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Next stop was a couple of eagle nests. Just as we arrived at the first nest one of the adults brought in a fish for the babies. We sat and watched along with several groups of fourth graders from the Lake Superior School District in Two Harbors that were on a field trip.

Soon the other adult circled overhead carrying what we first thought was a snake as we saw a long tail hanging down. When it got to the nest we were surprised to see that it was a muskrat. The muskrat had most likely been feeding on grass along the shore and never saw the eagle overhead until it was too late. We showed several of the fourth graders the photo on the camera. Some thought it was kind of gross as the adult had eaten the head before bringing it to their young.

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The next eagle nest had two very young eaglets but no adults brought food while we were there.

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The one was stretching its wings in the first stages of learning how to fly.

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Mom is always close by either hunting or watching out for her young.

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The kits are growing and exploring more area around the den.

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Friendly Foxes 001

I called a friend of mine and asked if he wanted to accompany me on a North Shore wildlife adventure. We decided to drive along the shore and visit several of the nesting areas that we have heard about. Our first stop was at the red fox den that we had visited the week prior.

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Great Blue Heron 001

A very interesting stop for the day was a great blue heron rookery located west of Island Lake outside of Duluth. This year there are 17 active nests which have two to three little chicks each.

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The parents were very busy coming and going trying to keep all the little mouths full of food.

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I think it’s comical to see a blue heron land on a branch or roosting in a tree. They just seem out of place.

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A pair of osprey has their nest located close by and would dive on the closest heron as it passed by. The squawk coming from the heron just before the osprey pulled out of its dive was rather unique. Very loud and sounded like what you would expect from a dinosaur. It was a pretty awesome day of wildlife exploration along the North Shore.

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