We've always said that when kids come to visit us, it's like they are at a mini science/nature camp. There are so many fun things to see and do in "the wild." When I take my walks in the woods, I never know what I am going to see. One evening my dogs and I flushed up a flock (gaggle? pack? herd?) of baby grouse. Cute little things, but they sure could fly - and they made just as much noise as their adult counterparts; startling, to say the least. A few nights later, we flushed up another group of them. These guys were a bit smaller than the last, but could still fly up into the trees branches. Apparently the grouse population will be up this year.

From the sounds of it, we have quite a few owls in our neighborhood. Oftentimes one will hoot and shortly afterwards, another one will join in and they seem to keep a conversation going for some time. Just a few weeks ago, one flew ahead of me through the trees and then landed on a branch about 25 feet off the trail. He just sat and watched as I walked by, paying particular attention to the dogs. I felt like I was in a Harry Potter movie, and I waited for him to drop some mail for me! I even chatted with him for a few minutes. (Hey, it gets lonely in the woods.)

But, the most exciting of events happened just the other evening. Donnie had been observing the loons' nest across the lake. Once he discovered the nest, he took out his spotting scope so we could keep a closer eye on them. As close as we could tell, they only had one egg in the nest, but they were taking good care of it. It seemed odd to us that they were still nesting at the end of June/beginning of July. Then again, there are all sorts of variables involved with nesting loons, the main one being that their nest can get washed out if it rains a lot. (Remember back at the beginning of spring when we actually got rain?) Maybe this pair had to rebuild a nest before they could lay an egg or two?

The other evening, just as I was going to bed, I heard a commotion out on the lake. First the loons on our lake would shriek and carry on; then a loon from another lake would answer them. This kept up for about five or 10 minutes and I told Donnie it was either a birth announcement or a predator of some sort had gotten to their egg. We'd heard this commotion some years ago, and that time it was because something had gotten to the eggs.

This time, however, it was a birth announcement! Ever since that evening, we've had a grand old time watching the proud parents with their young 'un. Now that it is born, it's not out of danger - we still have to worry about a turtle or even an eagle snatching it up. But, it is sticking very close to mommy and daddy, and they are doing a fine job of literally "taking it under their wing."

And people wonder if we get bored, living in the woods. How could we get bored when there are so many exciting things to keep track of?

You can reach Mary Bruemmer by e-mail at mary. bruemmer@pineriverjournal.com