It is great to be paddling a canoe at sunrise enjoying the sights and sounds of the river. I went out early with my friend Dale and paddled a short stretch of the Winnebago River to get a river-view of a Red-Tailed Hawk's nest. The two young birds were on the nest and were very tolerant as we took photos from the canoe below. Fortunately the river current was very slow and we were able to easily maneuver up and down the river in a small area below and across from the nest. Well, actually Dale did most of the maneuvering from the stern of the canoe while I took pictures from the bow.

The birds are quite close to maturity and may leave the nest any day. I don't believe that they have taken their first flights yet but it may be soon.  As we watched, the juvenile birds stretched their well-developed wings several times. One of the birds hopped out of the nest to an adjacent branch and continued to stretch his wings and preen himself alternately balancing on one foot or the other. They occasionally watched us with curiosity, but for the most part paid no attention. We did not see an adult hawk while we were there. My experience has been that it is very difficult to get close enough to one to take pictures as they usually fly quickly away. This was a special treat to spend this much time taking photos of the juveniles.  There are more photos of these hawks on a new page - go to the Hawks section.

I got up early one morning and watched a solitary Loon quietly hunting for fish - diving, sometimes several minutes, and then surfacing several yards away. The back-lighting of the morning mist rising off of the water enhanced the scene and helped to isolate the Loon from the background. Taken on the Ash River at the edge of Voyageur's National Park in Northern Minnesota. There are more Loon pictures here.