MyWorld Tuesday

MyWorld is in Wisconsin, USA. This is a scene taken in July on the Bearskin Trail, one of Wisconsin's "rails to bike trails" that runs between Rhinelander and Minocqua in the northern part of the state. This is a popular summer vacation destination for biking, boating, fishing and other outdoor activities. I would be interested in knowing if you've ever been in this area. Go and check out more MyWorld images at the MyWorld Site!

Happy Birthday Gordon Lightfoot

Canadian singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot turns 70 today. His first hit in the US was If You Could Read My Mind which went to number 5 on the charts. I have been lucky enough to see him in concert twice and have enjoyed hearing dozens of his best songs sung live. My favorites: Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Rainy Day People, Fine As Fine Can Be, The Circle Is Small. Speaking of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - that disaster on Lake Superior happened 33 years ago on Nov. 10, 1975.

Skywatch Friday

I've linked up to Skywatch Friday...a place to enjoy skies and views from all over the world. Anyone with a blog can post a photo featuring sky on Fridays and link up to skywatch.
My first sky photo comes from my friend Stephanie Weaver who moved from Wauwatosa, WI to Hill City, KS in August. Her husband Mark is the park superintendant at Nicodemus Kansas. Stephanie took this beautiful photo earlier this fall.

Kurt Goes to Homecoming

Little Kurty Wurty went to his first high school dance Saturday night - Homecoming at Tosa East. A group of about 30 met for photos before going to The Chancery for dinner. The parents stand around like papparazzi taking pictures. Here is a sampler...Kurt is the tall one in the back row with the white shirt and black tie.

Time Flies

Wow...where did the summer go? Haven't posted anything since June. The Bokerns had one of the best summers on record. Bill and Kurt took a one week canoe trip to Quetico with friends the Schaeffers and the Cockerhams. Then it was off to Camp Highlands for four weeks for Kurt. He went on another canoe trip to the Boundary Waters and earned an honor tripper award (so proud!).

There were lots of long weekends spent in Lk. Tom that provided the chance to see family on both sides. Labor Day weekend was a blast with the Schaeffers and Dues.

Went intentionally birding on Sept. 20 in Lk. Tom, binoculars ready, camera in hand. My first photo opp came when I spied an adult sapsucker and two immatures probing their chicklet-like holes for bugs. Great, I thought, I don't have any sapsucker photos! I lowered the binoculars and got the Cannon in position. Power on, uh try that again, power on. Power on, damnit! No power on. I checked the battery compartment to find one of the double A's missing. Kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurt you're gonna get it! Kurt is 15 and a talented artist with a very creative eye. He likes to use my camera because of its superior zoom capabilities. He usually takes pretty good care of it but in a pinch he is not above "borrowing" a battery needed for his Wii-mote. Ugh...no photos on this birding excursion. In addtion to the photos of the sapsuckers I didn't get to take, I also didn't get to take any of the numerous Kinglets, Ovenbirds and Yellow-Rumped Warblers that I saw that day.

At the feeder now...just started seeing the White-crowned sparrows and white breasted nuthatches this week at the feeder in Wauwatosa. Have had lots of goldfinches and siskens, house sparrows and cardinals. Juncos showed up at the feeders in Lk. Tom after being away for the summer.

Fall colors are at their peak...a great time to turn off the TV, forget about politics and Wall Street for awhile and get outside.

Birding 9-1-1

Fathers Day weekend in Lake Tomahawk was one bird emergency after another! I discovered these two unfortunate red-eyed vireos laying on the front porch when I got up Friday morning. What happened? How could the same fate have befallen not one but two of these tree-top singers? Was it a case of lost love, like Romeo and Juliet? One flew into the house and the other decided it couldn't live without the other? I don't know but I felt terrible about it and carried them both off to the woods where they could rest in peace together.

Then on Saturday, I'm putzing around in the house while the guys are out fishing and I hear a tell-tale BAM! and knew something had hit a window. Sure enough, a belted kingfisher was sprawled out in the Adirondack chair on the deck...not looking so good. Thankfully in just a short time the bird righted itself and was sitting up. I thought this was a good sign but still wasn't sure what would happen. Would I be on my way to the wildlife rehabilitation center with a brain damaged kingfisher? After taking almost 20 minutes to regain its senses, it was able to fly up to the deck railing. It sat there for just a moment and then flew into a nearby tree where it took another minute to rest before heading off across the lake. A happy ending.

I hope this weekend at the lake provides only live bird watching opportunities!

Recipe For A Great Weekend

Ingredients:
Don Schaeffer, Jill Schaeffer, Max Schaeffer, Julie Ristow, Randy Ristow, Clayton Ristow, Joe Devereaux, Nola Devereaux, Max Devereaux, Brian Due, Jill Due, Chris Due, Jaime Due, Jaime's friend, Steve Fronk, Kay Fronk, Willie Rohrer and Eric Pintar.

Assemble all of the above for two days in Lake Tomahawk under (mostly) sunny skies and engage in a variety of activities including birding, biking, canoeing, boating, kayaking, fishing, eating, relaxing, game playing, campfire building, a little Guitar Hero, movie watching and more.

This was what we did over Memorial Day weekend. The Devereauxs and the Dues brought their campers, the Schaeffers and the Fronks put up tents, the kids completely took over the basement and it all worked out just great.

The birding was fantastic - we must have hit the peak of spring migration. As a club, EPBWC members participated in the Wisconsin Humane Society's Avian Odyssey count. During our 24 hour count period we observed 53 species in less than a one mile radius from the house. The list of birds, in the order we saw them is as follows:

• Blue Jay
• Goldfinch
• Ruby-throated Hummingbird
• Black-throated Green Warbler
• Warbling Vireo
• Least Flycatcher
• Oven Bird
• Phoebe
• Common Loon
• American Robin
• Hermit Thrush
• Canada Goose
• Willow Flycatcher
• Song Sparrow
• Whippoorwill
• Pileated Woodpecker
• Purple Finch
• American Crow
• Chestnut-sided Warbler
• Ruffed Grouse
• Swainson's Thrush
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• White-throated Sparrow
• Magnolia Warbler
• Black and White Warbler
• Yellow Rumped Warbler
• Chickadee
• Mourning Dove
• Chipping Sparrow
• Raven
• Northern Harrier
• Nashville Warbler
• Tree Sparrow
• Great Blue Heron
• Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker
• Blue-Headed Vireo
• Turkey Vulture
• Rose-Breasted Grosbeak
• Red-Breasted Nuthatch
• White-Breasted Nuthatch
• Bald Eagle
• Hairy Woodpecker
• Mallard
• Common Merganser
• Field Sparrow
• Swamp Sparrow
• Wood Thrush
• Downy Woodpecker
• Barred Owl
• Red-Winged Blackbird
• Yellow-shafted flicker
• Red-eyed Vireo
• Eastern Wood Pewee

In addition to this list, we saw several more species after our official count period including a Blackpoll Warbler, a Scarlet Tanager and what we are 90% sure was a Red-naped Sapsucker. These additions, and a few others, brought our total up to almost 60 different species.

Randy Ristow has bragging rights for catching the biggest fish - a 34 1/2" musky right off the end of the new pier that Bill and Kurt put in the weekend before when the temperature was 40 degrees and it was windy and sleeting.

Tammy accomplished two of her summer goals - biking into Lake Tom and trying kayaking. With those two already checked off the list, what is next?

When it was time to leave on Monday, we were already talking about the next time we would be up and we were wishing the same thing we always wish as we are heading down the driveway... that we had just one more day to spend at Muskellunge Lake.