March 22, 2009 - Visitors to our Yard

Bald Eagles are starting to reappear in Northern Minnesota as spring approaches. As Diana and I sat by our window last weekend, we saw this eagle flying toward us over the lake. It swooped into our yard (passing less than 30 feet from us) and landed on a stump. Of course I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures like crazy.

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Before the eagle landed, we had been watching a crow in our yard. Each winter I get some deer ribs from the local butcher and hang them in our yard for the birds. A piece of the ribs had fallen on the ground and the crow was picking away at it. Apparently that attracted the attention of the eagle. It hopped to the ground and started walking toward the crow. The crow immediately backed off; the eagle grasped the ribs in its talons and flew off with them.

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The last couple of days we’ve had two White-tailed Deer strolling through our yard in the late afternoon. This one stopped by our bird feeders and ate some of the seed that had fallen to the ground. I’m OK with that, just so they don’t start emptying the feeders themselves.

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Our home is nestled back in the woods and to reach it, we drive about 2 miles on a dirt road built during the iron mining days. The snow is starting to melt and this road is getting pretty muddy. Because of all the iron in the soil, the puddles on the road look like tomato soup. Apparently, some of our birds have been bathing in these puddles. The Black-capped Chickadee on the left shows its normal plumage. The one on the right has been taking “tomato soup” baths.

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This winter we’ve been visited by flocks of up to 80 Common Redpolls. Here is one of the females. They will soon be leaving to nest in the Arctic Tundra.

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Here is another female Redpoll with that overall “rusty” appearance from bathing in the mining road puddles. It’s interesting that the staining on the feathers doesn’t seem to come off very easily. The Chickadee above has looked rusty for at least a week. We’re not surprised at that because we know how hard it is to get that rusty dirt out of our clothes and off our car!

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