Notes from the North Country
gregladen | June 12, 2009Someone asked me at dinner "What time did you get up" and as I was trying to remember what time I woke up this morning, and kinda wondering why she was asking me that, my wife answered for me: "Noon."
So I'm thinking "Why does Amanda think I woke up at noon. As a matter of fact, at noon, we were just arriving at the cabin up here .... oh ... " ...brain kicks in ... "we got up here a noon. Got it."
At noon. We got Up. To The Lake. ... It's a Minnesota thing.
Today I heard about a maple tree that fell in half .... the top half fell off ... because woodpeckers nested in it and overdid the…
gregladen | April 25, 2009This was not an intensive bird watching day. This was a day driving to the cabin, sitting in the cabin writing, looking out the window, driving to run an errand, going to town for dinner, sitting in the cabin looking out the window some more, etc.
But the birds insisted on performing. So I thought I'd give you a list.,
En route north from the Twin Cities:
Two probable trumpeter swans heading west.
A flock of about 45 cormorants heading north. Leech Lake look out!
Near Fort Ripley: Rough Legged Hawk?
Blue Jay
Nisswa, overlookng Round Lake: Bald Eagle in tree
Lesser Scaup (small flock)
At…
gregladen | October 26, 2008The lake is icy-green and in the distance almost blends into the sky through a fast moving fog bank. The bald eagles (a pair and one offspring) are up to something in the back, one of them making swings over the bay and then back into the yard where they are vocalizing quite a bit. The pair of loons that always nests on the point a few hundred meters across the bay have changed to their winter plumage and are actively feeding just outside the cabin, and have been for two days. This year, they did not successfully raise an offspring, which is unusual. so we didn't get to see the cute baby…
gregladen | August 25, 2008They say Lake Itasca is the source of the Mississippi. This is why there is a big state park surrounding the lake, a park that preserves some beautiful old forest despite the best efforts of 19th century lumberjacks to cut it down.
Amanda next to the tallest white pine tree in Minnesota I've been to Itasca a number of times, and I've even done archaeological research there (which didn't turn out to be very interesting). But when I went to Itasca last week, it was my first visit with no work agenda, and I got to spend more time poking around and seeing the sights. I was visiting because…
gregladen | March 16, 2008So we arrive at the cabin, and something seems amiss. With each new clue uncovered, we are at first disturbed, then aghast, and finally, astonished. None of it made very much sense until we found the note. Wow. The note.
The reason we were there at all was to drop off an old refrigerator and to check on things. There are two cabins, one semi-heated for winter, the other closed down, and into the second of these we would haul the fridge, staying for the night in the first.
Someone noticed a bag of cans, mostly soda, and some beer bottles, not our brand, sticking out of the snow. Since…
gregladen | March 4, 2008As spring approaches, so does fishing opener. My tackle is at the cabin. I'll go there soon and begin preparations, stopping at the Mule Lake Store to pick up a fresh License. The following is the preliminary draft of my list of things to do. This list includes both things to do in preparation, as well as New Year of Fishing Resolutions.
To Do List:
Take everything out of the tackle boxes and put it all back in, organized.
Throw out all the bits of live (now dead) bait and other bits of unrecognizable organic matter.
Cut the second and third hooks off of recently acquired treble-…
gregladen | January 5, 2008An innovative computer hacker stuffs a computer inside a beaver.
No everyone knows about Cabin Culture. It is a key aspect of culture here in Minnesota, though it is certainly not confined to the North Star State. Many True Minnesotans have a cabin on a lake somewhere in their life. They either own it or a family member owns it or it is part of resort they visit often.
In the cabin is a lot of Cabin Kitch. Salt shakers that look like bears. A door knocker that looks like a fish. A match holder that looks like a loon. A foot stool that looks like (and sometimes is) a baby bear.
It…
gregladen | January 2, 2008Corey at 10,000 birds has an interesting post weighting the value of gray squirrels as a visitor to your bird feeder, vs. the nuisance they cause as a visitor to your bird feeder. Last summer, I found a way to combine both perspectives.
Up at the cabin, the habitat is mixed woodland, so we have a high diversity of squirrel species. I assume there are flying squirrels buzzing around at night; There are marmots, but not many. There has been one red squirrel often seen near the wood pile; and in June, there was a pair of gray squirrels, seen most often, not surprisingly, at the bird feeder…