LIght

The graduation ceremonies at St. Olaf were very nice.  Light was the theme.  Graduates were encouraged to let their light shine - not to hide it.  Each graduate got a lantern.  After the illumination ceremony in Boe Chapel, families went outside on the dark campus to find their lantern.  Lanterns lined the sidewalks that formed the spoke of a wheel on the campus green.   S'mores were cooked over campfires.  As usual, music played a big part in the campus celebrations. We listened to the band, choir and orchestra.  The actual graduation ceremony was held inside at Skoglund Auditorium because the weather was threatening (although it did not rain).  The orchestra played "Pomp and Circumstance."  Each family got 3 tickets for the indoor ceremony and almost 700 people graduated. The ceremony went alphabetically. At first, the families were quiet as their graduate's name was called. By the time we got to the letter C, more noises were made.  We discussed the merits of making noise. I offered to ululate. I know how.  But I have to practice a few before I get it right and I knew I could not practice at this officious ceremony.  When Offspring #2's name was called, I yelled but could not hear myself because Offspring #1, normally a quiet person, yelled so loud he about took my left ear out.  Wow, he can yell. We all had nametags to wear. Former Ole's had their graduation year on the nametag.  Most parents graduated in 1980 or 1981.  At the end, after all the clapping and appreciating, the St. Olaf fight song was played.  This is the first time I heard the song and frankly, it made me laugh out loud.  What kind of fight song sounds like a polka?  The refrains have a lot of "Um Ya Ya's" in it.  For each "Ya" and arm goes up in the air.  When I saw 700 graduate arms, 50 staff arms, and hundreds and hundreds of alum arms go up for each and every "Ya Ya's" I  had to laugh out loud again.  This truly was quite a moment.  Silly as the song is, it's still running through my head two days later.

Um Ya Ya

Here I am in Northfield at St. Olaf College.  I'm wearing a badge with my name and a black ribbon that labels me as PARENT.  How did this happen?  Where did the time go?  Wasn't it just a couple years ago that I sent her off to kindergarten in a red dress with puffy sleeves and a bow in the back?  Now she is graduating.  How did I get to be this old?  I must not have been paying attention to the passage of time all these years. 

The Acme of Roads

She didn't have to twist my arm or talk me into it.  All she said was, "Want to go for a ride after work tonight?" and I was there.  We left Blaine at 4.  I wore my orange neck gaiter (that matches my jacket and safety vest) to keep me warm.  I had a sweater under my jacket and wind pants over my work pants.  We filled our gas tanks in Lexington.  We took County Road 4 out of Hugo.  Part of this road is very scenic with a tree canopy covering the road, a sharp turn, and a tunnel.  I was leading the first half of the trip.  I beeped my horn in the tunnel.  I think my horn sounds like the Roadrunner - meep meep!  My friend has a Harley (say that in a deep voice) with loud pipes.  She pulled in her clutch and gunned her engine twice inside the tunnel and I  had to laugh out loud.  Meep. Meep.  VROOM!!! VROOM!!!  Being the leader means you have to concentrate more.  You have to pay attention to the speed limit and where to turn.  The leader really shouldn't be slowing down to try and identify birds like I was.  Once we got to Taylors Falls we headed into Wisconsin.  We made a pit stop at a BP station and went south on Highway 65 which is now officially our favorite road to bike on.  After a couple miles, the road went up and the road went down.  We'd come to the crest of a steep hill and could not see very far ahead of ourselves.  Suddenly we were facing downward and then up again.  It was like a motor cross track.  I laughed with joy and so did she.  The road straightened out a bit.  We went past some farms.  A group of Holsteins stood in a pasture next to the road.  One cow had her head thrown back like she was looking up in the sky or like a coyote howling at the moon.  All the other cows were looking at her in surprise.  The smell of manure wafted into our helmets followed by the scent of lilacs blooming next to the farm houses.  The road got hilly again and we passed through a river valley.  We kept driving until we came to Star Prairie (or was it Prairie Star)?  Coming into New Richmond we passed a Harley Davidson dealership and saw a sign for Osceola.  We had lost all track of time but our stomachs told us it was time to head toward home.  We parked on the main drag in Osceola.  The coffee shop where we had planned to grab a sandwich was closed.  We went to PY's bar.  They serve veggie burgers and fresh cut potato fries.  By now it was almost 8 o'clock and time to head home.  My friend led the way back.  Back in Minnesota we headed south to Marine on the St. Croix. Ahead on the left side of the road I saw a male ring-necked pheasant.  What does this pheasant do as we approach?  Naturally he waits until the last possible moment and then flies up in front of my friend.  I am sure that for a moment, pheasant was all she could see.  He had to fill all her vision.  Pheasants get a kick out of scaring humans that way.  I was glad not to be in front.  We turned back onto County Road 4.  This time as we passed through the tunnel, I pulled in my clutch and gunned the engine twice.  The Suzuki engine just does not have the same effect as a Harley with loud pipes.  There is no comparison.  I guess I will stick with the Meep Meep.   Soon enough we were back on Hwy. 61 again and headed toward Hugo. The highway there has lots of bumpy cracks going across the road.  With my wind pants on, every bump made me slide forward.  I would adjust myself further back on the seat, go over a bump, and slide forward again.  County Road 14 through Centerville is much smoother and I can stay put on the seat.  I have never ridden in the dark and I want to get home before the sun totally sets.  I wave farewell to my friend in Coon Rapids.  As I head north on Hanson toward Bunker, my engine starts to sputter, falter, and eventually quit.  The gas tank on this bike must have a high intake valve.  I switch the tank to reserve, start the engine, and stop at a Superamerica for more gasoline.  I fill the gas tank as fast as I can because daylight is leaving fast.  I make it home by 9:15 and it is dusk.  What an awesome evening!

The Owl and the Pussycat

The Owl and the Pussycat poem by Edward Lear

The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea In a beautiful pea-green boat, They took some honey, and plenty of money, Wrapped up in a five pound note. The Owl looked up to the stars above, And sang to a small guitar, "O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love, What a beautiful Pussy you are, you are, you are, What a beautiful Pussy you are." Pussy said to the Owl "You elegant fowl, How charmingly sweet you sing. O let us be married, too long we have tarried; But what shall we do for a ring?" They sailed away, for a year and a day, To the land where the Bong-tree grows, And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood With a ring at the end of his nose, his nose, his nose, With a ring at the end of his nose. "Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will" So they took it away, and were married next day By the Turkey who lives on the hill. They dined on mince, and slices of quince, Which they ate with a runcible spoon. And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand. They danced by the light of the moon, the moon, the moon, They danced by the light of the moon. See a video of the owl and the pussycat at http://www.wimp.com/catowl/

Kestrel Watch

I went on a tour of the Raptor Center last weekend.  The center has noticed a precipitous decline in kestrels.  Far fewer kestrels are coming in for rehabilitation. For the past several years, the Raptor Center has been keeping track of kestrels - a small raptor often seen on the side of highways.  Kestrels can be identifed by the black teardrops on their faces.  If you see a kestrel you could help the Raptor Center by letting them know.  Go to http://kestrelwatch.ahc.umn.edu/kestrel_home.cfm   I saw a kestrel on Sunday perched on a wire on Highway 47.  I reported it and found it took about 3 minutes (and that is on dial-up connection). 

MHIPS

On my way home tonight I saw a car pulled over on Highway 47.  I thought they were getting a ticket for a traffic violation.  The flashing lights behind the vehicle seemed a little odd; too low.  As I came up beside the car, I saw, to my surprise, a Minnesota Highway Patrol Officer on a motorcycle.  The officer was walking from the car toward the bike.  He wasn't wearing a helmet or a jacket when I saw him.  He probably took them off to do the talking.  I've never seen a Minnesota Highway Patrol before.  Twenty five years ago I knew this guy who was a CHIPS - California Highway Patrol.  The first time we met I drove four of us to a reunion party.  I was very nervous driving a officer of the law.  I soon got over that.  He wasn't any more law abiding than anyone else, may be even a little less than average.

Today I was working in the yard when I heard a first of the year bird sound for me - the red eyed vireo - also known as the preacher bird because it talks and talks and talks.  It sounds like it's asking a question and then answering it.  "One thousand one?  One thousand two.  One thousand one?  One thousand two.  One thousand one? One thousand two."

Storm Damage

What a wet and wild weekend. I can't remember ever getting 4 inches of rain in such a short amount of time.   One yard in my neighborhood is so flooded that the water extends halfway across the street and is draining all the way across the street toward the golf course.  I ended up driving through some down pours and storms this weekend.  While I drove, I thought about how the birds were faring.  Never did I think that an entire heron rookery would be destroyed.  The rookery near the North Mississippi River Park was blown over.  Injured herons are on the ground.  A birding instructor once told me about banding herons.  He said it was extremely dangerous because they aim for your eyes with their beaks.  Lucky that many herons were not still at the rookery at this time of year or we would have suffered a large loss of herons.  Capturing an injured heron would not be a good idea.  The sharp beaks and long necks make them very dangerous.  Mother Nature - both cruel and beautiful.

You Will Never Guess What I Saw

I saw an Ivory-billed woodpecker!!!

And I saw a passenger pigeon.

Here is a male (yellow belly) grossbeak on the left, a female (white belly) on the right and an intersex bird in the middle - very unusual.

I saw a live kestrel.

I saw a great horned owl.

Here is a bald eagle looking behind himself.

And I saw a barn owl - I love his face.

I went on a field trip with the Master Naturalist convention to the U of M St. Paul Campus. We stopped at a storage facility for the Bell Museum.  This is where they keep the stuffed birds, mammals and reptiles that are not on display.  A graduate student who is specializing in ornithological genetics showed us around.  We saw everything size bird from an ostrich to a bee humming bird.  The ivory-billed woodpecker was the highlight for me.  After that we walked a few blocks to the Raptor Center and had a tour there.  What a fun day.  How many people can say they actually saw an ivory billed woodpecker?

Troubled Waters

I've been at the annual Master Naturalist Convention this weekend.  Those naturalists sure know how to have a good time; such a great group of people.  Our keynote speakers were Barb Coffin (producer of the controversial movie) and Dan Engstrom (director of the St. Croix Watershed Research Station.  The film, Troubled Waters, talks about the future of the Mississippi River, the dead zone created in the gulf of Mexico, how the sediment load is filling in Lake Pepin, how drain tiles on farmland have changed the hydrology of our state, nitrate loads leaching into our aquifers from row crop farming, and sustainable farming.  The situation looks alarming.  According to our two speakers, the culprit is the farm bill that rewards farmers for high production of corn and soybeans.  If the farm bill was rewritten to reward other things, the plight of the Mississippi could change for the better rather quickly.  The movie was thought provoking and the discussion after the movie was even more thought provoking.

Finished Planting Vegetables

This photo shows a couple things I came upon while planting the garden.  On the right is a ring-top pull tab.  These sharp metal objects covered nearly all the pop and beer cans from the mid 1960's until the mid 1970's.  They were replaced by tabs that stay attached to the can because people threw them on the ground.  Besides the unsightly litter, these ring top lids were sharp and dangerous.  My house was built in 1975.  I wonder who drank the pop or beer and then threw this lid to the ground only to be dug up in 2011?  On the left is an elf on a metal stake.  This disabled green elf has a squash top hat and is a double amputee.  He has his hands held to the side of his head as if holding an invisible baseball bat.  I plan to wash him clean and put him in a flower pot.  Disabled elves need jobs too.  I hope this elf can find joy in his job after being buried in the garden for so many years.  I've never seen him before but I think he has a trustworthy appearance.  I think I'll name him Zeke.  As of today, the vegetable garden is planted.  This morning I planted four rows of potatoes in the rain.  I have 3 rows of russet and 1 row of blue potatoes.  I planted 9 tomato plants, 6 cabbages, 6 green peppers, green beans, carrots, pumpkin and sunflower seeds.  I also had garlic and some onion growing from last year.  I hope I get a plentiful harvest.

Why?

Why don't we hear about flying saucers and UFO's anymore?  For those too young to know, a UFO is an unidentified flying object.  UFO's used to be on the news and in the newspapers all the time.  Now when cell phone cameras, high resolution portable cameras and video cameras are so prevalent, you never hear about UFO's?  I didn't believe in UFO's anyway . . . probably . . . mostly.

Deep Water Passage

Don't read this book as a way to relax before going to sleep.  It's too intriguing and you will stay up way past your bedtime and suffer for it the next day.  Ann Linnea wrote about her adventure kayaking around Lake Superior.  She started in Duluth and headed up the north shore on the Minnesota side.  She was fit and motivated and determined and she still had a hard time making it around.  She wrote about moments of despair and feelings of failure.  Most of the time she paddled with a companion.  Several days she was on her own.  Ann is a spiritual person who burns sage and throws tobacco into the water in thanksgiving.  She calls Lake Superior by other names such as "She who is the biggest" or "She who changed my life."  Ann writes about the physical exertion and the mental toll this trip took on her.  She writes about her husband, her children, and her friends.  This trip was a life-changing time for her.  Deep Water Passage is an intriguing yet quick read.

First Time This Year

Today I rode the motorcycle to work for the first time in 2011.  Wow, it was cold this morning.  I really wish I had thought to wear my neck gaiter because my neck and chin got really cold.  I warmed up once I got onto the slower roads.  I had a meeting in Anoka in the afternoon. I love getting paid mileage for riding the motorcycle because I figure I'm really raking in the money.  I can't remember how much I get paid per mile but I'm sure I am saving more than if I drove my car.  The ride home this afternoon was great as well.  In fact, when I ride my motorcyle to work, the whole day goes better because I look forward to going home. 

Human Rototiller

I am a human rototiller.  I've been digging up my vegetable garden section by section. The garden is pretty big and has 6 sections divided by fence posts.  I limit myself to a 1/6 section at a time.  More than that isn't good for my back. So far I have 4 of the six sections done. I take a spade and push it in the ground with my foot, lift and turn.  As I turn the soil, I work in the compost that I threw out there last fall.  I examine the compost.  Considering all that went into that compost I am surprised at what little remains recognizable.  Besides leaves and grass, I add chicken manure, apple and other peels, cores, corn leaves and cobs, coffee grounds, tea bags, egg shells, banana skins, broccoli stems, and celery trimmings.  All I can really make out are peach pits and the stickers/labels from fruit skins.  All the corn cobs are composted into invisibility.  The egg shells have dissolved. The peelings and apple cores are gone.  All that is left is rich, aromatic organic material that will help my vegetables grow.  The earth looks great.  I see lots of angleworms (which is good) and no cutworms (also good).  I usually have my garden planted by the middle of May.  This year it will be later because of the late spring.  I took a couple days vacation this week to get the garden planted.

Very Veery

Unattended eggs on a nest in the wetland.



T

Betty spots a common nighthawk laying on a tangled branch on the left side of the tree about ten feet from the trunk.  She has good eyes for birds.



This was my last Saturday morning bird class.  We took a trip to Carlos Avery and spent 3.5 hours in the cold wind but we saw48 species so it was all worthwhile.  Actually, considering the cold, windy and at times rainy weather, 48 was a good number of birds to see.  We saw red winged blackbirds, Canada geese, Northern Cardinals, cowbirds, common yellow throat warbler, mourning doves, blue jays, rose breasted grossbeaks, tree swallows, cliff swallows (hundreds flying around the DNR garages), barn swallow, chipping sparrow, goldfinch, veery (we saw eight veerys-I can't believe it), chestnut sided warbler, American redstart, Blackburnian Warbler, Yellow warbler, red bellied woodpecker, blue wing teal, ovenbird, red headed woodpecker (very cool), yellow rumped warbler, ruby crowned kinglet, night hawk(also very cool), house wren, broad wing hawk, trumpeter swans, mallards, great blue heron, sandhill cranes, pheasant, loon, harris sparrow, ring necked ducks, coot, turkey vulture, song sparrow, starlings, palm warbler, Eastern bluebird, Kestrel, phoeb, flicker, wood ducks, pileated woodpecker, catbirds, robins and a crow.  I was very excitede to see the night hawk and the veery.  Last year I heard a veery while on a bird walk with some friends doing work on my section of the breeding bird atlas.  They heard a veery.  Then my friend played the sound of a veery on her IPad application.  The real veery responded to the sound from her Ipad.  They have a haunting flutelike sound - like tubes being swung in the air very fast. The night hawk was cool too.  The picture shows how hidden it was.  We showed other people where it was and even though they were standing right below the tree, they couldn't see it for a long time. This night hawk was like one of those magic eye pictures that you have to stare at a long time before you can actually see it.  The night hawk doesn't perch on the branch like other birds.  We can't even see it's legs.  It lies prone on the branch and blends right into the tree.  I am a little sad this class is over.  I heard Gene Merriam tried to get in and couldn't because the course was full.  But I am glad to have my Monday nights back and to be able to sleep in Saturday mornings again.

Work Gets In The Way Of My Life

Don't get me wrong.  I like my work and I'm glad to have a job.  During the summer months, I miss a lot of activity in the yard when I'm gone.  I put out hummingbird nectar and the level is lower when I get home.  Do I see the hummingbirds?  Not yet.  I trust it is humming birds drinking the nectar.  I saw the grape jelly in my oriole feeder was gone when I got home tonight about 6:30.  I got the jar of jelly and spooned some more in there.  As I was putting the jelly back in the fridge, an oriole was already at the feeder.  Finally!  Some validation for the sweet bird food I put out there!

Welcome Home

On Thursday night I got home about 6:15.  I stopped the car by the mailbox to get the mail.  Before I started the car up again to go into the garage I noticed a little chipping sparrow popping around in the driveway by the puddles.  I lifted my field glasses to get a better look.  Besides the chipping sparrow there was a white throated sparrow as well. I have never seen a white throated sparrow in my yard before. But then I saw some yellow rumped birds too.  Yellow rumped warblers were moving frantically about as warblers like to do.  Dang things don't sit still for a minute. I saw another kind of warbler too but I couldn't get a good look at it because of the rain on the windshield.  I started the car, wiped the windshield, and moved up closer to the puddle before shutting off the engine.  After a minute, the warblers returned. I was so excited to see three more kinds of warblers; all kinds I had never seen before. It was like having movie stars visiting.  I saw a chestnut sided warbler.  It took me a while to figure out that one.  I would look at it, search my field guide and look again. Eventually I saw the milk chocolate color under the wings.  I saw a common yellow throat.  Those are easy to tell because they wear a black mask and have a yellow throat.  The most exciting was a black and white little birdy with a very pretty splash of yellow and orange on the front.  Our creator must have been in a creative mood when the Blackburnian warbler was made.  After admiring warblers for about ten minutes from the comfort of my car, the rain started coming down harder and the warblers ran for cover.  I think I miss a lot of migrating birds in the yard because I have to go to work every day.  Later in the evening, I saw another bird I've never noticed in the yard before-two juvenile rose breasted grossbeaks were eating from the feeder.

Kelly

Last night I slept with the windows open.  At 3:18 a.m. I was awakened by an unfamiliar sound.  I listened to a chorus of barking and yelping from the north and east.  This barking wasn't from any neighborhood dogs.  These were coyotes howling.  Wow.  I haven't heard coyotes at night from my house ever before. Not as haunting as wolves, coyotes sound pretty awesome at night until I realized my chicken, Kelly, is still out there on walkabout.  She's outside, alone, and on her own.  Chickens have small brains.  I doubt Kelly even remembers this place where she has lived for three years.  My neighbor reported seeing a fox leaving my yard on Sunday morning.  I hope Kelly is still out there and will come home.  This is possible.  But if not, I hope the end came swift and quick.      D :

Letter

Kanabec County Sheriff

18 N. Vine
Suite 143
Mora, MN 55051

Dear Sheriff Schulz:

On Saturday, April 30, my sister and I were doing some volunteer work for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. We are assigned a route in Kanabec County and we complete a frog and toad survey three times a year. Our route is near Kroschel. We get out of our car ten times along this route and listen for frog and toad sounds that we have memorized. The route needs to be completed after the sun has set. On Saturday we heard lots of spring peepers, chorus frogs and wood frogs singing. As we left our fifth survey location on Teal Road, near 340th, we got stuck in a frost boil that extended completely across Teal Road. I had managed to get through several muddy spots already but this frost boil was deep and it was wide. By this time it was 10 p.m. I stepped out of the car to get my shovel and my foot submerged almost to my knee. We looked at the spot where the front tires should be and saw the front end of the car was in so deep, only part of the license plate was exposed. We didn’t know whether to shovel toward the tires or away from the tires. We had to admit we were stuck.

I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to dial 911 when stuck in the mud. We couldn’t think of any other options so I did make the call and talked to a woman named Susan for about a half hour. She offered to call for a tow. Later she came back on the line and said the first four tow companies refused to come out on Teal Road because they might get stuck. She told me not to worry; she was still working on it. I guess everyone but me knew better than to drive down this road. Later she said seven tow companies refused to come out but one said they might come out during the day. Again she advised me not to worry as she had a deputy calling local businesses for assistance. I hadn’t seen any local businesses and this was a low point in the evening until I realized she wasn’t giving up on us. With this 911 call, I had several people working on my problem. Suddenly I felt very important. Not very often have I had several people working on my problems. On this Saturday night, I was like a celebrity; a very important person. Susan asked us if we could walk back to 330th and meet a man named John in a black pick-up truck who would take us to the church in Kroschel where a deputy would take us to Mora for the night or else John might pull us out with his chains. From where we sat in the mud we could see the reflection from the street sign for 340th and we weren’t that excited to walk back to 330th. Susan told us that if we got scared or needed reassurance, we should call her back and she would talk to us while we walked. My sister and I walked down the road in the dark. We avoided the muddy spots as best we could. The frogs were still calling but we weren’t interested in frog calls anymore.

We met John and his friends. John was able to pull us out of the frost boil and set us on the road home. John rinsed off my tires and brakes at his Royal Flush business. He refused to take any money for his troubles. We expressed our thanks and promised to pay his good deed forward. Again I called 911 to let them know we were free from our frost boil and to say thanks.

I would like to express appreciation from my sister and I for the excellent public service on the night of April 30th. The kindness extended to us changed our evening from a disaster to an adventure. We will be running our frog and toad survey again on the same route at the end of May and the end of June. We hope all the Kanabec County frost boils will be healed by then.

Sincerely,

Orange-Sue


CC: Joanne Nelson, 911 Administrator

Diamond Lake

The weather on Saturday was so nice (for a change) that I had to go out biking in the afternoon.  I just couldn't get enough of the warm air and fresh breezes.  I headed south and west and took a trip around Diamond Lake in Dayton.  I headed west on the south shore and came back on the north shore so I would always be able to see the lake on my right.  On the far western edge, a flock of at least fifty white pelicans were bobbing on the water.  It's breeding time for pelicans so they get a strange growth on their bills.  They must think it's sexy I guess.  These are the first white pelicans I've seen this year. 

Living Green

Today I went to the "Living Green Expo" at the State Fairgrounds.   I went there to volunteer at the Master Naturalist booth for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Admission is free and even though it was Mother's Day and even though it rained, there were quite a few people at the event.  I didn't really have the time to look at the other exhibits.  I was in the Education Building and we shared a booth with Flourish Realty.  Actually the realtor is also a Master Naturalist and he thought we ought to have a presence there.  I enjoyed myself.  I just told people who were interested what I did as a Master Naturalist.  I don't mind telling them about the fun things I have learned and the great people I have come to know.  I met one woman who is signed up for a class in June and I promised to sit with her Friday evening at the master naturalist conference in just a couple weeks.  Today made me think about my volunteer commitments. Most of my time is spent doing citizen science projects.  Maybe I should think about mixing that up and having more interaction with the general public. 



1500th Post & Another Birding Trip

This is the 1500th time I've posted on the blog. Blah Blah Blog, right?

Today I went on another bird trip to Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge.  I carpooled with 3 other friends.  We saw a total of 32 species today.  At the beginning of the trip we stopped at the bathrooms near the entrance to the wildlife drive.  We saw and heard a field sparrow (photo). Now a field sparrow is not that exciting of a bird.  Just a little brown bird similar to a chipping sparrow but without the black eye stripe.  What excited me about the field sparrow was their beautiful song.  They sing like a monk - all one note.  They start out slow and clear and at the end they go so fast they sound like a ball bouncing.  Our teacher explained their song and the rest of the trip I heard field sparrows almost every time we got out of the car.  I remembered what they sound like.  Thinking back, I remember hearing these birds up at the farm.  We have a good teacher because I think I've got the song of the field sparrow nailed now.   We also saw barn swallows, yellow rumped warblers, starling, red winged blackbirds, Canadian Geese, yellow Warbler, Sandhill Cranes, Cowbirds, Great blue herons, blue jays, mallards, phoebe, bluebirds, palm warblers, double crested cormorants, rose breasted grossbeaks, Eastern towhee, trumpeter swans, northern Harrier hawk, Brown Thrasher, red tailed hawk, ring necked ducks, pied billed grebe, coots (old), turkey vultures, tree swallows, killdeer, blue winged teal, chipping sparrow, bald eagle and robin.  Our teacher was in the lead car.  She stopped her car because she heard an Eastern Towhee.  She impresses us all when she finds the little towhee on a branch on the farthest tree in the distance. She sets up her spotting scope and we all get a look at the towhee.  Towhee's are cooperative for us birding students unlike the warblers who won't sit still for a single second.  As we watch the towhee, trumpeter swans land in a pond on the other side of the drive.  Sandhill cranes are walking in the tall grass.  As we stand and watch, 5 trumpeter swans fly right by our group and three sandhill cranes fly near us in the other direction.  It's like Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom out here as the swans and the cranes fill the sky right in front of our eyes.  I tell you, we had a moment.

Fear

I was talking to a friend of mine about our experience Saturday night getting stuck in a frost boil.  "Was it dark?"  she asked.  I explained it was dark.  This happened after 10 p.m.  The clouds covered the moon and it was very windy.  Truth be told, at our fourth stop (the stop before we got stuck) I was feeling some fear.  Standing on the dark road and listening to the frogs sing and the wind blow, I suddenly realized that except for my sister's headlamp, it was black as pitch out there.  The road was muddy so we wouldn't even hear footsteps approaching.  I was standing facing south when I thought this and I swung around and faced north which made me feel no safer at all because whatever danger lurked could have swung around to the other side of me.  I knew I couldn't be swinging my body north, south, north, south for the entire five minutes we have to stand out there so I toughed it out.  But I have to admit, I was scared.  My friend asked me, "Weren't you worried about the people of the corn?"  I scoffed, "Corn!  We had no corn.  I was worried about the swamp monster."

Speaking of fear, on Thursday night I went to the gym to work out.  After a half hour of the elliptical I sat down on the leg press machine.  On this machine you sit in a chair and put your feet up against a platform.  I set the weight at 210 pounds and I push hard enough to propel my seat back.  I do three sets of twelve on this machine.  As usual, I had my tunes playing in my ears.  I don't look up much when I exercise.  This machine has the weights and instructions on a wall like structure on the right so I couldn't really see much to my right.  As I pushed my seat back, I saw a pair of hands out of the corner of my eye.  Then I saw the arms.  Someone was walking with arms extended straight in front of them.  Then I saw a tennis shoe kick up from a leg that did not bend at the knee.  My eyes widened and I thought, "What the hell?  Zombie!"  A woman came following the arms and leg and she did not have a pleasant expression on her face.  She didn't look pale like I would think a zombie would.  As she passed in front of me I saw another zombie coming.  A parade of people walked by my machine with their arms straight out in front of them and they were kicking their feet forward as high as their waist.  Nazi Zombies!  Twelve nazi zombies wearing spandex and quick dry fabrics walked by.   Eventually it dawned on me that they were playing "follow the leader."  Next time they went by they had another funny walk to do.  It was an exercise class.  Man, my heart was already beating fast before I saw the zombies.

Beauty of the Willow Tree

I love this part of spring - right before the swollen tree buds burst into leaves.  The maples have their tiny red flowers but most trees don't have a lot of color right now.  Just the willows show color.  Maybe because they're the only ones showing color or maybe just because they are "out of this world" beautiful, the willow trees catch my eye.  Willows do not have the gaudy golden yellow like the flowering forsythia.  The willow is more delicious in appearance.  The willow branches have a juicy, fruity, lemon-lime, citrus, ethereal beauty that makes my mouth water just to look at them.  A willow tree overhanging water is my favorite.

Hummingbirds Are Coming Back

Hummers have been spotted in Faribault today so they're on their way back.  When they get here they will tired and hungry.  They beef up before leaving but by the time they get here, they've lost half of their body mass.  Some have come from southern Mexico, others from Central America, and still others come from South America.  The hummingbirds can fly the 500 miles over the Gulf of Mexico without a break.  So get your hummingbird feeders ready.  Boil 1 part sugar in 4 parts water.  Bring to a full boil.  Allow to cool before filling your feeder.  Keep your nectar refrigerated.

Frost Boils

Ever since my incident last Saturday night where I was rescued by a knight in a shining black 4x4 pickup, I've been thinking more about frost boils. Frost boils.  Think of each word separately and then cringe.  I've suffered from frost bite and a boil on separate occassions.  Neither one was any fun.  The frost comes because these frost boils occur as the frost leaves the earth.  And they're called boils because they are round and bowl like in shape - much like a boil.  I googled frost boils.  Typical frost boils occur on the tundra.  An upwelling of mud scars the surface of the earth and moves the vegetation.  Contrary to popular belief, Minnesota is not the tundra and we do not have permafrost.  Minnesota frost boils occur on poorly drained roads when moisture from a wet fall is released in the spring.  Frost boils can occur in groups and make a road impassable for several weeks.  The only solution is time and warm weather.  Adding gravel or trying to grade the road is not  good solution.  The best way I can describe a frost boil is if that road was a cake, you would have put it back into the oven.

South of Broad

Reading this novel was, for me, like eating a Thanksgiving dinner with a full and delicious menu that included tidbits you don't usually get to eat.  South of Broad is a very satisfying novel.  Pat Conroy also wrote The Prince of Tides and like that book, this one had disturbing elements of mental illness, criminal behavior, and child abuse.  The author does a nice job of portraying the culture of Charleston, South Carolina; the haves and the have-nots; whites and blacks, straight and gays.  He obviously loves the city and now, after reading this book, I want to visit there myself.  Conroy is a little melodramatic but I like the way he uses his words and I really enjoyed reading his book.



Frog and Toad Survey Adventure

Last night a sibling and I went to Kannabec County to complete the first of three frog and toad surveys.  We had the same route as last year so we didn't feel the need to run the route in the daylight first.  We knew the way.  The route is on the back roads between Mora and Hinckley.  We were pleasantly surprised to hear the lusty males singing.  Spring peepers were peeping.  Chorus frogs were making their "finger on a comb" song.  And wood frogs were singing "Keck-a-heck, keck-a-heck."  After the second of the ten stops, we came upon a huge muddy spot in the road.  I put the car in a lower gear and plowed through.  After the fourth spot, we came on several muddy spots.  The car fishtailed a little bit in the mud and the f word accidentally slipped out.  For the fifth spot, we couldn't stop exactly where we were supposed to because it was so muddy so we went up a little ways to a dryer segment of road.  At each spot, we wait in the dark for five minutes listening to frogs and marking down our observations.  Teal Road has very few houses on it and as I waited for the five minutes to be up, I thought it was a little scary out here and I would never do this on my own.  By 10:15 we headed toward our sixth stop near Lily Lake.  I saw another muddy spot ahead so I stopped and planned my route. The right side of the road looked dryer than the left.  I proceeded ahead and promptly got stuck.  Really stuck.  I opened my car door and the bottom of the door touched the top of the road.  I had a shovel in the trunk. I popped the trunk and stepped out.  My foot went into the mud almost to my knee.   I braced my hand on the car to catch myself and shut the trunk.  I had to pop the trunk again but when I stepped toward the back of the car, my left foot would not come up out of the muck.  I could feel the road playing tug of war with my expensive left shoe.  I got my foot out and walked to the front of the car and shined a light on a partly submerged licence plate.  We didn't know whether we should shovel dirt away from the tire or toward the tire.  Actually the tires weren't touching the road at all at this point.  We were really stuck.  What to do?  I wished I had bought that AAA road service the last time I thought about it.  I suggested calling 911.  A friend told me that if you get a flat on a freeway you shouldn't change the tire yourself but call 911.  I figured this was similar enough.  I used my prepaid cell phone.

"What is the address of your emergency?" a woman asks me.

"I hope this is an appropriate use of 911 services," I say, "but I'm stuck in the mud on Teal Road."

"Yes, I see you are on Teal Road near 340th.  Would you like me to call a tow truck or would you like some phone numbers to call yourself?"

I responded, "Could you call for us please?"

After a half hour of being on the phone with the very nice 911 operator named Susan, we learned that seven local towing companies refused to come and get us.  One company said they MIGHT try during daylight hours.  She said she was going to call some local businesses and homeowners to see if someone had a tractor.  OK - that moment, when she says no towing companies will come out was the low point of the evening.  During our half hour conversation, I told her we were volunteering for the DNR and surveying frogs and toads.  I told her what kind of frogs we had heard.  She asked how we knew the difference.  So I told her what each frog sounded like and let me tell you, it was a little embarrassing to say "keck-a-heck" to a 911 officer.  She was very nice.  At the 40 minute mark, she asked if we could walk back to 330th.  A man named John would pick us up in a black pick-up and take us to the church in Kroschel where a deputy was waiting to take us to a hotel in Mora.  Or John might try to pull us out with his chains.  We said we would be glad to walk to 330th. She added that if we got scared or needed reassurance we should call her back. 

So we put on our gloves and slogged through the mud with our flashlights.  We saw the pickup lights approaching the intersection.  We introduced ourselves to John, his friend Bob, and Bob's wife Cathy.  John said he got a call from a deputy saying two frog hunting sisters were stuck in the mud on Teal Road and could he help them.  He said, "Is this a prank?"  John, Bob and Cathy were full of energy and high spirits.  They said we were brave to come out here and do this.  "Not brave," I answered, "naive."  They drove us back to our car so they could look over the situation.  John said he would be willing to try and pull us out or drive us to the casino - our choice.  We asked him to try and pull us out.  He decided he needed another length of chain because  he had to be on solid ground to pull.  After getting the chain and letting us use the bathroom in his dog breeding/hunting business, we went back to the car.  John and Bob hooked up the chain.  I made sure the car was in neutral.  John wanted me to stay in the car and keep the steering wheel from jerking right or left which would put me in the ditch.  And then John said, "This might be violent."  I could feel a huge dose of adrenaline course through my body when he said that.  To be a good sport I replied, "Bring it on.  I'm looking forward to it."  That was a total lie.  I sat in my car holding my steering wheel in the dark night praying for my life.  I felt a strong yet gentle pull.  The back end went up, then down, and then backwards.  He pulled me out of that frost boil and onto semi-solid gravel road.  I was free!  After unhooking the chain, John turned his truck around.  Bob said he would guide me with the flashlight so I would stay on the road to the turn around spot.  I should back up and watch his flashlight.  I didn't want to go too slow and get stuck again so I backed up.  Soon I saw Bob's flashlight ahead of me and saw Bob running through the mud to catch up. I stopped to wait for him.  He got me turned around.  We followed John's truck as he navigated through the frost boils.  You can really see the dangers when you are high up in a truck.  The road problems don't looks so bad from a Honda Civic.  Everytime we drove down the road it seemed like it was in worse shape.  Yet not once during our survey did we consider stopping.  During one segment of road I saw John's truck go from right lane to left lane and back to right lane and almost bounce into both ditches.  I said to Bob, "We're not doing that."  I learned later John was yelling, "Don't go the way I came."  Eventually we made it to 330th Avenue and I followed John back to his Royal Flush English labrador breeding/hunting business.  I was told to talk to the deputy and let them know we were out.  So I called 911 again.  I could tell by her voice that she was glad to know we weren't stuck  anymore.  Bob took a hose and washed the gravel, mud and dirt off my brakes and front tires.  And they refused to take any money.  They just spent 2 hours of the night helping us and must have used quite a bit of $4/gallon gas in that pick up.  We told him we would be back two more times this summer and would stop by with something for him. 

I think we will write a thank you letter to Susan, the 911 dispatcher.  For John, we'll get him a thank you card (with a frog on it) and a gas card too.  More importantly, we will repay his kindness forward.  I can't pull anybody out of the mud but I'm sure there are other kindnesses I can offer.

What an adventure!  I had a blast.