A pair of ospreys is treating Fish Creek to a rare and amazing view this year, having built a nest atop a cellular tower near the Top of the Hill Shops right in the middle of bustling Fish Creek.

I spent a little time watching the nest on April 28th. The evening before, I had spied an osprey fishing in Weborg Marsh at Peninsula State Park. Needless to say I was surprised — ospreys are not a common sight. Well! Surely that was the male osprey catching a fresh dinner for his mate. On the 28th, though, fishing was done… he was now perched next to the nest, overlooking their territory:

If you would like to watch these beauties, please do not park under the tower. Do not stop your car under the tower. And do not walk under the tower. All of these things will freak out the ospreys, and they literally need every ounce of energy they can get, just trying to hatch those eggs and rear their young. Humans freaking them out by getting too close, may well cause the young to die. Please keep your distance.

That said, there are some great viewing spots. :D Try parking at Gibraltar School (after school hours only, please) and walking through the playground. I have sat at the picnic tables in the grassy area… this is an amazing spot to watch their nest!! Bring binoculars for a really close-up view.

Across the street you’ll find Sonny’s Pizzeria. Ask for Early. He can tell you all about the ospreys, he and his family watch them carefully every day. While you’re there, get one of their made-from-scratch pizzas, or my favorite, a cheeseburger & fries. Seriously The Best cheeseburger & fries in town. ;)

Was treated to a small, active, talkative flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls in Sturgeon Bay, just off the shores of Potawatomi State Park.

I currently use a Nikon Coolpix 5700. It actually takes very nice pictures compared to the little instant/pocket Olympus I used to use (before I killed it on a fire scene)………

As you review my pics here, you will likely be thinking, dang, her picture quality sucks!!! Well, yes but no. Here’s the thing……. most of my critter pictures are taken using super-duper zoom. The reason I went with the 5700 is because it has 10x digital zoom. I needed a super-zoom camera like that, because I can’t get on top of a 2500° structure fire, or crawl in an osprey nest, to get pictures of these things. The mega-zoom is what gets me on top of subjects from quite a long distance.

So consider that what you’re actually seeing, is a small little critter photographed at a LONG distance. With a point-and-shoot automatic digital camera, no less. :) Not half bad, all things considered. And sometimes I over-expand and over-crop my pics on this site, so you can see some of the important details that aid in positive identification.

My next camera is another story. :)

A big Nikon fan :) I have my eye basically glued to the Nikon D80 10.2MP Digital SLR:

What I like about the kit is that I am not floundering around trying to hen-peck the right pieces and parts to be fully operational. It even has the 18-135mm AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens, which of course is a necessity for zoom-freak here. LOL!!!!!

The Nikon Coolpix 5700 has been a great in-between camera… and I’ll continue to have some sort of workhorse camera like the 5700 for most high-stress photography (structure fires, accidents, storm chasing, etc.) and save the D80 for “safer” and more controlled scenes. It would break my heart to fry (or crush) a $1k SLR at a fire scene when a $400 point-and-shoot would have done the job just fine…

It was a blustery, snowy, windy afternoon in Porte des Mortes passage. It was, frankly, miserable………. much more typical of an early March afternoon than early April. But the snow was flying, the waters were rough, and I was waiting patiently on shore at Northport Pier, watching for my favorite ship on the Great Lakes, the Edward L. Ryerson, which was supposed to be upbound to Escanaba. On a clear day, she’d be perfectly visible. Not that day though. Snow squalls blocked the view.

But what did keep me happily entertained was a flock of delightful divers, clearly on a rest-stop during their migratory journey northward. The mixed-flock appeared to be Buffleheads and Scaups at first glance, but once I downloaded the pictures and carefully scrutinized them, only then did I realize I’d seen even more!!

Picture #1: Male and female Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola), the smallest of the diving ducks, were present in force.

Picture #3: Also present were many male and female Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) … I suppose it is possible that a couple of Greater Scaups were in there as well, but the water was rough, and the wind brisk, making the necessary really clear pictures impossible.

Picture #2: Without a doubt, however, I did capture at least one male Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris). His white shoulder patch and white ringed bill are unmistakable.

The birds were still there on April 8, 2007 when I returned for the actual passage of the Ryerson through Porte des Mortes. The weather was no nicer on the 8th, though.