June 23, 2013 - Bobolink, Loon, and Fishing

I was doing a Breeding Bird Survey route near our home in Itasca County and saw this male Bobolink in his breeding plumage right next to the road. He has a very regal look and makes me think of a king in his royal robes. He only looks like this during the breeding season and then molts to a streaky brown set of feathers for the rest of the year.

BobolinkmaleElmItascaCounty20130606

Here’s the way he looks from the front. Most birds with light and dark feathers have the dark feathers on their backs and the light feathers on their bellies, but the Bobolink is just the opposite. Bobolinks nest in hayfields all across the northern United States and southern Canada. In winter, they migrate to southern South America.

BobolinkmaleElmItascaCounty20130606

Minnesota has more Common Loons (about 12,000) than any other state except Alaska. In fact, it’s our state bird. The idyllic vision of loons making their nest on a small northern Minnesota lake is true. However, this one and its mate didn’t get the message. For the last three years, they made their nest in the same spot in a small pond right next to Hwy. 169 between Bovey and Taconite, MN. They can’t be more than 30 feet from one of the busiest roads in northern Minnesota. Maybe the attraction is that predators are likely to stay away because of all the traffic.

LoonCommonHwy169Bovey20130606

Last week, Dylan, our 12-year-old grandson, spent a few days with us at our lake home. He is really interested in fishing, so he and Grandpa were out on the lake a lot. We don’t catch very many Crappies at our lake, so Dylan was proud of this nice specimen that he landed.

DylaninchCrappieDunningLakeBovey20130617

Dylan took this picture of Grandpa’s “monster” large-mouthed bass. After a terrific fight, it was landed, photographed, and then released to be caught again by some other lucky angler. Fortunately, that wasn’t the only fish I caught.

EarlmonsterbassDunningLakeBovey20130618