The quest to spot a Snowy Owl continues. Many of the Wisconsin sitings occured along the Lake Michigan shore.  Seems an unlikely place for an owl, but we decided to take a jaunt along the lake shore just the same.  No Snowies spotted yesterday, but I added 4 new birds to my life list:

Common Golden Eye,

Barrow's Golden Eye,

Red Breasted Merganser (a punk rock duck!),

and the coolest of all - the Hooded Merganser. 

Mr. & Mrs. Hooded Merganser were fun to watch.  They spend a fair amount of time diving for food, and they don't pop back up where they went under.  They were unphazed by the icy water.  It made me cold, just watching!

Unlike many other birds, we had the opportunity to look at all of these birds a good long time, thumb through the field guide, locate marks that differentiate one type of bird from other similar birds.  What a luxury!  Song birds so often take flight before you can do all that is needed to make a positive identification.  This being Sweetie's first real birding expedition, it was an ideal way to learn how to make a proper identification.

We also spotted Greater and Lesser Canada Geese.  I suspect there were other species mixed in, but we were losing daylight so it became hard to see markings.  That will be a challenge for another day!  :)

Two Steps Forward, and...

...Oooops...One step back!  I sat down to sew on the binding tonight.  I was JUST thinking how nice it was to be back in my comfort zone.  Not trying to learn anything new...just enjoying some simple sewing.  But Murphy's Law prevailed.  I was, perhaps, TOO comfortable.  Good thing I recently learned how to rip properly.  I'd been using the seam ripper wrong for years. LOL

Despite my mishap, I got the binding on, and pinned my Lazy Daisy quilt sandwich. The room that has recently become my sewing room (until or unless DS1 moves back home) gets late day sun. What a treat to sew by the light of day, and I was serenaded by bird song all the while.  My idea of heaven.

Speaking of birds, the male goldfinches are half molted. They're losing their olive drab feathers, with bright yellow ones coming in. Right now they look like they can't make up their minds. I spotted my first robin on the first day of spring. I'd been hearing them, but hadn't actually seen them. Then I found a whole roost! I'm intrigued that the robins are back, but the juncos haven't headed North yet. My Peterson's field guide shows juncos in only the upper third of Wisconsin during breeding season. They won't be here much longer.

A little trivia about Wisconsin's State Bird: while other birds use song to establish territory, attract a mate or both - the (male) robin's song is not associated with these activities. The robin sings the most just before its brood hatches. They are usually the first birds to breed, and have two to three broods each year.

Happy quilting and birding. :)