Molly and I have arrived back in the Northland from Tucson. An attitude adjustment due to Duluth’s cold weather might seem to be required, but I actually am thrilled to be back to Lake Superior.
Sunrise is now much earlier, 6:38 am. As my credo is to get going with the sun, or earlier, my wake-up times are moving towards 5 am. This morning, I wanted to take a bicycle ride up the shore before the forecast winds reached 30 mph. Biking into that kind of a head wind aside from being cold, is real hard work. Thus, with only 15 mph winds I biked up to McQuade Harbor … 38 minutes to McQuade … 22 minutes back with the tailwind!
Although there is over two feet of snow on the ground, the early migrants are working there way along the shores of Lake Superior … Bald Eagles, Crows, Gulls, Mergansers and Ravens. These hardy birds push hard to be the first returnees to the Boreal Forest. Here are a few images taken over the past two days.
Ice Flow Gulls
First Active Bald Eagle Nest on the Duluth Waterfront
Darth Vader Bird
Three hours off the eggs is very unusual, and does not bode well. Here is some additional information … https://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/eagle/annual/facts_incubation.html
I’ve been watching the DNR eagle cam recently, and today the parent birds have been missing for over 3 hours. Is there a time away from eggs that will leave them not viable? There are three eggs, and they have been quite well tended.