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| We haven't had a wren for years, but after taking down some trees and the old wren house in our back yard in Grand Forks, I bought a brand new house hoping I could attract them. I placed it in the apple tree and learned that the male wren will start building in several different nesting sites and let the female pick the one she wants. It sounds just like "House Hunters" on HGTV to me. Apparently, like on TV, she liked our brand new house the best because they are around and singing beautifully! I think she liked the granite counter tops. |
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| This Pileated Woodpecker is always a show at the lake, whether eating, loudly banging a tree, or making it's pre-historic call. Love those eyes... reminds me of my Hebrew professor in seminary. |
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| These birds are amazing. Fifteen minutes after I put the feeder up for the first time this year they show up and I didn't even advertise "free food." |
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| OK, so I am sitting on the deck with my camera in hand and I see a blur in front of me on the step. I instinctively raised the camera for one quick picture. What is it? A Muskrat? Ground Hog? I really don't know. It was about the size of an adult rabbit. I was just glad the women folk were not around... meaning wife and daughter and grand daughter. |
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| If I were a female turtle, I think I would pick a better spot to lay my eggs than right behind the owner's parking spot. It must have been the week for them to lay eggs because they were sighted all over ensuring a future generation. Too bad they didn't wait for the grandkids to come so they could see this. But you have to be quick with turtles. |
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| I was given a beautiful bird bath for the lake for Father's day. I know, why put up a bird bath when there is a lake 100 feet away? I guess that the birds felt the same because we have only seen the Yellow Canary taking a drink. So I call it my Canary bath. |
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| My neighbor had seen baby loons on the lake and invited me to take my camera and see if we could get a picture of them riding on their Mother's back like I did last year. You probably could tell that this isn't my kayak from the wake. Last year the hatch occurred around the first of July and this year it was almost three weeks earlier. Makes it hard to plan for picture taking. |
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| We found only one pair of loons with just one chick and it was already too big to ride on the back of it's mother. |
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| Another lone loon was acting "looney." With the motor boat I can get closer than I can with the kayak and they don't seem to mind. This one isn't displaying aggression like my yellow kayak brings out in them, just seemed like it was giving us a show. |
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| I don't think I would like to be on the business end of that critter. |
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| One final family picture of our loons. I wonder if the baby sister was breakfast for a Northern Pike or a snapping turtle???? Oh, the mysteries of lake country. |
