...is to "joy ride" with Brad...exploring new places...aimlessly driving...with the hopes of running across something interesting, cool enough to take photos of, a new place to eat, etc. We did just that on Sunday...after a great breakfast at Grumpy's we were off to explore.
It was the first real day of spring up here in the Northwoods. We finally had some of the nice weather we had been hearing others have. The temperature had a + sign, was two digits, and the first digit was a 7...holy cow...at one point the car said it was 78 outside...that might have been a bit high but I'm good with somewhere between 70 and 75!! It was a beautiful day. It did seem strange to have the windows down with the warm air blowing...driving next to a frozen lake...but what the heck...a few more days like that will resolve that strange feeling!!!We started out heading for the Blue Hills. Although it was a beautiful drive, given that we are still in the beginning stages of spring, everything was brown, most lakes were still frozen, and we are only seeing tiny hints of green. We didn't see hardly any signs of wildlife...well, that is, until I had the chance to chase a porcupine. Ok...yes, they are slow...but I still had to work to get into position to get a good photo. I've had the chance a couple times to shoot them, but this was my best chance thus far. I used to be scared of them...apparently that has passed. I even ventured far enough into the woods to know I'd come out with at least a tick or two! It is that time of year after all...and I am the resident tick magnet!!! For the record...I did get two ticks from the little adventure but this photo was worth it for me.
After running through Farm and Fleet to get some tick spray, we moved on to more familiar territory. We headed to Haugen and Bear Lake. We saw a few deer in one of the reliable places. We then drove around the north end of the lake...a place I've only been to a couple times. There was a man with his two kids playing around this little area (Brad would know the actual name of this particular area!) where the ice has begun to melt...it lead into one of the creeks. The creek was completely free of ice but the majority of the lake was not. With the distraction of the dad and kids down the other way, a loon spent time closer to our end doing a bit of fishing. Brad was on the right side of the car so we stayed in the car since it was pretty much a blind, and he took the loon photos this time. It was cool to see him with the camera in his hands!!! He got some good shots...here is my favorite one.
Meanwhile, on my side of the car, I had a great look at the creek. Brad pointed out a man made nesting platform in the distance...instead of seeing an osprey up there as expected, an eagle was there (look closely at the top of the pine tree in the photo below...the eagle is sitting there). Here's a shot from my side of the car...we'll keep an eye on that platform to see if we see any babies!!!
We headed toward home...taking a road I've never taken before. And to my pleasure, more surprises were awaiting us...the best of them, a pair of osprey...one standing guard the other on the nesting platform (There are many up here! They are normally for osprey as they are known to be poor nest builders!) a short distance away over the lake. He was right out by the road on a dead tree. I had only seen osprey from a distance flying over Long Lake. They are regal birds...and oh so very cool. Again it was on Brad's side of the car/blind...darn it. He took quite a few photos while the bird just sat there. Eventually I opened up the sun roof and comandeered the camera...the beautiful bird of prey stayed there and let me shoot more photos of him while I was hanging out the sun roof. Just to add a little entertainment, the sentry decided to head over to the nesting platform...and much to our amazement, decided to mate with the female right in front of us. Not being able to help myself, I continued snapping shots of them...feeling a bit like a voyeur!!! Who gets to actually see something like that...let alone get photos of it???!!! I wasn't about to be a prude at that point! Here, see for yourself...could you have stopped watching???
Leaving the mating couple behind, we went up a short distance and there were two immature eagles perched over the lake on the other side of the street. They were in the trees and the sun was behind them, so no photos to share...but, as always, it was cool to see them.
There are lots of other water fowl migrating through...here are a few shots of some we saw yesterday...
These are called Lesser Scaup's...two males and a female...
This is a Ring-necked Duck...it is a very blurry photo but the best I had...
Just a couple canadian geese here...
Oh...a couple other things happened that didn't get photographed...the peeps are out!!! The small ponds, run off areas, etc. are thawing and warm enough now for the peeps to start singing their mating calls...they aren't up to maximum volume yet...but they are finally out again. Another great sign of spring!!! On the way back to the house, over near the artisian well, there were a couple jakes and along with a couple hens...yes, it is the turkey mating season as well...best part, the one jake was showing off!!! It is a bad photo below but again, the best I could get. Isn't he the bomb?!!!
As we were checking out the peeps closest to the house, I saw another owl. Again, too dark to photograph, but hokey smokes...he was cool! He was calling out right above us! Incredible!!!I think that's it for what we consider our first day of Spring...I truly can't come up with a better way to "blow" a Sunday!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment