Grumbleeze

It's a beautiful thing... the Osprey. We saw this one sitting atop our flagpole at the lake. Didn't know what kind of bird until we got home and checked Roger Tory Peterson's "A Field Guide to the Birds." Another thing we didn't know... until we looked at the photo on a computer... it was banded. Not sure... does that mean he's an endangered species? All I know is that somebody is keeping track of the bird and it's migratory habits when it's banded. We see a lot of migratory birds in Michigan this time of year. It's the first time we saw this fellow and at first - and until we identified it in the bird book - we thought it might be a bald eagle.

We learned that the Osprey is the only raptor that plunges into the water - feet first! Maybe he actually lives around our lake. Could be we haven't seen him before because he's shy! The wonders of nature are marvelous, are they not?