Eclectic travelers

WINGIN’ IT By Kate Crowley I stood on the deck under a somber, colorless sky and watched the chickadees and juncos hop around and flit back and forth to the feeders.  When I first walked out the door they all scattered, but it doesn’t take long for these little birds to return to the business of feeding.  One of these days I’m going to find a place to sit near the feeders and see just how long it takes for them to overcome their natural wariness and begin to feed around me.  I also noticed a couple chickadees sitting within the tangled branches of the mock orange shrubs next to the sidewalk.  I was only 3 feet away from one of them, but it continued to industriously peck at the sunflower seed held in its foot.  There is an easy comfort standing so close to a small bird like this.  Beneath this shrub there is a spray of shells indicating the popularity of this dining area. The same can be seen beneath the other mock orange and beneath the lilac sh...

WINGIN’ IT By Kate Crowley The past week has been so dreary and gray that not even the birds coming to our feeders could brighten the mood, especially when the temperatures got into the 40s and all of our snow turned to puddles and slush.  I desperately needed some cheer and brightness, so I turned to animation. Yes, it was the Penguins of Madagascar that finally made me smile and feel cheerful again. My ten year old grandsons were as excited to go as I was.  There is no age limit on the need for laughter.  The overriding theme of the movie is that everyone loves penguins.  I’d have to agree. How can you not be captivated by these waddling, tuxedoed lovers of snow and ice? The truth is that not all penguins live in the Antarctic regions and none live in the Arctic, or as some cartoons would have us believe - the North Pole.   All 17 species of penguins are found only in the Southern Hemisphere, ranging from the ice shelves of the Antarctic to the G...

WINGIN’ IT By Kate Crowley From the looks of things it appears we are in for a long winter.  The jet stream is following the same path we saw last winter and getting stuck in one pattern with the arctic air shooting straight down through Minnesota.   While these cold temperatures are going to put a strain on our heating resources in the coming months, we can’t forget the impact it will have on wildlife.  The 12 inches of snow that fell last week has covered up the dried grasses at an earlier date and so the availability of natural food resources for the seed eating birds is greatly reduced.  If ever there were a year to hang up bird feeders around your home, this would be it.  Most people put out seeds of one sort or another; we highly recommend the black sunflower seeds because they provide more protein and fat than some of the mixes which might include millet or corn.  You will find that squirrels and non-native birds like starlings and hou...

GOING NATURE’S WAY By Kate Crowley Last week while we were traveling on the Mississippi River, I began to notice strands of filament floating above the water.  They almost looked like fishing line, but they were out in the middle of the river and drifting at least 20 feet above the surface.  Later on we noticed that the bow of the boat (it is a Paddlewheel) was festooned with streamers of the same type of filament, all caught on the rigging and ropes and streaming to the right with the wind.  I had realized by this time that we were seeing the apparatus and migratory technique used by some spiders, called ballooning .   Charles Darwin noticed the same phenomena when he was traveling aboard the Beagle on his epic voyage of discovery.  In his notes he wrote “In the evening all the ropes were coated & fringed with Gossamer web. I caught some of the aeronaut spiders, which must have come at least 60 miles: How inexplicable is the cause which i...

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...

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...

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.