Category Archives: Year 7

NorthStar Lake Common Loon Sunset Cruise

Year 7

Summer! Okay, as I compose this post it is only 39F at 6 am, but here in northern Minnesota we call that summer. Later today the mercury will rise to 70F which is heavenly.

Molly and I drove up to our remote cabin 70 miles south of the Canadian border. Although remote, three years ago a new cell tower was erected in the vacinity. Thus, we may now use our mobile phones. My youngest son and his wife have enjoyed this enhanced technology, and spent the week “working from home” on Northstar Lake … kinda nice. Yesterday evening after the work day was done, and a good family dinner / BBQ was had by all we took a sunset cruise on the lake.

Our first visit was to check up on our Eargle’s nest where I am happy to report all is well. Next we visited our Common Loon’s nest where life was also laid back and content. Loons nest right near the water’s edge where they are safe from land based predators. In this case, my friend is utilizing a small island for even further protection.

As we floated and watched the sun disappear behind the pines, this pair of Common Loons swam around us! Life is good. (human pictured is me … golden retriever is Finley)

Tomorrow morning I hope to check out a remote 30 mile long dirt road through a bog habitat. This road has been on my visit list for some time, but I did not want to first drive the route during the winter. If I had a breakdown or got stuck, it could have been days till another car came along, and tows from deep within the Boreal Forest are extremely expensive.

Sun has just set on Northstar Lake. Peace!

Birding with Grampa!

Year 7

In this Coronavirus world, the simple pleasures in life are the most important … including Birding with Grampa. Yesterday I took my two oldest Grandchildren (ages 10 and 8) birding. Their world has been turned upside down. In mid March these young children suddenly found themselves at home, not being allowed to visit friends or playgrounds, and elementary school was now conducted via distance learning. I know this Pandemic has been hard on everyone, but we adults are better equipped to deal with the stress. For young children their world has been turned upside down.

Thus, it was supremely important for me to be Grampa! Outings with Grampa are fun, and he always makes certain their are plenty of cake doughnuts with NO LIMITS on how many of these sweets one may eat (after all … I turn the children back over to my daughter … she has to deal with the sugar high … not me!). Ben and Mya were still half asleep when Grampa (i.e. me) insisted we leave for birding at 6:15 am. Karen, my daughter, had managed to get the kids up and ready. While some folks might think it would be better to wait for a later hour … they would be wrong! I wanted us to see birds … and we did!

Our birding excursion took us to the Fish Lake Nature Trails (extreme northern Twin Cities suburbs). The University of Minnesota owns hundreds of acres of oak savanna and prairie which is managed as a very cool nature preserve. Obviously habitat like an oak savanna is unheard of in northern Minnesota, and it is even quite rare down south in Minnesota. I knew from prior hikes that the trails were made for easy walking, and in early June the birds should not disappoint. Except for Saturdays, only the main trail is open to help wildlife not be bothered by us pesky humans. However, the main trails is fantastic, and we had it all to ourselves.

The birds did not let us down! In an hour of hiking, we saw close up (i.e. not requiring binoculars):

  • Bald Eagle
  • Baltimore Oriole
  • Blue Jays
  • Brown Thrasher
  • Common Yellowthroats
  • Eastern Kingbirds
  • Eastern Meadowlarks
  • Great Blue Herons
  • Red-Headed Woodpeckers
  • Rufous-Sided Towhees
  • Sandhill Cranes
  • Scarlet Tanager
  • Trumpeter Swans and chicks (cygnets)

The kids favorites birds were the Eastern Meadowlarks and Red-Headed Woodpeckers, closely followed by the Trumpeter Swan family. We all ate way to many cake doughnuts, including me!

Ben and Mya both asked for framed photographs of the birds we saw. Two weeks from today they will each get images that include the words: Birding with Grampa … and the bird’s name! I am happy to oblige.

Remember, if you have young children, or know families with young children … I am giving away full PDF copies of my children’s bird books. I want to help more than just my own family. Follow this link to learn more and download your copies.

Red-Headed Woodpecker

Eastern Towhee

Trumpeter Swan Family

Scarlet Tanager

Eastern Meadowlark

Kermit Lives! (and the Strawberry Moon)

Year 7

Yes, Kermit lives!

Now I will admit, I don’t normally photograph frogs, and my web site is definitely not 365 Days of Frogs, but sometimes one just has to take unexpected paths. For 10 minutes this morning I knelt next to a small pond and took photographs of Kermit. I had left the house at 4:15 am with my camera, and at 8 am I decided to stop by a pond … enjoy the bird song and have a late breakfast snack (late if you have been up since 4 am). Some motion on a log caught my eye. I reached for my binoculars and realized a large Bullfrog had climbed out of the water to enjoy the morning sun. Oh well … I thought. Breakfast can wait a bit longer! Incidentally, it was 33F at 5:30 am on Admiral Road this morning.
Getting up at 4 am to head to the Bog was tough. I was out after sunset last night photographing the Strawberry Full Moon as it rose over Lake Superior. The end result was I did not have much sleep last night. (as a fyi … this night sky image was taken with my Sony A6300, not my Canon SX70)
I also found a few birds at the Bog … this Gray Jay (Canada Jay) and Killdeer Chick (the mosquitoes were horrible).