Eclectic travelers

WINGIN’ IT By Kate Crowley The lovely morning chorus of spring time and summer has been replaced by the loud and definitely non-musical conversation of crows and blue jays.  I should know better than to throw stale bread out into the front yard before going to bed.  It is a guarantee that shortly after dawn the crows and jays will arrive and begin to discuss with one another just who will fly down to harvest the manna from heaven.  The mild temperatures have allowed sleeping with the window open and there are trees close by that the crows like to perch in while they peruse the surroundings.  When I finally give up on sleep and listen, I wish I could understand crow ‘talk’, because something is definitely being discussed.  Crows have a varied and broad collection of sounds they can make, but the one we hear most often is the ‘caw’, but this too, can sound different when repeated in a fast and higher pitch.  This is what I heard from the crow sitting in a nearby tree.  It would

GOING NATURE’S WAY By Kate Crowley As we begin October we have the same number of daylight hours as we had in the middle of March, but alas, we know which way the sun is going and that the coming weeks will bring only shorter, darker days.  That is why a weekend such as this is all the more glorious.  It is the very end of September and the temperatures have been in the reached 80, with low humidity and hazy blue skies.  As Paul Huttner, MPR’s weatherman suggested this weekend you should, “Bike, run, boat, swim, putt, walk, languish, repeat."  These kinds of days are gifts of nature and need to be savored like the finest red wine. In addition we are being treated to one of the prettiest fall color seasons.  All that rain played a role in what we’re seeing now.  When trees are stressed by drought condition, they generally fail to produce the fabulous reds and oranges we’re seeing now.  I drove from Sandstone to Askov on Saturday and let my eyes feast on these colors in the

1032 East 9th St Duluth, Minnesota  (218) 724-3336 Rachael Hagen, owner A nice clean, uncluttered place for lunch, snack, or relaxation.  I loved the toasted sandwiches. Nice manageable menu with plenty to choose from and beer, wine, coffee and tea available. 

Wingin’ It By Kate Crowley As we reach the middle of September my attention has been captured by various events taking place in the winged world.  First there is the increase in Northern “yellow-shafted” flickers.  These members of the woodpecker family are only transitory in our particular neighborhood. Each spring we watch them as they come through, landing on the thawing ground in search of food. Unlike the other woodpeckers, flickers prefer terrestrial fare, mainly ants.  The reverse happens in the autumn.  These birds are easy to pick out when they fly away from you, by the large white patch of feathers on their rump and their swooping flight pattern. They will land in trees and when they do, you can see their similarity to the other woodpeckers, especially in the tail braced on the trunk. Their beaks are long and sharp, but have a bit of a downward curve. This makes sense since they don’t use them to pound on wood. They will head as far south as needed to find suitably