Friday morning I took a sunrise bicycle ride in the Suomi Hills region of northern Minnesota. Boy am I glad I convinced myself to get out of bed early (sunrise is 5:15 am). The wildflowers are blooming like crazy, and the birds added a nice touch! If you have the opportunity to drive Mn Hwy #48 in the next week, make certain you slow way down and look deep into the roadside ditches about 8 miles from Mn Hwy #38. You will see thousands on Showy Ladyslippers. These flowers were just starting to bloom on Friday. Every one of these flowers was photographed within a two mile stretch on Hwy #48 (and the ducks).

Showy Ladyslippers

Suomi Hills Lutheran Church (and my bike)

Red Columbine

Wild Roses

Lupine

Tiger Swallowtail

Ring-Necked Duck and Wood Duck

Ring-Necked Duck and Blue-Winged Teal (a favorite perch, perhaps?!)

Thursday evening, a thunderstorm rocked our cabin on Northstar Lake, which cleared the skies for my sunrise bike ride the next morning.

The birds are back! Molly and I had a delightful four days at our small Northwoods cabin … taking long bicycle rides and enjoying the wilderness we so love. In my case, each morning started with birdsong long before sunrise. Two mornings ago I looked out the bedroom window and realized a great sunrise was in the offing. What followed was a delightful day both on and off the lake, but never more than a few hundred yards from our cabin.

If you are a web visitor from the Destination Duluth Facebook site, use the Northern Lights Viewing link in the blog menubar to access all the Aurora Borealis tools!

NorthStar Lake Sunrise

Looking for a good mate! (American Redstart and Red-Eyed Vireo)

Drumming for Women! (Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker)

The Common Loons are back (fishing with one’s significant other!)

America the Beautiful … one of our Bald Eagles at sunset

Not all birding excursions are successful. Yesterday’s outing was a perfect example of this fact … including gas station cuisine. Let me frame the scenario. Early in the morning I drove from Duluth to Northstar Lake where my family owns a small cabin. My goals for the day were to turn on the water system, monitor the bird nest I have been watching this spring, and finally catch a forecasted Northern Lights.

Wading into the cold spring fed lake, I soon had the water system working for another summer. Now it was time to check out the nest. Unfortunately my feathered friends were a no show. However, I saw lots of other birds and luxuriated in the fact of driving almost 50 miles on paved wilderness roads without seeing another car.

My birding kept me away from the cabin over the extended dinner hour. Thus, early on during the drive home I stopped at a gas station to get some food. In northern Minnesota where I was birding, the gas station was my only dinner option. Thus, I enjoyed two steam warmed cheeseburgers with questionable meat, and a banana … a true gourmet meal.

Later that night my Aurora Borealis display fizzled while the temperature outside dropped overnight to 27F (unheated cabin). In short, it was a great time up in the remote parts of my region. Here are two photographs I did take … a flock of Trumpeter Swans landing near sundown and the night sky outside my cabin at 1:00 am. Life is good!

The greenish glow across the lake in the Milky Way photograph is another cabin’s security light reflecting off the new spring green leaves.