Little drive

I took a little drive today.  I wanted to see if the eagle's next SW of Barron was active.

I compared this photo to one taken in 2014, and the nest hasn't changed much.

I heard vocalizing, 

but the only eagle I saw was an immature chomping on a dear carcass, always lovely to see.

I only got a blurred image of him flying overhead.

So, I'll come back another day and see if I can catch any activity in the nest, 

it might be too early.

From the nest, I drove to Rice Lake.

The ice is going away and the birds are arriving.

Such a mix of ice and open water, must be confusing for the birds.

Out of my zoom range were two immature American Eagles on the edge of open water, watching for lunch I suppose.

Interesting scenery with the ice and water making patterns in the lake.

This American Crow was coming in for an ice landing.

His buddy was searching the edge of the ice for a treat.

A couple of swans were resting on the ice as Canada geese swam nearby.
I'm assuming trumpeter, but could not really see them well enough to make a firm ID.

I suppose the ice makes for a good nap spot, but seems cold to me.

Gulls are everywhere, I'm not up on my gull identification, so we will just call this a gull.

As I was leaving, I noticed the flags of the Veteran's Memorial were catching the breeze.

And tomorrow the forecast is snow, so it might be good that I took my little drive today.