So I finally found one of my "lifer" birds - the Eastern Bluebird. I took close to 30 photos chasing him. All terrible. The only half-way decent shot was this one - and you can see that he is snubbing me. That's okay - still exciting!
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Meet my friend, the Blue Heron. And meet his unlucky friend, the fish. 
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I love my Loons. Anytime I get to see them is a miraculous and heartwarming moment for me. On the lake adjacent to ours, their nesting is usually successful. I headed out early this morning on my kayak in search of the newly hatched baby. Hubby scanned the lake with his binoculars and they weren't near the boat launch - I was going to have to kayak across 300 acres to find them.
I should my mention my allergies were bad. I had put eyedrops in one of my eyes and for some reason the sun was scorching and blinding that eye. Still, I paddled on.
A boat cruised by (violating the no wake rule before 11:00 am) and sent my kayak rolling as I desperately hung on to my camera and silently cursed that boater. No loons yet.
I'm halfway across the lake and all of a sudden I feel nauseous. Now I'm blind,tired and sick! Still I paddled on. No sounds of the Loons yet.
I make it all the way to the end of the lake, constantly scanning the shore - no Loons and I feel like I have to throw up. Another cruising boat (VIOLATOR!) goes by and I am ready to shake my fist at the sky. I decide to paddle back, today was not my day.
Halfway back across the lake, I stop because I think I'm going to be sick. And then all of a sudden, this welcome sight pops 2 feet in front of my kayak. 
It's the mama Loon. The lighting was not good for me to get this shot of her, but I was so happy to see her. The father and baby were no where in sight, but it didn't matter. This was good enough.
I sat still in my kayak and watched her as she peered into the water looking at fish. I was still blind and nauseous but was able to tough it out.
I started paddling the rest of the way back and she was headed off her own way. I was happy. (Sick, nauseous, tired and thinking of ways I could ticket those boaters...but still happy.)
I get back to shore where hubby is waiting for me. The first thing he says is "As soon as you left, the father and baby swam by." "Of course," I said, "of course."
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My babies have hatched! I'm not ashamed to say that I almost had tears of joy in my eyes as I saw these little heads popping out the house. 
Here's a closer peek - isn't his face sweet?
And here's mama (or papa) coming to feed them. Nature is miraculous.
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I have two new friends! Would you like to meet them?
First is Mrs. Tree Swallow who is a welcome occupany in one of our bird houses. She's definitely the most calmest nesting bird I've ever witnessed. 
2nd friend is the yellow warbler. First time I've seen one! Hopefully not the last.
So, have you made any new bird friends this summer?
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The Rose-breasted Grosbeaks have returned to northern Michigan and are regular visitors to the feeder. I should mention that they are there ALL DAY! I don't mind of course. I love them. Even though I will now need to pick up another job to be able to feed them...ha,ha!
The sweet female...
Here's a juvenile male Rose-breasted Grosbeak. He's still cute even with those spotty feathers.
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To be fair, the rain this morning didn't help but my Chickadees are looking rough. I submit the following as evidence:
Can somebody say helmet head??
I can't explain this. I'm not even sure I want to.....
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Yes, I've brainwashed my husband. Not only does he identify birds, he now photographs them. Welcome to my bird world honey! (And nice shot of the red-bellied!)
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The Loons are my favorite bird. Many of you know this (and suffer through this, ha!) Last year our lake had a nest failure and I was devastated. I had to satisfy myself with monitoring the Loons on a neighboring lake. Well it looks like I have a pair of Loons attempting to nest on our lake again....
(This is a photo from a few years back, I love to look at it and dream.)
By the way, as I was watching these Loons and watched them go ashore for a brief moment. It occured to me they only go ashore for two things....to nest and to....well you know......
... and yes, I know I'm terrible!!!
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Okay, if you don't want to see a hawk on deer carcass, then please look away from my page ASAP! If you don't mind, then look below to see my beautiful hawk. I'm just not sure what kind it is - a Broad-Winged? A little help from my birdy peanut gallery would be nice! :-)
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So I come out from a restaurant after having lunch and here's what I find on the car.... Like I said, only me!!!
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Seriously, how much birdseed has this fellow been eating?! :-)
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If you've visited my blog before, then you know my Chickadees are pretty tame up at our log cabin. Some of them will land on my shoulders or head to scold me and a few will eat out of my hand.
Recently I have a chickadee that has the same M.O. He dive bombs me from the roof! I'll be filling the feeders and all the while he's watching me silently from his roof perch. Then when I least suspect it, he lands on my head scolding me (probably telling me to hurry up) and then heads to the feeder. Once he grabbed a seed and came back to try to eat it on my head. Lately he likes to perch on the roof and scold me. Here's a shot of my little Fiddler Chickadee......moments before the attack! (And yeah, I love it!)
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I didn't find any woodpeckers this day, but I did get to admire their handiwork below.
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So I've been thinking....thinking a lot about my bird blogging friends. Thinking, wouldn't it be great if some of us could get together for a birding adventure? Maybe attend a birding festival this spring?
And depending on who was interested, we could pick a middle ground. Since I live in Michigan, I am thinking of a Mid-west state. What do you think? Would you come? Do you have any ideas? Have you done something like this before? Email me: shelleyupnorth at gmail dot com. (Hoping to hear from Kelly, Heather, Betsy, Hannibal, Eve, Dawn, Mildred, Jen, Richard, Lynne, Joan, Jayne and many more.....)
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Something about the birds puffing up in the winter that makes me want to pat their bellies........ You too? 
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