This last weekend was spent up at Shell Lake with a group of wood turners at an annual event that has been in progress for over 20 years.  If you crave great company, great food, learning and sharing it is a fantastic place to come for a weekend.  You can read my friend Duncan Birch’s account and see more pictures on the Hub City Turners website by clicking HERE.

Early mornings provided a chance to wander the golf course at Shell Lake and explore the marsh and stream meandering through this gorgeous area.  A flash of yellow caught my eye in the willow bushes along the stream.  The yellow belonged to this male Common Yellowthroat, a new species for me to photograph. What a gorgeous little bird.

It was a good morning for foraging as this Chipping Sparrow and White-breasted Nuthatch found delicious morsels for breakfast.

I have had a few encounters looking for Red-eyed Vireos where their incessant song confirms they are in the tree but even with the defoliation from the Forest tent caterpillars they manage to hide.  This one appeared for a few moments high up in a poplar so I managed a view emphasizing it’s bottom.

You can almost hear it singing.

This last series shows the tenacity and territorial protection of some small birds against much larger predators.  I spotted this Bald Eagle in a tree and noticed Red-winged Blackbirds swooping and diving at it’s head.  Seems like a brave thing to do but I suppose they have much more maneuverability than the eagle. Not sure if it was the blackbirds or my approach that caused the eagle to take flight. In any event the blackbirds took chase and must have felt quite vindicated as the eagle disappeared in the distance.