Wild Wild Woods

A pair of Hooded Mergansers  Lophodytes cucullatus stopped on the pond for a few hours. They are "diving" ducks - -  each dive...

First mallards this Spring on the pond.  They both look healthy and robust, ready for nesting season.

Muskrat  (Ondatra zibethicus) lives in marshes, ponds, and other wet areas.  At first, we thought this might be a beaver, but it is only...

Black-capped Chickadees stay in Minnesota all winter.  They eat seeds and insects or larvae when they can find any.  They come to feede...

How different the same view looks in winter! Still, we see evidence of critters who live at the pond by their tracks in the snow.

Chickadees, house finches, juncos, and even downy woodpeckers venture out of the trees nearby to take seed at the feeder next to the pond...

The seed feeder hangs on a pole.  I attached a forked tree branch so the birds have something to perch on.  In this grey winter landscape...

The seed feeder and suet cage are out, filled, and waiting for birds.  So far, the only obvious visitors are two Mourning Doves.  They sat o...

This lovely dragonfly landed on the deck rail today.  I am educating myself about pond critters, and just learning about Odonata, so best ...

Occasionally, Canada Geese land on the pond to feed on pondweed or take a rest during migration.  These five stopped for just an hour.

Tall and graceful on purple stems, Ironweed Vernonia fasciculata blooms in late summer.  This clump stands on the western edge of the pon...

At the edge of the pond, wild flowers unfold as the summer passes.

Wetlands will now be included in this blog, since my windows now look out on a pond.  My new location is another former farm field that beca...

Sunflowers have bloomed, and the seeds are ripe. Usually the Chickadees, with their extreme curiosity, are the first to inspe...

Monarchs are finding the Joe Pye Weed and milkweed plants in the yard.  This one even found the sweet nectar in the hummingbird feed...

The wild wild woods and the feeder garden are full of fledgelings and juvenile birds.  Some are learning to get suet from the hanging dis...

One of the trees in the wild wild woods fell a long time ago.  It has survived in horizontal position, spreading its branches above.  And, i...

Northern Cardinals often offer food tidbits to a prospective mate.

Some birds confuse me!  These two often up show in the feeder garden.  The female Red-wing Blackbird (top) has a long pointed beak for glean...

Brown Thrasher Baltimore Oriole, male Every bird loves suet at this time of the year.  Their efforts -- w...

Several House Wrens Troglodytes aedon have invaded the wild wild woods. Only about 4.5 inches long, they are tiny melodious singers in the...

Rosebreasted Grosbeak Pheucticus ludovicianus pair are nesting somewhere nearby in the wild wild woods.  The female is dressed in brown-gray...

Over the last week, through blizzard winds and huge snows, a lone Fox Sparrow seemed stranded alone among the Dark-eyed Junco flock shelteri...

Red-bellied Woodpecker gathering suet from the hanging feeder cage. Red-bellied Woodpecker caching suet in a hiding place for later. ...