Cascade Eagles

There are a lot of signs that spring has arrived on the North Shore. The eagles have returned and are busy fixing up their nests. There are several eagle nests along the North Shore as their population increases. The attached photo was taken at Cascade River State Park yesterday.

Osprey Return To Highland Lake

The Osprey returned this week and is busy working on their nest north of Highland Lake. On Monday they were hauling nesting material and rearranging home.

Pileated Woodpecker

One of my favorite birds to photograph is the pileated woodpeckers. They are Minnesota’s largest woodpeckers. This year the pair that hangs around close to Gooseberry’s visitor center is making a new nest just across the river. The male has been working on the nesting cavity for about a week and it is about half done. They make a new nesting cavity every year. On Thursday I was watching him work for about a half hour before the female called from a distance. She came closer and the male moved aside so she could inspect his work. She looked into the hole a couple of times and seemed to give her approval as the male returned and got back to work again. The male and female look the same except for the red mustache that you can see on the male in the attached photo.