Even though I am down in the Tucson area, it’s time to talk about a couple of items in which folks may be interested. The first item is Wood Duck Cam! A friend of mine and fellow retiree from Honeywell lives in Golden Valley, Minnesota. He is an engineer and has amazing wood duck houses … including even infrared lights. For a number of years he has watched his local woodies through the course of each nesting season. This year Paul has decided to let the rest of us watch! If you like wood ducks, link and subscribe (or just watch live). As a reminder, here is what these great looking ducks look like (I took this image last summer)

The other item I want to call out is the birding festival in Ashland, Wisconsin (70 miles east of Duluth). For those of you who hang out in the Northwoods, northwestern Wisconsin sees more songbirds before northeastern Minnesota. The boreal forests out my own back door stays cold and warms later than the forests and farmlands of northwestern Wisconsin.  Winds which come across Lake Superior cause this effect! Regardless, here are the details for the Chequamagon Birding Festival (thanks to Jeanette for the reminder). Thus, birding NW Wisconsin is a smart move for folks like me early in the spring season.

Oh yes, I also had a fantastic birding morning. Tim DeJonghe, who is very active with the Tucson Audubon Society, let me hang along on a birding expedition. We saw not one, but two barn owls! No photos, but this was an amazing “lifer” experience. Barn Owls are never found in the cold north of Minnesota!