I had almost given up hope of seeing a Red-Throated Loon that was not hundreds of yards out on Lake Superior. The northward migration of these loons up to the Tundra and Arctic in Canada is almost finished. In fact, I thought the chance of seeing “Red” after Memorial Day was very unlikely. However this spring has been very cold, and the northern migration has been delayed. This morning a trio of loons were feeding on smelt near the Minnesota Point beach just outside the surf. Jackpot!

Believe it or not the Red-Throated Loons were actually my second neat find of the morning. My friend Jon and I had already spent 15 minutes watching a flock of ten Marbled Godwits feeding out on the Park Point Ball Fields. I’m really glad I did not decide to drive over to the ball fields last night as suggested by a friend because while yesterday evening’s weather was 41F, cloudy with a 20 mph wind, this morning it was 44F with clear skies and a light breeze … much more pleasant and better light for birding photography (thanks Greg for letting me know about the sighting).

Jon’s and my final stop of the morning was a visit to my Great Horned Owl family. Although we initially searched for over 30 minutes, we could not find the owls. However when 20+ crows, a few blue jays, and this Merlin decided to attack the family, we finally discovered their hiding spot. The sight lines to the owls was horrible, but here is a photo of Mr. Merlin screaming its displeasure with the owl family. If the Merlin has decided to nest in this area, it will be a regrettable decision … its chicks will end up as owl candy.

Quite frankly, even in my book, it’s hard to have a much better birding excursion. Jon and I left at 6:40, and were home by 9:30. We only spent 40 minutes in the car (20 minutes in each direction). We saw lots more birds than I photographed. These were just the highlights.