Yesterday morning I spent 30 minutes with Steam Shovel Sam and Sally’s kids. The juvenile osprey can now fly, but prefer to stay perched near the nest and beg. I watched the two youngsters screaming / begging for a long time, and when they got excited I knew food had to be in the “delivery mode”! Quite frankly I could not see a parent osprey, but if your eyesight is capable to seeing fish under water, the ospreys could obviously see their parents coming back from a fishing trip long before I was able to see anything which leads me to this comment. When birding learn the birds! Birds will let you know by their actions when there will be a change in the environment. Such was the case with the Osprey Fledglings, which then made a quick, fast flight back to the nest. Apparently feedings at this point still happen only at the nest, not out on dead snags.

The Dead Snag … two youngsters

Osprey Fledgling #1

Osprey Fledgling #2

Parent Bring Fish (youngsters are hiding in nest)

Before a bunch more “youngster / fledglings” photographs, this Cedar Waxwing did pose nicely for me on McDavitt Road in Sax-Zim Bog yesterday morning. The ground fog had just burned off, and I was listening for juvenile Great Gray Owls (none heard). As a fyi this is the time of year to get out in the woods or grasslands and look for juvenile raptors. They beg a lot and are lousy hunters.

And the other “young of year” images … all taken north of Duluth in Sax-Zim Bog or what I call the South Bog.

Trumpeter Swan Family

Sandhill Crane Family

Wild Turkey Family

Ruffed Grouse Family

Sandhill Crane Adults near Floodwood Bog (newly mown grasslands ALWAYS attract birds. The much shorter grasses make insects much easier prey)