While camping in Itasca State Park this past summer I was hoping to run across several different types of birds that I’m not use to seeing. While out exploring I came across several that I’ve seen multiple times but where still fun to watch on a beautiful summer morning as the sunlight spilled across the landscape. During one of my early morning excursions I stopped at a large pond with the camera to enjoy breakfast and see what wildlife appeared. Soon after settling in along the shoreline I spotted a loon across the water swimming and fishing. Watching for awhile this loon seemed to be swimming around the lake near shore. I decided to wait for awhile to see if it would make to my side of the lake giving me an opportunity to snap a few pictures before continuing on with the day. Eventually the loon appeared right in front of me and actually surprised me a little when it surfaced as the last time I saw it it was headed back to the other side of the pond. It’s always fun to see loons moving around in the water.
On another morning I headed to a dock along Lake Itasca again hoping to catch a glimpse of some of the areas wildlife and was not disappointed. The morning started off with a green heron flying out of the fog rolling over the surface of the water and landed on a branch over the water a short distance away. As the sun began to emerge eagles began to soar overhead in search of a morning meal adding to a Northern Minnesota experience. They seemed to keep an eye on me but weren’t real concerned that I was there and eventually landed in trees not far away. I could hear them call from time to time as another eagle across the lake answered with an occasional screech.
Back at the campsite is where I really experienced some birds I’ve not seen before. The first one happened to be an American Redstart which would fly from branch to branch in search of more things to eat. Unfortunately I was unable to capture a good photo of it in spite of having a few opportunities out in the open. As soon as the best chances would arrive someone would walk by and chase the bird further into the trees. It was still fun to watch while there it was there.
A red-eyed vireo made an appearance around the campsite in search of insects and seemed to be having great luck while moving up and down and around the trees circling our tent. This was another bird I’ve not had the privilege to watch before. At least I don’t recall seeing them in the past.
Another bird to visit the campsite was a young chestnut sided warbler. I’ve seen yellow rumped warblers before which are similar in appearance but not a chestnut sided warbler. That brown on the side gives the bird an interesting look. This one stuck around often times getting too close for me to catch a good picture so I kept trying to step away from it so I could photograph it eventually getting a photo.
One of the last birds I saw was a black and white warbler. This was another bird I have not seen before. Itasca State Park has a bird checklist so I would be looking over it as I saw some of these unfamiliar birds to see if I could identify them and then check them off. I didn’t get very many and all that I did see are listed as common in that area but it was still fun to add these to my list of birds overall. It would be fun to take another opportunity to see more some time.
