Black-Capped Chickadee & Boreal Chickadee

Just returned from Walker, MN, on the shore of rugged and beautiful Leech Lake in northern Minnesota.  The attached photos will indicate how, after all these years, I have finally reached the pinnacle of my career, riding a float in a parade, celebrating "Ethnic Days."

It was really great fun, however, since I was joined by my good flamenco buddies Laura Horn, Chris Kozachok and Ben Abrahamson.  We performed three 45-minute stints, the last one being during the evening, at the "Lucky Moose" at the edge of town.

When we walked in, heads turned at the bar, and I was reminded of those westerns where a guy walks into the bar, and everyone stares at him.  I don't think the locals knew we were coming.  But then, to my great surprise, a girl who I had a crush on back in high school, Carrie Vitelli (now Carrie Kemp) introduced herself.




We had a great time, and she is a great lady, working as a Catholic minister (un-ordained), helping disenfranchised people everywhere to find better lives for themselves.  It was rewarding to know that at least there was one other good old fashioned liberal who came out of Sibley High School in 1956!

Black-Capped Chickadee

So I took one pleasant walk, but apart from some gulls flying over the lake, crows and robins, the only bird I saw was a black capped chickadee..which I see on my feeder every day.  

When I go north, I am always in search of the Boreal Chickadee, whom by his very name, will tell you where he hangs out. He is easily distinguished by his brown cap.

We returned home today (Sunday).  I took the soup hound out for a walk down by the track and, I'll be damned if I didn't see a flock of Solitary Vireos and an Eastern Wood Pewee!  I gotta get to bed... maybe tomorrow I'll talk about these guys.

Thanks to Ben and Laura for the photos.

The Mergansers

This is quite a trio of colorful ducks, the Mergansers.  These  saw-billed guys are long-bodied, and ride low in the water.  They like clear, deep lakes and rivers. 

 I was recently in Duluth, discovering what a great city it is -- Zillions of places to hike, in and out of the city. I was walking south along the beach that borders the lakeside finger of land, known as Park Point. On the other side is a small harbor, with Superior, Wisconsin bordering the far shore.  I was looking at Duluth in the distance, when up popped a Red Breasted merganser, pictured here.

The Common Merganser is the largest of the Trio.  The Red Breasted is described by Sibley as being smaller and more "spindly".  It is hard for me to imagine such a thing as a "spindly" duck.  The hooded is the smallest.  All three can be seen in Minnesota... especially during migration.