July 10, 2016 - More Spring Photos

Today’s collection of photos will hopefully give you a few chuckles. At our home in northern Minnesota, we hung out this cottony ball that was advertised as good nesting material for birds. It attracted a Black-capped Chickadee who proceeded to pull out a huge mouthful of soft strands to line its nest.

ChickadeeBlackcappedwithnestingmaterialDunningLakeItascaCounty20160525

I sell my note cards at Silverwood Park which is right near our office in the Twin Cities. The park is also a good place to take nature photos. This spring, a Tree Swallow was gathering nesting material.

SwallowTreewithnestingmaterialSilverwoodParkAnthony20160521

Here’s another picture from Silverwood Park. This Common Grackle was doing a territorial display which made him look like he was going to explode.

GrackleCommondisplayingSilverwoodParkAnthony20160522

Spring time in northern Minnesota brings Snapping Turtles out of the water. They are trying to find a place to lay their eggs. We saw this one along our driveway as we were leaving. It had already started to dig a hole but it seemed to be giving up. Our land is very rocky and the turtles prefer a looser soil so it’s easier to dig a deep hole.

TurtleSnappingdrivewayDunningLakeItascaCounty20160612

Here’s a close-up look at a Snapping Turtle taken at Silverwood Park.

TurtleSnappingSilverwoodParkAnthony20160521

I was driving on Scenic Highway 7 in Itasca County. Just south of Scenic State Park, I saw this deer right next to the road. I stopped and we stared at each other for a while. As long as it was being so cooperative, I snapped a couple of pictures. This one, with the deer licking its nose, is pretty amusing.

DeerWhitetailedcloseCountyRoadItasca20160422