvert between
both sides of our lake. Big John says the ice is still about 20"
thick or more of solid ice. However, we noticed a pair of
Bufflehead Ducks in the tiny circle of lapping water around the culvert
today. I swear I heard a Loon last night, but have no idea where
it could have landed and am worried it'll get stuck somewhere (loons
need a long stretch of water to take off from . . . . . )
 April 17 - Another
snowfall of 16" inches of snow. Sheesh. Luna
- our oldest white pine tree near Cabin #14 lost a lot of branches due
to the weight of all the snow. (photo taken a couple days later on
April 19.)
April 18 - A 30 foot
circle of slushy ice has opened up at the mouth of our creek (which is
running freely today.) A Great Blue Heron flew in and huddled down
for warmth. It was interesting to watch the big bird wading
through the slush to look for fish.
April 19 - the northern
pike rearing pond has unthawed completely. A pair of Wood Ducks
have already been seen checking it out. We have two wood duck
houses established in the pond and hope they make a nest there this
season.
 April 20 - 3
Hooded Merganser ducks (two male, one female) were paddling around just off our
deck in the lake. The ice has receded to about 30 feet from
shore. The northern pike are stacking up at the mouth of our
creek. A pair of Mallard ducks (one male, one female) have decided
to check out the mouth of the creek as well. Judging from the
occasional splashing out there today, we're not sure if the northern
pike are sneaking up on the ducks and nibbling their little webbed feet
creating startled fowl, or if the ducks are scaring the bejeesus outta
the pike. :)
 April 22 - Northern Pike
Conservation Project Day
--
We put 5 females (about 26") and 10 males (average 22") into the pond
for spawning. The dam had sprung a bit of a leak last night and depth
of the creek increased to such a level that there were about 60 fish
flopping along the streaming water this morning. Three of 'em had
apparently been caught by some critter in the night, as the carcasses
were chewed on and strung along the banks. As we were "shooing" them
all back out into the lake, we chose the spawning specimens and led the
rest back out. We're gonna have to put a screen at the creek mouth
tonight to discourage their upstream sprinting as they get stuck and
exhausted. Poor things - but amazing just the same.
 April
23 - Dang beaver showed his face today while investigating the flow of
the creek. That little devil is on my crap list for chewing down
TWO of only a half dozen deciduous trees between the lodge and beach
area last fall.
 April 24 - Saw a
Belted
or Gray Kingfisher (couldn't tell which one) squatting on a limb 200 yards from our house along the
shoreline. Noticed a pair of Red breasted Merganser Ducks just
before the Kingfisher. I had to look 'em up in the bird book.
NEW SIGHTING of species for me - way cool. The male was quite
striking and the female had a brownish head. The ICE on the lake
is still hanging on despite the rain showers all day today. It's
melted back maybe 50 feet into the lake from the lodge.
 April 25 - Big flock
of Yellow-Rumped Warblers were hopping around the creek today, sipping
water or picking at food. They didn't seem very shy at all and I
would say there were at least 20 of them. It started snowing AGAIN
at around 3 p.m. and the feeders got crowded QUICKLY with the local
purple finches, gold finches, chipping sparrows, one cardinal, a couple
crows and a bunch of bullying gray squirrels. Noticed a Common
Redpoll with it's puffy reddish cap - it looked cold and crabby today,
poor thing. It's supposed to get down to 31 degrees tonight and
snow again tomorrow. *sigh* Winter just ain't leaving
without a fight this year. I snapped a photo of this Robin (at
right) 'cause he looked exactly like I felt watching yet another
snowfall in freakin' April. (disgruntled)
 April 26 - A couple
of Yellow Shafted Flickers hung out at our suet feeders today - so they have migrated
back. The Redwing Blackbirds have been back for a week, but I
don't remember which day. The lake and pond have frozen solid and
the wood ducks and mallard ducks are waddling around on the ice in
bewilderment.
April 27 - That new
10" of snow we got yesterday is melting fast!
April 29 - Saw our
first Bald Eagle of the season. It was HUGE, but immature (no
white markings yet). It was perched on the top of a lightning
struck tree just down the road from our resort about 1000 feet.
Also, while we were eating at Hardee's in Walker tonight, a Merlin Hawk
smacked into one of the picture windows and dropped to the ground.
It was such a big thwack, we thought it was a seagull or pigeon, but I
walked out to verify what it was and ahhhh, so sad, a little gray hawk
with a black banded tail and a beautiful golden eye. He was
panting and had blood coming out of his bitten tongue. I stayed
until he gasped his last breath, poor little thing. Gawd, he was
gorgeous. *sniffle**sniffle*
April 30 - Starting
spring cleaning the lodge today. While we were vacuuming a
loon yodeled and startled us all, even over the sound of a vacuum - it
was loud! My brother counted eight loons just out front of
the lodge. Way cool!
May 1 - Pretty sure
we saw a female Brewer's Blackbird this morning along the creek
pulling up leaves and debris out of the water searching for something to
eat. The Brown Headed Cowbirds are back visiting the
feeders.
May 3 - Saw the first
male American Redstart today! Flit, flit, flit! I
love these guys, one of my favorites! And later in the
afternoon rain, I identified a NEW SPECIES for me! A
Black & White Warbler! It was a striking little black and
white and brown bird hopping along our wooden deck pecking at insects.
He had no interest in the seed feeders whatsoever, just like the
Redstarts. John is really
enjoying all the ducks - he's been putting cracked corn and millet on
the lawn in front of our house and there were eight wood ducks and a
pair of mallards gobbling it up this morning. Two pairs of
red-breasted mergansers were also just 500 feet down the lake from
us hanging out in front of the lodge. The ice is still on the
lake, but it's melted back about 100 feet. We are now a ducky
heaven, apparently, and are really enjoying watching all the waterfowl.
 May
4 - Identified a White Throated Sparrow at our feeder. It's
either one voracious eater, or several individuals chowing down seeds
left and right.
May 5 - ICE OUT!
Finally!!!! Two weeks later than normal this year. (And yah,
there's one chunk of ice still floating on the far side of the lake in a
bay, but you can barely see it, and we're certain it'll melt completely
today.) Kris said he was working in the shop at 9 a.m. this
morning, when a big "THUNK!" occurred and shattered glass came tinkling
down inside . . . . . . it was a Ruffed Grouse who broke the
window and then miraculously flew away. He swears it was a 10
pounder 'cause it was so huge. Ha! We've been hearing
them drumming this last week - they must be getting ready to mate and
display (I just wish they weren't displaying through our windows!).
 May
8 -
We had 10, yes TEN
male Wood Ducks and one female visit the cracked corn in front of
our house tonight, along with two male mallards and the lone goose.
They were wary and scared easily, but came back again and again to visit
the corn in the mist-filled evening. It was very poor lighting for
a camera shot, sorry, but watching them from our basement window 15 feet
away was just the neatest thing as they are such shy creatures.
The females must be on their nests as we've never seen such a large
group of wood ducks, male or female, like this.
May 9 - One lone
Canadian Goose has been hanging around the house and lodge the last
couple of days. I spotted a tufted gray bird (Titmouse?)
flicking it's tail under and up while perched on a branch next to the
Sleeping Cottage. And John was excited to see a little chartreuse
green bird pecking at a suet cake yesterday. He wasn't sure
exactly which Vireo it was, and could have sworn it had a white
eye, but hopefully it will come back so we
can get a better look! It was most likely a female Common
Yellowthroat as they would love our swampy marshland behind the
house.
 May 10 - Fishing
Opener/Resort opens for season today. Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks
are here! They came en masse this morning to the feeders.
I'm also positive I heard a Baltimore Oriole yesterday, too, so I'm
putting grape jelly out today. If I had time, I'd make some
hummingbird food and put it up also, 'cause they should be here soon,
too and will be HUNGRY. This afternoon, it started SNOWING again,
for pete's sake. Snow on opener. When the heck is winter
going to be over this year?
 May
13 - Had a pair of Indigo Buntings come to our window today - WAY
FREAKIN' COOL!!!!! Saw the female first when we were
watching the grosbeaks and finches. She was a brownish color all
over without any streaks on her like the sparrows, warblers, female
finches and grosbeaks, so I was wondering what she was. And then I
looked up from doing a task and saw a flash of blue outside the window.
I grabbed the camera and crept up on it - he was sitting calmly on the
window ledge just outside our kitchen, so I got a very close look at
him. (It was overcast outside and the window pane gave a glare,
sorry -
but the photo above has not been "colorized" or anything.) The
back of his neck had more of a mottled brown and blue coloration which
far away just looked blue. It was very exciting to see him so
clearly. We had a pair of Orioles look interested in the
oranges and suet we put out yesterday - but they were very wary of
coming too close. I can hear them singing throughout the day now.
 May
13 - We have at least two pairs of Baltimore Orioles, wow!
I saw two females and a male all at once on our railing, and then heard
a fourth male singing in the trees somewhere. We love these guys!
My brother suggested we make sugar water as he thought he saw
hummingbirds. And yep, just a couple hours after I put out fresh
sugar feeders, we had a visit by THREE Ruby Throated Hummingbirds.
I feel badly as I hadn't had these feeders up last week.
May 14 - We've had
several black faced sparrows, a Harris Sparrow (?) enjoying the
seeds on the ground the last few days.
 May
15 - The Painted Turtles and the Snapping Turtles have been on the move
the last couple of weeks. Apparently they burrow under the lake
bottom during winter and slow their metabolism waaay down.
Remarkable really. In spring we see numbers of them traveling up
the creek bed from the lake into the Rearing Pond/Marsh. We often
have to stop our vehicles to allow them to cross the driveway.
Here's a photo of one such snapper my brother helped across the road so
that our cleaning staff wouldn't run over it by accident. An hour
and a half later, I noticed a snapping turtle 3-5 times larger than this
one making the journey. She was HUGE.
 May 17 - Our house
seems to be a bird mecca this spring. Saw three male Orioles at
once yesterday on our rail, and I've seen two females at once, so I'm
sure we have at least three mating pairs, how lovely. They are no
longer shy - in fact, John saw a female stare down a gray squirrel.
When the squirrel made a motion to move closer and hop over her, the
female Oriole PECKED the squirrel on the nose! She was NOT
giving up her orange, by gawd. The Pine Siskins have been here in flocks
for over a week, along with all the other finches (the grosbeaks are
still here - I love the females best with their touches of yellow on
their breast.) The Red-Wing Blackbirds have been nesting
for about three weeks in the cattails in front of our house and in the
swampy rearing pond out back. The males make me laugh as they
waddle towards a female with hunched up shoulders, kinda like a scary
monster. I definitely need to make more hummingbird feed, as there
are bunches now, with more arriving every day.
  May
19 - It's been such a cold spring that I imagine most insects have not
hatched/been active enough to be food for birds yet. The
Yellow-Rumped Warblers are still flitting around our creek and now
our suet feeders - I hope some stay here for the season instead of
migrating through.
May 20 - American
Redstarts are here! Hop, hop, hop! These are John's
favorites as one will often flit to his shoulder or perch on his head
while he's chatting with someone in our driveway. I imagine he
looks like a tree at 6'7", hehe. I also positively
identified several Yellow Warblers today hanging with the
Redstarts, along the lake shore in front of our house. The male
was a lovely shade of yellow with rusty streaks on his breast.
 May
26-29 Had a Red-Headed Woodpecker steadily feeding all week
in our feeder. Lots of baby snapping turtles were seen
crawling in the lawn at the side of the lodge this week.
 June
3 - This last week, we've been incredibly excited to have at least two
pairs of Scarlet Tanagers snipping away at the orange suet.
(Dang raccoons have been eating all the suet at night - we've been
trying to trap 'em - the gluttons!) Judd Brink, of
MN Backyard Birds visited
us this weekend over Spring Healer's Retreat and gave a guided bird walk
amongst our nature trails. With his help, we heard an Oven Bird,
a Red-Eyed Vireo ("teacher! teacher!") and a Black & White
Warbler! Judd also put up three more bird feeding stations at
cabins #7, #9 and #10. We're hoping to attract more and more
of our feathered friends to enjoy!
Here's a list of
birds Judd e-mailed me that their group saw or heard here at the resort
during their one hour guided walk:
Ruby-throated
Hummingbird, Bald Eagle, Common Loon, Black-capped Chickadee,
White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Crow, Catbird, Indigo
Bunting, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle,
Chipping Sparrow, Tree Swallow, American Goldfinch, Blue Jay, Ovenbird,
Great-crested Flycatcher, Northern Parula, House Finch, Brown-headed
Cowbird, Red-eyed Vireo, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Robin, Black & White
Warbler.
June 18- A flock of either Cedar Waxwings or
Bohemian Waxwings flocked into the spruce trees in front of our house
today. They were very quiet - no chatter or chirping or songs at
all.
June 19 - beach
birds:
 June
26 - Funky little camp song relived by the Rial clan "A tooty-tot, a
tooty-tot!"
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