Today at the AHATS WOA, I Saw Babies.

Today at the Arden Hills Army Training Site Wildlife Observation Area, I saw lots of babies.  The trumpeter swan pair have 5 cygnets.  The common loon pair have two young.  And a whole bunch of wood ducklings were around minus one.

I witnessed an interesting behavior from one of the swans, something I've never seen.  The swan attacked a momma wood duck.  She disparately tried to distract it from one of the ducklings but the swan was determined.  The duckling would submerge for a few seconds but when it popped up the swan would lunge for it.  After a few minutes of this comical chase, the swan succeeded. It held the duckling under water and then shook it around like a dog playing with a chew toy.  It was an interesting site to behold.  Wish I would've had video and/or a 10,000mm lens.

Today at the AHATS WOA, I Saw a Bald Eagle

Today a young bald eagle flew over my head at the Arden Hills Army Training Site Wildlife Observation Area. I also saw: a pileated woodpecker, an eastern bluebird, some chickadees, heard some song sparrows, saw my first of the year yellow-rumped warbler, two common loons, one trumpeter swan, four goldfinches, four blue jays, a crow and lots of red-winged blackbirds.

Today at the AHATS WOA, I Saw a Swan Fight

Tonight I saw a swan fight at the Arden Hills Army Training Site Wildlife Observation Area. They chased each other around the lake and one managed to pull some feather out. It was dark and high ISO but I got the action.

Also saw: two osprey gathering sticks from a nearby tree, tree sparrow mating, a pair of eastern blue birds, four talkative blue jays and some ducks and Canada geese.

Today at the AHATS Wildlife Observation Area, I saw a sunset. I also saw a couple common loons, an eastern bluebird, a couple black-capped chickadees, only a couple Canada geese and lots of red-winged blackbirds.

Toady at the AHATS WOA, I Saw Clouds and Birds

Today at the AHATS Wildlife Observation Area, I saw clouds and a plane. Actually, I saw 6 or 8 airplanes. I also saw a pair of bluebirds, about 8 tree swallows, 1 Cooper's hawk, 1 turkey vulture, 1 pileated woodpecker, 1 song sparrow and a bunch of ducks and Canada geese and Red-winged blackbirds.

The first for the day was seeing a downy woodpecker inside one of the bluebird cans.

Today at the AHATS WOA, I Saw Clouds

Storms rolling into tonight at the Arden Hills Army Training Site Wildlife Observation Area.

Today at the AHATS WOA, I Saw a Bald Eagle

Today at the Arden Hills Army Training Site Wildlife Observation Area, I saw a bald eagle.  Well, I may have seen two or this one twice.  I heard my first of the year song sparrow but didn't see it.  I also saw Mr. and Mrs. Northern Harrier.  Nothing quiets the red-winged blackbirds as quickly as a harrier fly-over.  Saw a Mr. Cardinal signing, some chickadees, goldfinches and lots of Canada geese and unidentified ducks on lake Marsden.

Today at the AHATS WOA, I saw clouds.

Today at the AHATS Wildlife Viewing Area, I saw clouds. Not many birds yet. I did see two trumpeter swans flyby, but they didn't stop. The lake is still frozen. Saw four chickadees, two downy or hairy woodpeckers, one crow and a couple mallards.

Today at the AHATS WOA, I Saw Chickadees

Today at the Arden Hills Army Training Site Wildlife Observation Area, I saw black-capped chickadees. I put some seed out on the bridge and a lone chickadee came by to enjoy my generosity.  I also saw some crows, Canada geese, mallards and a goldfinch.  Heard some downey/hairy woodpeckers.

Here's a video of it thanking me:

Today at the AHATS WOA, I Saw Eagles and a Coyote

Today at the Arden Hills Army Training Site Wildlife Observation Area, I saw a bald eagle. Within just a few minutes of getting setup this young bald eagle flew over head.

Shortly after that, I saw a coyote walking on the ice.



And then another eagle landed on a dirt pile on the ice:



I also saw a half a dozen crows, about 20 mallards flying over, a downy/hairy woodpecker and some chickadees.