Well, spring was definitely short and sweet this year! It seems like we went from winter straight to summer. We no longer need our jackets on these hikes, bring on the sunscreen and bug repellant.

Saturday May 24, 2014 we returned to New London MN to once again walk on the Glacial Lakes trail.  On our way to New London we thought we would stop by and visit the eagle nest that we discovered was occupied on our last excursion on the GL trail. Once in the vicinity of of the nest we started to see American White Pelicans and Canadian Geese with goslings.  Then to our horror we found that the eagle nest was gone. Since our last time here it either blew down or a branch had rotted away causing the nest to collapse. It was a very disappointing start to our day.

We then arrived in New London to start on the trail. Unfortunately we had to park in town and walk an extra 1/2 mile just to get to the trail. Oh well, on the way to the trail we saw some Painted Turtles and a Blue Jay. Once on the trail we started to see a Baltimore Oriole, Painted Turtles, Red-winged Blackbirds, Cedar Waxwings, American Goldfinch, Mourning Doves, Chipping Sparrows, Field Sparrows, Yellow Warblers, Catbirds, a Great Crested Flycatcher (another first sighting for us), a Clay Colored Sparrow (another first sighting for us), Bald Eagle, Black-capped Chickadee, Turkey Vulture, a beautiful Warbling Vireo (yet another first for us), Eastern Bluebird, Brown-headed Cowbird, and a Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

This excursion on the Glacial Lakes hiking trail proved to be a productive one as far as seeing new birds.  Here's to hoping some of the pictures will end up here on the website!

Happy snapping!

Karla and Aaron