A New Lifer!!

Hi Everybody! Remember me? I think this is the longest I've gone without a blog post. Lots of reasons- summer's been pretty busy. Work is progressing on our construction up north at Hasty Brook. Our two-story garage is on moving along. The septic system is in and has been inspected and the slab has been poured. The trusses are being ordered this week and materials will ship next week too. I received an email a few weeks ago from Richard from At the Water with suggestions and an amazing offer to help with the wiring of our new building. Last Friday Art and I took of for a drive to meet Richard at his lovely lake home to discuss the plans and get an idea of what we'll need.

My new life blogger is Richard of At the Water!!!!

What a nice fellow. Art, who can be a bit shy with new people said the meeting Richard was like meeting an old friend. Within minutes we were chatting like we'd known each other for years. Richard is a really interesting and multi talented man. His career history is amazing.

I've always said that the best part of blogging is the people I've gotten to know and the friendships I've formed. Richard is a perfect example. We got a tour of Richard's gardens and beautiful yard. We got to see the deck project he's been working so hard at. It's just so nice to actually see the views that I've seen through Richard's wonderful photos. I even snapped a few pictures of the young Orioles at the nectar feeder on his deck rail. We spent hours talking and laughing.

We even got to meet Richard's dog Jessy. I grew up with pug dogs and have a very special love for that breed so it was so nice to be able to spend time with this sweet old girl.

Isn't that a face to love?

Thank you Richard for letting me add you to my "Blogger Life List" and for your wonderful hospitality and friendship.

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Somewhere along the way this month I lost the ability to download photos to my laptop. Not sure what the problem is, but I'm hoping this weekend Art, my "computer master" will try to figure it out. In the mean time I'll try to get some Hasty progress pix onto my little net-book so I can share the developments up there.

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Sometime last year I put a little "Blogiversary date" button on my sidebar and then completely forgot about it. Last week I hit the three year mark on my blog. Here's what I said in my first post:

It's time to just jump in with both feet. I've stalled and fretted long enough. I decided to start a blog as a sort of electronic journal to record pictures, observations and thoughts of a piece of land we call Hasty Brook. We bought ten acres of wooded land in northern Minnesota in the spring of 2005. We justified it by calling it an investment/savings plan for the future. On the first trip up just to look at the property I was hooked! I'm not a photographer or writer by any stretch of the imagination, but I'd like to try to share what I see and feel when I'm at Hasty Brook.

I'm still taking photos (and I hope I've improved a bit), and I'm still writing of my love for that place. I have learned so much from you all about birds and life and friendships. I share parts of my life here at home, my travels, and my love for birds too but I think I've stayed pretty true to my intentions. The part of this whole blogging experience that's really caught my heart is you all who come here to read and maybe to comment. The friendships I've found here are extraordinary. The people I've been blessed to meet through this blog have enriched my life more than I can say.

Thank you for all of the kind words over these past three years. Thanks especially for the kindness and support during my tough times with the loss of my Mom and then my sister.

I wish I could meet you all!

Remember- there will aways be a place for you at Hasty Brook Assisted Living Community!

Come on Minnesota Birders!!!

Attention all Minnesota Birders!!

Dawn Fine of the blog Dawn's Bloggy Blog and Sharon Stiteler the Birdchick are coordinating a bird outing and social on Saturday, August 15 here in the Twin Cities. Dawn formed a Facebook group called "Birders who Blog, Tweet and Chirp." It's a network of birders and nature lovers who blog and/or use Twitter and Chirptracker. There's even a website: Birders who Blog, Tweet and Chirp. You can read about it here and here

Dawn will be traveling through Minnesota and wants to do some birding and meet other bird/nature bloggers, Tweeters and Chirpers. So on August 15th Dawn's BwBTC will meet Birdchick's Birds and Beers!

I'm not sure where the outing will be but as soon as I hear I'll let you all know.

So come on Minnesota birders!!

Let's get together and meet. I've been fortunate to meet quite a few bloggers and to be very honest, it's a blast. Lets meet and put faces to names, share our knowledge, our love of birds, our stories and laughs.

So, take a big black marker and circle the date:

Saturday, August 15th!!!

"Birders who Blog, Tweet and Chirp" meets "Birds and Beers"

here in the Twin Cities!

Let's get the word out there readers- If you think you'd like to come (or even if you can't make it) please publish a post about this get-together so we can let all of our readers know about this fun day.

News Flash!

I have big news!

I worked the 4th of July weekend but we were able to take a few days midweek before the holiday weekend to go up to Hasty Brook. I am thrilled beyond words that we signed the contract and construction will begin soon! We've decided to build a big garage (32x32) with a roomy loft above. The loft will be roughly 32x15 and there will be two 12 foot dormers in the center of each side giving us a "plus sign" shaped living space. There will be big windows on three of the loft ends and on the fourth we will have a sliding glass door that will open out to a balcony! The balcony will have a wonderful view of Hasty Brook (that's really the name of the creek). Included in our contract is the installation of a septic system and a drilled well. We plan to put a small bathroom on the garage level. Running water and a flush toilet!! It will be like a palace! Work started on clearing the garage site while we were up there. Art and I had all ready taken down the trees in this area in early spring. It's hard for me to believe that we are finally moving forward with our dream of having a home up there. We think the loft will make a great place to stay when we visit Hasty until we build a home in the future. We'll be doing a lot of the finishing work ourselves but we hope to have a completely closed in building by late summer. We've chosen the vinyl siding, steel roof, windows and trim. We'll do the wiring, insulating and sheet rock/indoor siding ourselves.

The creek water level was way down from our last visit. It's still a really birdy place though.

Chestnut-sided Warblers are singing everywhere.

American Redstarts are nesting near one of the tall spruce behind the camper.

We enjoyed watching these White-breasted Nuthatch babies beg (and beg and beg and beg) for food from their tired looking parents.
"Yank-yank-yank-yank-yank-yank-yank"

I love the song of the Red-breasted Grosbeak. Any opinions out there- is this a first year male? He sure looks tatty.

Red-eyed Vireo's song is a bit repetitious.

On one of our trips in to town to the hardware store I spotted two Purple Martin houses. They were just outside the nursing home. There were several faces in the windows watching the Martins swoop and dive. A friend gave me an old Martin house. I'll need to find out from Katdoc if our place at Hasty is a good spot for Purple Martins.

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I left my feeders up and filled two weeks ago when we were there last. When we arrived this time the poles were bent to the ground and the feeders were smashed and/or gone.

Bears.

I should have known better than to leave them because the same thing happened last summer in June. Art and I went on a long hike along an old logging trail through our woods. We came across an enormous pile of bear scat on the trail. Hmmm...

I know there are plenty of bears up there and I'd be thrilled to see one . I'd just like it to be

from a safe distance. Maybe from the high loft balcony!

Buddy

We said good-bye to our bunny Buddy this afternoon. We don't know why he stopped eating two weeks ago, but after several vet visits, many doses of medicines and force feedings that he hated, it was time to let him go. Knowing it was the right thing to do doesn't stop my heart from aching.

Friday's Fledgling

Country Roads in West Virginia

Cute vs Fierce!

Ruby-crowned Kinglets are adorable.

Cuteness cubed.

Like little olive colored Easter Peeps-

Couldn't you just pop one in your mouth?

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While I was watching the Kinglets at Hasty Brook I felt I was being watched. I saw a big bird- a raptor out of the corner of my eye. It flew from right to left behind me, swooped down twenty feet to the creek level and disappeared. I didn't get a good look but had a feeling for wide wings. I've seen Northern Goshawks punch through our woods chasing Ruffed Grouse on several occasions but his bird was smaller. I felt that the bird had buzzed me, it came pretty close. Later that afternoon, coming out of the camper I caught a quick look at a hawk flying off from the birch snag nearest the feeders. Same one? The next day I was quite sure I saw the same bird perched in that snag as I walked up the driveway. As I got nearer it dropped down into the trees and flew off across the creek. Later on, sipping a cup of coffee, it flew back into the birch. A Broad-winged Hawk!

It sat in that tree about twenty feet away and about fifteen feet over my head. I watched it for a bit, then slowly brought my camera up. It looked at me a few times and started calling. High pitched but soft, two part kee-eeee. It gave me goosebumps.

The birds at the feeders went silent and still. The hawk didn't seem interested in them. It was looking around the ground-

There- one of the chipmunks. The chipmunk seemed oblivious to the raptor glaring down. The hawk's head swiveled up and down, left and right but its eyes never left the chipmunk. Just as I though it would launch itself toward the ground, my dog let out a woof and trotted over to defend her yard from those wicked little "chippies." Poor old Gidget makes occasional half-hearted attempts to catch chippies and then has to lie down from the hard work.

The hawk flew off and I haven't seen it since. It was only a few minutes but it's a memory that I won't forget.

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Thanks to Susan Gets Native for confirming my id on the Broad-winged Hawk.

Seven Seconds With a Black and White Warbler

My sit still and wait method paid off.

It was seven seconds from the first shot to the last.

Hasty Critters

We put out a mineral lick last year and it was a huge hit so we brought a new one up the last time we visited. Red Squirrel found it first and that little tyrant defended it LOUDLY the whole weekend.

This is MINE! ALL MINE!!

I love to bring a chair down to the creek to sit and watch. I have the best success with birding by choosing a spot and sitting quietly for a while.

A mink popped into view. He gave me a look over and because I sat still he soon went about his business of fishing in the creek. I didn't have my big lens with me. He was actually quite close.

Uh-oh! Something's coming!
Our dog Gidget sniffed me out and came wandering through the brush to be with me.

The mink slipped off the log and started swimming toward me. When he realized how close I was he swam under the log to the right in the picture and disappeared.

I sat on the steps for a long time waiting to get this Canada Warbler. I had heard him singing earlier but he just wouldn't come out in the open. Not a great picture, but the best I could get.

My son John snapped this picture of our first ever Oriole at Hasty Brook! I had just set the hummingbird feeder out and in he flew. He took a long drink and was chased off by a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

Another bird along the creek was this Common Yellowthroat. He's a sneaky little guy, popping up for a look, then dropping back into the grass. A little pishing brought him up long enough for a quick photo.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers were paired up and mating. Look at how well camouflaged they are from the back.

They were constantly checking out the sap wells.

I got a lifer that last weekend- the Olive-sided Flycatcher! It is a decent sized bird that would fly quite high catching insects, then land up at the top of a birch snag to eat what it had caught. We watched for quite a while as it caught bees and dragonflies in the air.

I was pretty sure of the id but sent it off to Hap in New Hope for confirmation.

Thanks Hap!

Chestnut-sided Warblers were everywhere. I love these warblers. They're beautiful and cheerful and have a nice song. They also seem quite curious of us as we move about. I can always count on one of them to sit nicely for a photo.

Bird in a Bottle

Last weekend at Hasty Brook wasn't all about the fire. It was also one of the birdiest weekends I've ever spent up there. I'll be stretching it out over a few posts because there was such good birding. One of the first birds I heard was the Veery. A friend recently said the Veery sounds like "a bird in a bottle." That's such a perfect description. Have a listen here. Veeries sing up at Hasty all day and well into the evening. I remember the first time I hear a Veery up there a few years ago. I had never heard such a sound in my life and honestly wasn't even sure it was coming from a bird. That first summer I couldn't even get a look at one to identify what I was hearing. That was when I decided to buy a birdJam (hi Jay!). I spent quite a few hours scrolling through the birdsongs trying to find that magical song. Finally, I found it. I identified the Veery by its song! The next spring, armed with my field guide and knowing finally what a Veery looked like, I caught a glimpse of the Veery. For the next few years I looked forward to hearing its lovely song and I saw them a few times but could never catch a photo.

Last Saturday hearing Veeries all around me I pulled out my birdJam to call one in.

In he came! That Veery flew in and I don't think he left my side the whole weekend.

Sitting on the hill watching warblers, there was the Veery.

Down by the creek, watching the water go by, there was the Veery.

Sitting watching the sunset, listening the the Common Loons fly over to the little lake, there was the Veery.

I walked along the creek looking for wildflowers and there the Veery popped up watching me.

Saturday evening after the fire, and after we washed up and had our dinner Art and I found a spot to sit and relax, a spot where we couldn't see the blackened grass and brush and trees.

The air was soft and the light was golden. The Veery flew in and sat in the spruce just a few feet away. And he sang.

I like to think he was singing of spring and new life.