Heston's Nature Notes

Feeding the Birds, and Occasionally the Bears, too

2008-06-17T05:44:00.000-05:00

This year, I have been attempting to feed the birds through the summer. Usually I only leave feeders out in the winter, and as I've written here, I often have numerous chickadees, nut hatches, and some finches. It is quite enjoyable to see all of these little creatures crowding in for sunflower seeds. So far this spring, I've had lots of purple finches, some vibrant gold finches, a few nuthatches and chickadees, chipping sparrows and even an indigo bunting. And of course, the hummingbirds are here. They've been back for about a month now.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that my stash of sunflower seeds had been disrupted: The large can in which I keep them had been tipped over. The lid was off, but most of the seeds were still there. This was the same morning that the garbage shed had been invaded, so evidently the bear had decided to look for fresher food than the bags of leftovers in the cans. But something must have scared it off before finishing the seeds. I put the lid on the can, and resolved to remember to bring it, and the feeder, in before I went to bed that night.

Of course, I forgot. I'm fifty now, and they tell me it will only get worse. At two a.m. I remembered, but only after hearing the ruckus on the porch, one story down from my bed. I got up, muttering something about "....that darned bear...", and Greg joined me in my pursuit. We turned on the outside lights, and saw a small bear across the driveway, standing up to reach the feeder on a pole. And there on the porch, half-buried in the tin can of sunflower seeds, was the mama. To my surprise, there was a second little one sitting next to her, loudly crying. We watched for a few moments, long enough to see her get upset with the crybaby. She pulled her head out of the can and let out a very fierce reproach that startled even me, on the other side of the window. At this point, we knew that it was time to put an end to the antics, so Greg moved toward the door, and then rapped on the window. I snapped open and shut another window, and all of that noise was enough to scare the mama and baby on the porch. The mom took off running down the steps, and baby two quickly climbed down the post. They dashed across the driveway, joined baby one, and headed off into the woods. Greg and I brought the can inside, but left the feeder, since it was now in three pieces on the ground, empty of seed.

A half hour later, they were back. Greg said something about "that mama needing some negative reinforcement." She was back up on the porch, this time further in to the front, screened area. We have two other cans out there, but one contains charcoal, the other has grass seed in it. Again we rapped on the windows and she started to run off the porch. Greg threw a chunk of firewood at her, and she ran across the driveway. Meanwhile, the baby near her had climbed into the pine tree just off the corner of the porch. I was ready with the camera, and Greg got two good pictures of the little one before it scampered away with the rest of the family.

(Note: Trouble uploading pictures--I'll try again later.)

Fortunately, that negative reinforcement did the job. They didn't return that night. I've heard that it takes three weeks to change a habit. Why then, does it only take two nights for a bear to pick up the habit of looking on our porch for sunflower seeds? Paul says he sometimes hears them return in the late evening, make a run up the porch to check things out, then head off into the night.

Bear Encounters

2008-06-16T17:30:00.001-05:00

The cool weather this spring has delayed the typical plant growth in the forest. The trees took some extra time to leaf out, and the flowers and underbrush are behind, too. I went to gather some wildflowers to put in to a cabin, and it was slim pickings. This is just a minor inconvenience for me, but for the animals, it is a much more serious issue.

In particular, I have read that the bears are challenged in finding enough food to fill their bellies after the long winter. Strawberry blossoms are just starting to peek out, so it will be a while before that fruit is available. The blackflies are still very much with us, and that has me thinking that they haven't finished their job of pollinating the blueberries, so we will wait longer yet for those tasty treats. The foliage on the thimbleberry bushes is still quite small. It all adds up to very little sustenance for the bears. And that means that they are looking elsewhere.

If we have bears in camp, their first stop is the garbage shed. I wrote three years ago how Addie and I were dealing with a bear when Greg and the boys were on a trip to Alaska. That time, I put a hasp with a turning clasp on the shed door, and the bear took one look at it and tossed it on the ground. Never mind that it took me about a half hour to properly install it, with my limited powertool skills. Since then, we haven't had that many intruders, so a new system for locking up the garbage shed has never been installed. When Greg had built the new door some years back, he planned to finish it with quarter iron all around the edge. That way a bear would have a difficult time getting a good purchase on it, as they can with wood. With no immediate need to do this, it fell lower on the priority list.

Until a few weeks ago, that is. I noticed the door open wide on the shed one day, and there on the ground at the base of the porch was all the evidence of a bear binge. We've been through this drill before....we know to follow the trail, with rake and shovel, well into the woods, to pick up the garbage strewn about. This time we were lucky that the shed wasn't very full, so it was only a bag or two that needed to be cleaned up. Greg took care of it, and when he came back inside, he complained that he could still smell bear. I couldn't, so I have no idea what bear smells like.

That day, he cleared his schedule and worked on the door. He put the iron in place, and then worked on a new latch. The one that he came up with, to me, is a real stroke of genius. If a bear can figure this one out, I'll be a monkey's uncle...or aunt, as the case may be.

So far, so good. The garbage has stayed in the shed, and the ground has been clear. We're one step ahead of the bear.

Spring Music in the Woods

2008-06-03T09:05:00.000-05:00

We've been having some fun with the white throated sparrows lately. Greg can whistle the exact song of these sweet little birds. One day while we were enjoying our lunch on the side porch, we heard several sparrows singing in the yard. So he started to sing back. It wasn't long before a couple of them flew to the trees near to us, trying to find this new neighbor they were hearing. I got to see a little one in the white pine by the corner of the porch, and was able to capture a photo while he was singing.

I love how they lift up their little heads and how their little chests puff out while they sing.

Another bird enounter we had was with a pair of killdeer. Our neighbors had been telling us about these birds and their behavior. When we looked it up in the bird book, the description fit them to a T. If they have a nest nearby, they will leave it and make a big show of acting like they have an injured wing. This is to distract the "predator" from the nest. We watched both of the birds do this little act several times for us, and as we retreated, they would get up and then find a new spot to do it again. It was quite a thing to watch. We didn't look for the nest, as we didn't want to disturb any little ones. We did get a few photos and video clips of the adults. I am impressed with how well they blend in to the background scenery.

Last week, Paul spotted an indigo bunting in the birch tree right outside of our window. I had not seen one before, so that was a fun sighting. And finally, on a recent walk on the side road, I heard a lot of chittering noises as I approached a large aspen tree. Looking up, I noticed a small hole, and somebody poking a beak out of it. A mama hairy woodpecker flew out, and went to a neighboring tree to peck for insects. While she was gone, those babies in the tree made such a loud ruckus, I thought for a moment that the tree was shaking. She kept up a steady chirp to them, in between her peckings, but it didn't calm them one little bit. I continued on my walk, but paused again as I passed by on my return. The little ones were still making a fuss, though not as loudly. Evidently, their mama must have found enough bugs to keep them satisfied for a bit.

This time of the year it is a real pleasure to wake up early in the morning. The chorus that greets me is a wonderful reminder that spring is really here.

Good Fishing...and Catching

2008-06-02T22:12:00.000-05:00

There's been some serious fishing--and catching--going on in these parts lately! The late spring has kept the water temperature on the cool side, and that means that the fish are still in relatively shallow waters. These good looking lake trout were caught by the Olson Family, and they reported having an excellent time fishing. We heard that the bass are biting also. The mosquitoes are biting, too, and I'm told that means that the walleyes will be hungry. I haven't seen many of those since the week after the ice went out. Hopefully reports for those will start rolling in any day now.

Something else rolled in today instead....a big grey cloud of smoke. Greg and I first noticed it mid-morning, while we were out in a boat. This was my first boat ride of the season, and we went to check out the progress of the cabin-building on the lake. I smelled the smoke before I really noticed it. The wind was coming from the northwest, and the far western end of the lake was looking quite hazy. I asked Greg if he thought that maybe he was going to be called upon to go help fight a fire, but he didn't think so. He said that if this was a fire that was nearby and just starting, we would see a plume of smoke, not a blanket. He said that this was probably someone else's fire. Sure enough, when we got home, we learned that it was actually smoke that had blown down from fires in Manitoba and Ontario. We just happened to be in the path that the wind was blowing. It's been so wet this spring, it would have surprised us if the fire had been close to us.

What I found most interesting, though, was how the scent of that smoke in the wind immediately flooded me with memories of a year ago. I was changing beds in Tamarack cabin, and found myself thinking about doing that same task last year, and I could remember for whom I was getting the cabin ready: On Sunday night, it was for our friend Mark, evacuated from the end of the trail. On Tuesday night, it was another friend named Mark, and his son Nathan, coming up from Duluth to help us set up sprinkler heads. Other cabins were in stages of use for Forest Service personnel, the early waves of people working the fire before all of the staging area was in place. I could remember vivid details of the moments in those days. Maybe my memory isn't failing me as badly as I sometimes think it is! I know that the sense of smell is a powerful reminder, and today reinforced that for me.

As I was sitting this evening and knitting on my current sock project, we noticed how pretty the colors were in the sky. They just happened to coordinate with the colors in my yarn. This is another result of the smoke in the air--it often brings beautiful sunsets.

The Rest of the Wolf Story

2008-05-23T16:17:00.002-05:00

Back on May 4th, I had the stroke of good fortune to be able to see and photograph a wolf in our yard. The wolf had taken down a deer right behind Greg's workshop, and for the next couple of hours, I watched from a perch just several feet away. You can read my blog post and see some of the photos here.

I re-read it today, and saw that I had not yet followed up with the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say. We kept a fairly close watch on the carcass that evening (when, incidentally, it snowed again). There was no activity, and I was afraid that I had frightened the wolf enough so that he might not come back at all. The biggest nuisance of that possibility would be that we would be left with a bit of a stinky mess to clean up. The next morning, we still saw no indication of the wolf's return, but we did see many ravens and crows, both for real and by their tracks. At least someone was making a meal out of the remains. Interestingly, though, by Tuesday morning, it was ALL gone. Sometime in the night, the wolf finally must have returned and dragged away what remained of the whole deer. All that was left behind were a few tufts of hair.

In the days since, I've had many opportunities to share my story and photos with friends and family. In the process, I've gone over the photos, and have a few more to share with you.

This was taken while I was still in the truck. The wolf had dragged the deer into the driveway from the north edge where he had taken it down.

It wasn't until I had this image on the computer and zoomed in that I realized what had happened. It turns out that the doe was pregnant, and the wolf took the fawn. This was the second photo that I took, and later on I could tell that the wolf was carying off another fawn, so the doe actually would have had twins. On my computer, I can zoom in enough to see that the little one had hair, and was fully formed. It had long, dangly legs. She was probably just a few weeks away from giving birth.

Last weekend, I was sharing the pictures and videos with our friend, Caleb, and his family. He is much more computer savvy then I am, and he offered to put one of the videos on YouTube. (Thank you, Caleb!) Here is a link, so you can see the last couple of moments when I was watching and filming the wolf:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xAercsPcD0

The Feeder is the Place to Be

2008-05-22T07:20:00.001-05:00

One of the most "happening" places at Heston's lately is our bird feeder. For many years, we have put out a bird feeder for the winter, and we enjoy seeing our little flying friends eat up the sunflower seeds. This year, with the long cold stretch that we have been having, I've left the feeder up, so that the birds can have another source of food. Mostly the spring birds that we have seen are the purple finches, rose-breasted nuthatches, and occasionally a few goldfinches will fly in. Some blue jays also come along, as did a red-winged blackbird, and they seem quite large compared to the finches. The smallest birds have returned, too. A hummingbird showed up on Saturday, May 17th.

I've written before about Greg's bird rescue service. When we re-roofed the lodge a few years ago, we dismantled the entrance to our screen porch. It still isn' t a fully screened-in porch, as we need to frame out a doorway, add a door, and the screening. Sometimes birds exiting the feeder will fly north, and find themselves in the screen porch instead of the outdoor air. Even with an escape route at the far end of the porch (i.e. a ripped out screen), some birds need a little help finding their way out. Most recently, Greg was able to add a flicker to the list of numerous birds that he has assisted.

These are such colorful birds when I see them at a distance--it was great to see one close-up.

If you look closely at my bird feeder above, you may notice that it is bent up a bit. Normally, the feeder hangs from a cup hook on the end of the rafter. That way, the shells fall to the ground below, rather than on the porch. On recent mornings, the feeder hasn't been on the hook. I checked the ground, expecting it to have fallen straight down. Oddly, though, it was on the porch each time. I didn't think that a bear could manage that feat. Those are typically the pests that we need to be aware of when it comes to sunflower seeds. Someone suggested to me that perhaps the pine marten was to blame. Sure enough, one day I caught him in the act. I think that I may have outsmarted him though. When it is hanging on this large hook, right over the porch, he isn't able to get it unhooked. I have to say, I am very impressed by his acrobatics as he attempts to get his booty. Alas, despite my good intentions of continuing to feed the birds through this cold spring, I have had other interruptions. These were of the black and furry kind. But that's a story for another day!

Getting a Little Wild Around Here

2008-05-21T12:21:00.000-05:00

While sitting quietly and enjoying my morning tea yesterday, I noticed a lot of bird activity out the windows. I got up to see the action, and a hawk was pursuing a raven. It was easy to tell by the flight pattern that he was mad. I am guessing that the neighborhood hawks that I mentioned a week or so ago might have eggs in a nest, and that the pesky raven thought about helping himself to some. No go, not with this hawk around.

Greg came in to the room, glanced out the same window, and said "Moose! Moose!" in a very loud whisper. I took a quick peek and then ran for my camera. The pair were right between the lodge and Tamarack, heading towards the parking area. I made my way to the backdoor and opened it before they got there. But they must have seen enough movement through the glass, as they started to move faster up the road. We watched as they strode up the hill, and then took a left towards the donkey pasture. Moose encounters in the past for the donkeys have resulted in indifference on Moses' part, and extreme concern from Jethro. While the moose never actually made it up there, we did see that Jethro was definitely on the job in regards to these intruders.

It looks like we have guard donkeys. Greg says that he could let them out at night, to keep an eye on the place. The only problem, and it's a big one, is that they would cause more trouble than protection. They love to eat the porch railings. And now with growing season upon us, they'll look for all sorts of green and edible treats. We won't be letting them roam free anytime soon.

Gone! Ice Out on Gunflint Lake

2008-05-13T07:20:00.000-05:00

Officially, Greg says that the ice out was May 12th. It was too dark to see if it was out on the east end, but in the night, we surmised that it was. The waves were pushing in hard from that direction, and once again, we woke up to the sounds of open water. It turned out to be one of the less dramatic years, as ice-outs go....I see white lines of ice pushed up against the Canadian shore, so we missed out on that part of it. Still, it always feels great to see that open water again, so we don't mind.

I walked down to the landing to get another view of all that water.

Just a few residual little chunks of ice left, floating out there. The temperature is only 39 degrees, so it is good that I chose to wear long johns today. It will be a bit chilly down by the water as we put those docks in. But it's a welcome task.

We've been hearing good things about the trout fishing. The last few days, the water at the west end of the lake has been the busy spot. Good catching and nice sizes. Now we can see what folks find out about the walleye fishing, as they head towards the east end of the lake, and on into Little Gunflint, Little North, and North Lakes. The water level is high, so there shouldn't be many problems getting into the next lakes.

Now, as I like to do every spring, I can quote from one of my favorite childrens' books: "Let the wild rumpus begin!"

Going...Going....

2008-05-12T20:23:00.000-05:00

Almost gone! 'Twas a very ho-hum day for the ice. It was white most of the day, which is totally the wrong color for this time of year. We didn't have much sunshine or warm temps, so I didn't have much hope for seeing open water on this day. Right around dinnertime, the sky changed again, and it began to snow. Each time this has happened lately, I take a deep sigh, and tell myself that yes, I do have enough patience to make it through this snowfall, because it certainly must be the last one.

Then, about seven-thirty, Greg glanced out the window and said, "Holy Cow!"

We looked out to see what he was exclaiming over, and saw lots of open water, about halfway across the lake. This photo was taken as a close-up of the north half of the lake.

And here is a shot of our bay:

I'm thinking that tomorrow morning we will be putting the docks in---Hooray!

P.S. It's still snowing, but it isn't sticking.

Nothing Fishy Goin' On Around Here

2008-05-11T13:15:00.000-05:00

That title translates to "Yes, we still have ice." Each morning I wake up and hope that I will see open water out there. Before I actually get up to look, I listen (the window is open a crack), and really, I have my answer by the silence that greets my ears. But one of these days, it's bound to change. I remember one year when we returned from a road trip in late April. The ice was black that day, but it still looked solid--like it wasn't moving anywhere. Lo and behold, though, the next morning it was completely gone. It was the oddest ice-out I have ever seen, or in this case, slept through. Most years, we get to see the ice actively working, as it moves against the shore and breaks into large chunks. We've already seen a bit of that. Today the wind is blowing, so maybe it will start to push up on a shore somewhere...Truth be told, though, we did have snow showers this morning. It ain't warming up any too soon.

Because the ice didn't go out yesterday, we weren't putting our docks into the water. And also because the ice hasn't gone out, our fishing friends are waiting to come up. With no fishing activity, we decided to grab a rare opportunity. The Grand Marais Jazz Festival was happening in the county this weekend, and we realized that we were free to go to one of the concerts. We hopped into the car, and headed to town to hear the Erin Bode Group at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts. What an excellent concert! We have heard these very talented musicians before in Grand Marais, but not on the stage of the ACA. The venue was great for their music--vocals, stand-up bass, keyboard, guitar, and drums. Much of what they performed was original compositions. One song, in particular, hit close to home. I don't know the title for sure, but Erin sang the line, "I've seen a thousand mice," about the first home she and her husband shared. I really enjoy it when artists let the audience in on their steps through the creative process, which she shared on this, and some of the other songs. Afterward, we had a nice chance to visit with the band, and some members of Erin's family, who are longtime friends of the Heston clan. We appreciated the opportunity to get caught up on all of the happenings.

One of the best things about yesterday was the chance to make new memories on May 10th, for it was that day last year that we witnessed the Ham Lake Fire on the Canadian shores of Gunflint Lake. That scene will be forever etched into our memory bank, like a video waiting to replay. It is nice to have a good memory in the bank, waiting in line for its chance to hit the play button. After the concert, we went out to dinner at the Angry Trout, for a taste of the fish and chips we so enjoy. We had done that last year, too, when we first reached town after evacuating. Our friends John, Liz, and Lily were there for dinner, too, and we recalled that they also had been at the Trout that same smoky evening the year before. So a circle has been completed....one year since the fire, a wonderful concert and a relaxing time at the Angry Trout. Life is good.

And to all the moms who read my blog, I hope that you have a very Happy Mother's Day!

Yet Another Woodpecker: The Black Backed

2008-05-08T20:17:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, while we were up at the end of the trail, we got to see a black-backed woodpecker, working on a pine tree in the burn area. I heard him before I saw him, and was delighted to see that it was a male. The little yellow spot on his head was the clue. Unfortunately, we didn't get a real good picture of him, but if you look closely here, you can see him just beyond the branches. It is not a commonly sighted bird, so we feel pretty lucky!

Our birdfeeders have been crazy lately with what Greg calls tweety birds. I've seen the usual chickadees and nuthatches, and we've been swarmed with juncoes and purple finches. The feeders and ground below them are a frenzy of activity most of the day.

Last week, we noticed a pair of sharp-shinned hawks flying frequently overhead outside the lodge. Our guess was that they were probably building a nest nearby, and in fact, Greg did see them make an attempt at mating. Today, someone stopped in to use the phone, and she said that she had just seen a hawk in the trees near the bird feeder, and it was pursuing one of the small birds. I don't know if it was successful in its meal, but it is a continuation of the type of events that I saw earlier this week with the wolf and the deer. Nature is so amazing....if I just keep my eyes and ears open.

Planting Trees--The Update

2008-05-07T08:42:00.002-05:00

Despite a day that started with a few inches of snow, planting trees on Saturday (and participating in the other planned events) was a boatload of fun. We had an energetic team of nine people join us to plant a plot of land near the end of the trail. Armed with planting bars, bags to carry seedlings, and lunches, we ventured into the woods to work. The day involved lots of climbing, and lots of clanking when the planting bars hit rock. That was a common occurrence, but we did manage to find enough soil to put around a thousand red and white pines into our plot.
The planting went much better in the afternoon, because the day had warmed up and melted away most of the snow. We finished at about three-thirty, and took a quick group shot before heading back to Gunflint Lake.

Many thanks to John, Amanda, Gregg, Cathy, Amanda, Erik, Lisa, and Kari and Matt for all of your help. I'm looking forward to going back to that spot at the end of the trail, to keep an eye on all of our little trees.

The weekend events included dinner on both Friday and Saturday nights in a large tent set up at the Gunflint Northwoods Outfitters. The food was fantastic, and the setting was great. It rained all day Friday, but the tent was quite comfortable, thanks to large heaters. After dinner that evening, Layne Kennedy gave a talk and presented a slide show of his excellent images taken around Grand Marais, the Gunflint Trail, and in the Boundary Waters. We got to see some older photos taken on a ski-in yurt trip twenty-one years ago (I was pregnant with Robert), and some photos on the South Rim with Addie when she was just five years old--and though she was on the ground in this one, she was already quite a good skier back then.

After dinner on Saturday, the dance band The Splinters livened up the tent with zydeco, polka, and other fun tunes. Many folks, us included, seemed to tired to dance, but we did enjoy watching those who had some energy reserves.

Sunday brought the Ham Lake Half-Marathon and 5K Run to the upper end of the Gunflint Trail. I didn't attend any of this, as I needed to mind the store (and take photos of a wolf!). Greg participated by working on radio communications in conjunction with traffic control for the race. From all accounts, the races went very well, and folks had a great time. I've talked to a couple of runners, and we agreed that it is an excellent course, even though it does include the triple threat of three hills at the beginning of County Road 50. How well I remember those three hills back in my short running days! At least for these runners, those particular hills were done in the early part, as they started the race at Gunflint Pines and finished at Trail's End.

If you misssed the fun this past weekend, I hope that you'll consider joining us for future festivals here on the Trail. Like I mentioned earlier, it was a boatload....and the ice isn't even out yet!

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Blogging....

2008-05-04T22:15:00.001-05:00

I was all set to write about our wonderful experience with the Gunflint Green Up activities, but that will have to wait a bit for some breaking news. Today, as some guests from Spruce cabin were checking out, they told me that they had just seen a wolf feeding on a deer, right out back of the workshop. I was so surprised--I'd been out just a couple of hours earlier to feed the donkeys, and hadn't seen anything then. They said, no, it had just happened, and that the wolf ran off when they came along. They added that the wolf had run just a short ways towards our back woods. As soon as they checked out, I went outside with them to scope it out, and to see if there was a good spot for me to camp out temporarily in order to try and get some photos. Luckily, the old Ford was parked about fifteen feet from the deer, with a clear view through the windshield.

I grabbed my camera, and climbed quietly into the truck. Past experience has indicated to me that a wolf will sometimes come back, and by golly, I didn't want to miss it. I fiddled with the camera, found a good spot for it on the dashboard, and then waited. And waited. I thought about all those excellent wildlife photographers out there, and had a hint of what it must be like for them much of the time. Still, I was going to wait. This was my chance.

About a half hour later, along came the wolf. I was so excited, but was able to get some steady shots, and to not alert the wolf to my presence.

I was hoping that the wolf had some buddies nearby, but they never showed up. This guy was in it alone, and he went for the meal. He started to pull on the hide, and sometimes had mouthfuls of skin and fur. Then he got into the meat of the hind quarter, and gobbled it up so fast I wondered if his mother ever taught him manners. Probably not in his world. He was quite intent on his catch, but he would pause and look around, keeping an ever-watchful eye and ear on his surroundings.

For a good hour or so, I alternated between watching him and waiting for him to return. He sometimes would grab chunks and haul them off. I don't know if he was eating elsewhere, or stashing food for when the moon is high. The crows were flying by some, but they didn't land. After they left the area, I heard and saw ravens. I thought for sure that they would land and get in on the meal, but they didn't either. In the winter, that is often a sure indication to us that something has been killed nearby. Occasionally we even see eagles land on deer carcasses. No eagles today, but this was an area that might not be so visible from the sky. When the deer first went down, it was right by the garden behind the workshop. The wolf dragged it a few yards down the hill, towards Spruce and White Pine cabins, but I still had a good view from the truck. But then it started to tug it to the other side of the roadway, and my view was blocked by some trees. In a bit of irony, it was the clump of birches that has a sign on it reading No Hunting. Hmm, I guess that doesn't mean wolves.

At that point, I got a little braver and decided to find a new post outside of the truck. While the wolf was in the woods away from the deer, I sneaked over to the stairs of the storage building that we refer to as the laundry building. I waited some more, and though it was windy and cold, the sun felt wonderful on my back. It took some more time, but the wolf rewarded me and came back to get some of his lunch. I got some more pictures. Then I decided that I wanted to get even closer, so I made a plan to get to the back of the laundry building. There is a porch on the back side that is higher up, and I figured that I could get a nice shot from right above the wolf...should he reward me and come back yet again.

So I quietly made my way to the porch, and took up a post at the corner of the railing, with my back against the door of the bunkhouse space. More waiting. This time it was in a dark, shady spot. I got colder and colder, and I tried not to move much, for fear of blowing my chance of seeing him again. This wait seemed like the longest of all. I kept thinking about statues, and stand-offs and staredowns, and how I didn't want to be the first one to give in. By then it was around two in the afternoon, and I had been watching and waiting on this wolf for about three hours. (Thank heavens that I didn't have anything pressing in my schedule today!)

Oh boy, did I get lucky....He did indeed come back in, and not only did I get some great photos, I was able to record a bit of video as well. A couple of cars pulled into the parking lot, and while he noticed them, he would only back off a bit, and then come back in. It was so exciting that I didn't want to stop the camera. But I knew that I needed to get back to the lodge, because I was supposed to be watching the front desk. So finally, I stopped the camera. Then I slapped my palm on the porch railing to indicate my presence. The wolf stopped, backed up a bit, but never looked up at me. He was going to eat some more, but I was so cold, I knew that I needed to go inside anyway, so I made a big production of noisily going down the stairway, and off he ran into the woods. Here is my best photo of the day:

It's a little gory watching something like this, but I felt a sense of privilege, too. It's rare to get an opportunity such as this, and I wanted to do my best with it. I have more photos, and so if you'd like to see some more shots of it, leave me a comment, and I will post some. And you know where I will be looking, first thing in the morning. I need to know the rest of the story.

Bright White for Green Up

2008-05-03T07:50:00.001-05:00

In the summer, when I see a group of campers beginning their trip on a rainy day, I say to them, "It's not quite what you pictured when you were planning this trip last winter, is it?" They tend to agree, but then we look to the brighter side and say that it's still worth going out there and having a good time, making the best of it until the weather changes (which it will). And off they go with smiles on their faces. What's better than a day in the woods--weather aside?

So begins our day of tree-planting, as part of the Gunflint Green Up. When this festival weekend was in the planning stages, we weren't thinking snow. This morning when I got up, snow was about all I could see. Sometime during the night, probably about the time that the sounds of rain diminished on our metal roof, it started to snow. When I looked out the window, I couldn't see Canada. That's the benchmark.

Will it stop us? Of course not! It just means that we will wear a different set of outside clothes than originally planned. I thought that I would be pulling out the rain gear this morning. Instead, it will be the winter coveralls. That's for the morning, anyway. By afternoon, it will be partly cloudy (which I am choosing to view as partly sunny) and temps in the forties. So I'll bring another jacket along to switch into. (Maybe it's yet another arrival of spring!) We'll still be out in the woods, planting little white pines and red pines, making memories for another day.

Everyone is happy and excited to be here for this festival, so we're going to make the best of it. After all, when living in Minnesota, isn't it about perspective? Oh, and I'm bringing a batch of brownies, too. That should help.

Gearing Up for Green Up

2008-04-30T21:55:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday, I joined some neighbors and friends to help unload trees for the Gunflint Green Up weekend. We met up at the Seagull Guard Station and waited for the truck to arrive and for the work to begin. It wasn't long before a large roll-off trailer opened up to reveal this view of tree seedlings. Thousands of little red pines, waiting to be unloaded, and soon to be planted into our neck of the woods.

We got to work, forming a line of workers, similar to a bucket brigade. While two fellows unloaded, we passed them down the line, and then they were placed on to the ground in a shady area.

Somewhere along the way of their journey from nursery to the Gunflint Trail, they encountered snow. That added a fair amount of weight to each styrofoam flat. Since we had temps near fifty today, I'm hoping that it melted the snow off of them, and warmed them up a bit for Saturday's planting.

Tomorrow I am going to town to pick up our own batch of trees, courtesy of Hedstrom's Lumber company. Next week, we'll be planting in our backyard, then chasing the deer away so they do not eat the tender little trees. I think that the deer consider them to be like baby lettuces, a feast just waiting for them. We try to make up for the deer activity by countering with sheer numbers. I don't know who is ahead, but we'll keep on trying.

The ice is still with us....If it hadn't gotten so cold and snowy last weekend, it might have been a better picture by now. Even the smaller lakes are hanging on tight. We will keep you posted here on the progress. It might not seem like it, but melting is occuring even when the temps are cool. I can hear sounds from the ice, especially where snowmelt is running off from the shore. That's warm water flowing into the lake, and that is helping. We're getting there.

Woodpeckers Everywhere!

2008-04-28T19:15:00.000-05:00

Wood peckers are in abundance lately. While out feeding the donkeys one morning, Greg saw a pileated woodpecker up near the pasture. When I stepped out on the back porch, I saw one fly overhead, and then heard it call to another. Greg also saw a downy, one of the smallest woodpeckers, working on the wood of the bell tower. This little guy joins the big red-headed woodpecker that came home with us from Montana a few years ago. That large one lives year-round on the side of the tower. The fellow who makes him and all of his relatives has a woodshop in the small town of Ryegate . Greg read about this man in a book about the things one finds on the back roads, and he wanted to stop by to buy a woodpecker from him. His name is Earl, and his woodpecker cutouts are fairly distinct. After purchasing our first one, we traveled on and began to notice that several other folks had done the same. Those red-headed cutouts were spotted on homes, barns and fences within several miles of this small town.

On subsequent trips out west, we’ve stopped and purchased two other woodpeckers from Earl. These, too, have migrated back to Minnesota with us, and have found new homes. When Greg saw the downy woodpecker on the bell tower, he knew that Earl’s bird wouldn’t mind sharing the territory.

Another bird of the same family that I watch for each year is the yellow-bellied sapsucker. Just saying that name out loud is fun! For several years, one of these little guys would make his way back to Heston’s Lodge, and would start to peck on an old piece of plywood that was nailed to a tree. That plywood served as the back board for a thermometer that eventually broke and fell off the tree. The board remained, and that yellow-bellied sapsucker loved to tackle it as a personal project each spring. I would first notice it by the sound it makes when pecking….It starts off with a regular cadence, but then peters out with an irregular pattern. For that reason, it is easy for my mind to recognize it, even when I am not actively listening for it. Sometime in the last year, the board finally got pulled off of the tree. I think that I heard the bird the other day, but I have yet to see it. I guess we should have left that board in place for a while longer. If for no other reason, it served the purpose of letting me spot my annual sapsucker.

If At First You Don't Succeed....

2008-04-28T17:10:00.000-05:00

...try and try again to have spring come. I've lost count as to which attempt at spring we are on. One friend on Saturday night said that he was trying to adjust to his third winter in six months. This one really does seem endless, but in true Minnesota fashion, we can always find someplace that had it worse. When I talked to Paul on Saturday, he said that they had received between six and twelve inches in western Minnesota. Makes our dusting look great. I think the most challenging part was to see it snowing so often over the weekend. The ground melted most of it through the day, but it was getting difficult to remain cheerful while seeing so many flakes in the air.

We did have some honest-to-goodness seasonal weather a week ago, enough so to prompt us to take a picnic up to the end of the trail. The snow didn't let us drive the full campground loop, but we were able to walk into a site and enjoy our favorite picnic foods. We will be there this coming weekend, too, as this is the area that we have been assigned for planting trees during the Gunflint Green-Up. Greg has been planting trees since I first met him, and our kids have grown up knowing that each year, they will have a quota of trees to plant on our property. It's been very satisfying to see these trees grow up. We look forward to planting in the forest, this time around, and then to watching these trees in years to come.

A trip to Trail's End wouldn't be complete without a hike in to check on the river. It was roaring! The recent snow and rains have brought lots of run-off water to the river, and it is a fun sight to see. We watched for walleyes swimming upstream to spawn, but didn't find any. A few ducks were swimming at the mouth of the river, where a large area was ice-free.

This is a shot of the river from April of 2007, when Greg and I went up there. I still had a walking cast on my foot, so I didn't do much hiking around. The water level was down last year, so Greg was able to do a lot of rock-hopping on the river.

And finally, a view from April of 2006.

The Smoldering Trestle

2008-04-21T08:40:00.000-05:00

Well, here it is eleven months later, and the Ham Lake Fire is still burning. Just a small part, but it will become worrisome if it isn't out by summer. There is an old railroad trestle that the Pigeon River Lumber Company built by laying logs across a ravine, just northeast of Bridal Falls. It was perhaps 200 feet long and 15 to 20 feet high. Just solid logs. They spread gravel on it to fill the gaps, then laid ties and tracks. Most of the track was later pulled up, maybe to be used again, or maybe just scrapped. I don't know, but I remember hiking there as a kid, and seeing some pieces of track near the south end. The trestle has served mostly as a snowmobile trail in recent years.

Then, last May, it caught fire. Smoldered, mostly. And it smolders still. Parts of it will jump into flame now and again. We visited it several times this winter and it was fun to see the plumes of steam and smoke amongst all the snow. Even the gravel was hot. The U. S. Forest Service finally decided they would blow it up to get at the hot spots. It seemed to help some, but it's still not out.

Recently, our neighbor John and I took our ski-doos down to check out how it looked all blown up. It looks mostly the same. But there were some exposed areas of burning log that perfectly resembled small ovens. Two days later, with these ovens in mind, Barb and I rode back to the trestle with a pack of bratwurst.

When we arrived, the sky was full of ravens and eagles. There was a kill just to the west, and the birds were pretty intent on cleaning it up. Two of the eagles chased each other, chirping and whooshing by. Every so often, the lower one would flip onto its back, talons extended. Then they would seperate and come back together. Eventually, they tired of this and lit on trees to contemplate their meal, or maybe just to rest.

We hiked across the trestle. After carving some forked sticks, we roasted up several brats until they blistered, then stood around the smoking trestle enjoying our lunch. Because of this stubborn remnant, the Ham Lake Fire is the longest burning wildfire in Minnesota's history.

It was also one of the coolest places to have a weenie-roast I'll ever see.

It's an Otter's Life

2008-04-18T08:22:00.000-05:00

The possibility of a March blizzard that I mentioned last month ended up to be an April one....actually two. On Sunday, April 6, Greg measured a total of eighteen inches of new snowfall. The following Friday, April 11, we got five more inches. Naturally we ask ourselves, where was this in February? Nonetheless, we are always happy for the added moisture. This meant that we were still in the firm grip of winter, and so there was still time for snow-related activities. Here is an account of one of Greg's recent adventures:

We have a neighbor down the lake whom I've known for 35 years. We were young teenagers when we first met, at a homeowners' picnic. John challenged me to a rock skipping contest within four minutes of being introduced. In the winter, we would go sledding, climbing the steepest and longest hills that we could find, and then racing to the bottom. We'd do this over and over, trying to run the other off the trail. It was always the same with skiing, too, and sledding behind pick-up trucks.

John is always game for an adventure, and one day last week, he asked if I wanted to take the snow machines out for an evening ride through the 18" of wet snow that had just fallen. I agreed, and after two hours of riding and exploring, we found ourselves standing on the Enzenhauer Bridge. We washed down some cashews with winter ale, while watching an otter work its way toward us. The river was mostly frozen over, but there were plenty of holes where you could see the dark water rushing past. The otter ran a little, then tobboganned on its belly toward one of the holes, and slid smoothly into the current. He popped up at the next hole, periscoped his head in our direction, slid over to another hole, and down into the water again. His sleek body briefly passed through the hole right beneath us. We moved to the other side of the bridge in time to see him climb out and make his way to the next hole, and on and on until he was out of sight down river.

It's something otters seem to really enjoy. I have seen their tracks while grooming ski trails: a few footprints on the level, then sliding tracks all the way down and around some of the switchbacks on the West End Trail. Another time I watched as two otters trudged up a bank on Lanktree Lake, slid down, trudged up, slid down, again and again, like kids on a playground slide.

John would probably tell you that an otter's outlook on life is a good thing to aspire to.

Longer Days

2008-03-10T08:31:00.001-05:00

Despite continued cold temperatures, I can tell that we have turned the corner on this winter. The last several days have started out with either single digits, or well below zero. But the March sun is doing its thing, so that by midday, it's much warmer out. Combine that with the new daylight savings schedule, and it feels like we are well on our way to spring.

Now I must say that the arrival of spring in the Northwoods is much different than in other areas. When I say that this new season is coming, it still means that it will take weeks to get here. We will see temperatures that go up and down, even way down, I'm sure. We'll see sunny days, and probably snowy ones. We may get a March blizzard. But the duration of the weather events will lessen, and the episodes of warmer weather will lengthen. Already I've noticed two of my late-winter harbingers.....the birds are very active at the feeder, and I've seen the squirrels chasing each other a lot more.

The next thing to listen for is the crows. For whatever reason, the crows don't winter with us here at Heston's. Maybe it's the ravens' doing. They are larger members of the same family, Corvidae, so maybe like older siblings, they send the crows off to to other hang-outs for several months. I've heard that they are as nearby as Grand Marais. What I know for certain is that within a few days, they will be back up here, ravens or not. Sometime between the 15th and 21st of March, we'll hear them in the early morning, communicating to each other in their rough, throaty language. It will wake us up and make us smile, knowing that the season's change is signaled in another form. I love these markers in the natural world.

It was another great weekend here. The snow is still in good shape, and several people hit the trails. We heard an excellent fishing report, so there are still trout to be had out of the iceholes. The sun was shining each day, and the best part...the Northern Lights were out on Saturday night. Though I don't keep a formal record, it seems like it has been a long time since we've seen much of them. It was quite a treat to once again see the shimmer and dance of the pale green light across the northern sky. There were even a few rays shooting towards the southern sky. Perfect.

Back in the Saddle: A Winter Tracks Wrap-Up

2008-03-04T20:30:00.000-06:00

Those who know me remember that a year ago, during the Winter Tracks festival dance, I managed to confirm my middle-aged status by rupturing my achilles tendon. I guess that I was having a little too much fun while dancing with my husband and teenaged children, celebrating that all of the planning of the previous year had culminated in a successful event. I learned that I am probably too old to pogo dance anymore, and I learned what it is like to have day surgery, recovery, and how to cope with an "old dance injury". It has been quite a year in that respect.

This past Saturday, it was time for our 4th annual Winter Tracks banquet and dance, appropriately named the Snow Boot Ball. Greg informed me that I should definitely plan to dance, stressing the importance of, as he puts it, "gettin' back up on the horse what throwed ya." During the band's break, he asked one of the musicians if they could play "Dirty Deeds" by ACDC. He agreed, and said it would be in the second set.

The band soon started up again, and by the fourth song, they were queuing up for it. Imagine my surprise when the guitarist announced the song and said that he had learned that last year, someone had injured herself while dancing to it. Greg grabbed my hand and pulled me up to the dance floor. I implored Addie to join us---"He's making me dance! Come with!" Soon the three of us were up there, dancing away with several other folks. Many of my fellow Winter Tracks committee members were out there, too. When Greg started to pogo during the song, one gal hollered to him, "Don't do that! You'll get hurt!" I shouted back, "It's okay! He's not middle-aged yet!" We all had a great time dancing our way through the song, and I am very happy to report that I made it through, injury-free. I learned that my legs are not as strong as they had been a year ago, so more walking and skiing is in order for the upcoming year. But it was great to be back out on the dance floor, movin' and groovin' and having a good time with everyone.

Our pizza party went very well on Friday afternoon. We prepared nineteen pizzas, which were consumed fast enough so that they didn't freeze. I joked that there was a short window of opportunity where a pizza slice would not burn the roof of one's mouth, but still be hot enough to enjoy. The ingredients, on the other hand, were a different story. About an hour into the fun, I noticed that the veggies were frozen, and the sausage crumbles were not far behind. The sauces, too, were beginning to get quite thick. Once they were on a crust and tossed into the oven, they thawed quickly, and the cheese melted nicely. The results were delectable. Some folks skied on down the highline trail, and had a few slices right away. There is something quite memorable about eating food like this outside on a brisk winter day.

From the reports I received, many of the other activities of the weekend were well-attended and lots of fun. If you want to get in on the good times next year, mark your calendar now for these dates: Thursday, February 26 to Monday, March 2, 2009. Hope to see you there!

Heston's and the Big Apple

2008-02-29T07:33:00.002-06:00

What a Leap Day it is--Heston's Lodge has made it to the New York Times! Here is a link to the article that is in today's travel section.

Thank you to Greg Breining, TC Worley, and the Times for giving us a memorable day. And because it is February 29, it will make it a whole lot easier for me to remember in the future that it was this day that we made the newspaper in such a large venue.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/travel/escapes/29gunflint.html

Pizza in the Snow

2008-02-29T07:11:00.002-06:00

The oven's ready. The crusts are made. The sauces and toppings are set. It's a go....Pizza in the Snow! It's Winter Tracks time, and we're firing up the oven today to bake some pizza. And it's snowing---finally! (Big sigh of relief.) Even though we've had dustings come down regularly for the last several weeks, it still feels like we've been shorted on snowfalls. The flakes today are of the big, fluffy variety. This will add great atmosphere, and a little moisture, to our pizzas.

Pizza in the summer is a pretty set routine, since we have been doing it for four years. Winter presents another situation. I pre-baked the crusts, as that will speed up the process. In order to keep my hands warm while "building" the pizza, I have latex gloves to put over my thin knit gloves. Of course, standing by the oven will help keep us warm, too. The trickiest part will be keeping the pizza hot while serving it. With any luck, we'll have enough folks here to scoop up the slices as they come out of the oven, before there's time for a cool-off.

Lots of other activities are on the agenda for the day as well: skiing and snowshoeing in the fresh snow, a winter camping demo, a seminar on canoeing, and live radio and music tonight at Trail Center. WTIP will be broadcasting The Roadhouse, from 5-7 p.m. If you can't be up here, be sure to webstream it. I will be interviewed at 5:15 or so, to give listeners an overview of what Winter Tracks is all about. Just go to the website, http://www.wtip.org , and click on the dancing moose, and you'll be able to webstream it.

If you can't be here for our festival, but still need a little dose of winter before it is gone, you can come up some other time in March. With fresh snow coming down to add to our eighteen or so inches still in the woods, it's going to be around for a while. I love March skiing the best, as the days are warmer and longer, and the snow is still in great shape.

Bird Rescue

2008-02-26T11:05:00.001-06:00

When we put a new roof on the lodge in 2004, we decided to modify our side porch. As a result, our screened porch on the front of the lodge was impacted. It is no longer totally screened-in, something we intend to remedy. But like so many other projects, we just haven't gotten there yet. We've found that we love the side porch so much, for sitting and drinking our coffee, that we don't even mind being bothered by the bugs.

This situation, however, has presented an occasional challenge for birds. Our bird feeder hangs off of a rafter on the side porch. Once in a while, a bird will fly in the wrong direction when exiting the feeder, and will end up on the screen porch, in the portion of it that still has screen. Most of them can manage to find their way out. Sometimes, though, we will see a bird that is having some struggles getting itself oriented to find the exit. In that case, we will go out to assist.

When I go on the porch to help a bird, I will use my arms to direct it out. Greg prefers to help the birds even more. If needed, he will gently pick up the little ones and carry them to the side porch to release them. I think that he has carried numerous chickadees, nuthatches, and white-throated sparrows, and when he is really lucky, he'll get to help a hummingbird. He has actually held a few hummingbirds very carefully in his hands. One memorable little guy even cheeped a little thank you to Greg, as he perched for a moment longer on his hand before taking off. It was a very sweet moment.

Last week, Greg had his largest rescue ever. Although they don't visit our feeder, we do see roughed grouse, also known as partridge, eating in the birch tree on the other side of the screened porch.

Somehow, one of these larger birds got turned around and found itself stuck inside the porch. It was really having a tough time finding the exit, so Greg came to the rescue.

He picked up the bird, and stroked it gently to calm it down. They let me take a photo of them. Then Greg got ready to let the bird go. We assumed the bird would fly off, as all the rest have.
This one had a more dignified departure in mind. After Greg let it go, it flew a short ways and landed back on the side porch. It then proceeded to walk the length of the porch, and go down the steps, one hop at a time. Last we saw, it was turning the corner at the back of the lodge.

I like to think that this action made the bird feel better, sort of make up for the embarrassment of getting stuck in the first place. It made for a good chuckle for us.

Lovin' That Cold Weather

2008-02-20T11:29:00.001-06:00

Here at Heston's, we are really enjoying this cold, cold weather. In fact, we have been keeping a close eye on the thermometer and weather reports, cheering on the extreme lows. This morning at six, it was near twenty below. It may have dropped a bit more by seven a.m., because it often does. But we were already gone.

For the last couple of days, Greg has been assisting in the transport of lumber for the rebuilding of the cabins on the north side of Gunflint Lake. You may remember from my blog postings in May that the Ham Lake Fire took all of our friends' cabins, on that horrible Thursday when the fire reached our lake. After considerable work and clean-up over the summer, it's time to look to the future, and the cabins that will soon go up. This is a monumental task, however, one loaded with details and steps. And cold weather is an important detail in the process.

There is now an ice road that starts at our landing, and goes about two-an-a-half miles across the lake to the property. Greg has been working to keep it open, so that the winter air can reach the ice more easily, and help to make it thicker. A month or so ago, I wrote about the insulative properties of snow, and how we use it to our advantage by banking it around the foundations of the cabins. In this case, he wanted it out of the way. It's working--when he has checked, the thickness of the ice has increased. Our fishermen are also reporting lots of ice when they drill their holes for fishing.

While Greg has been working on this, I've learned some things, too. A number of years ago, in the late winter, I could swear one day that I heard waves under the ice. It struck me as odd, and I wondered if I was hearing things. But I've since found out that there is indeed wave action occurring under the ice. When you are driving on the ice, you are pushing a wave out in front of you. The ice under the vehicle is flexing some, and that pushes the water into a wave. (I may have some of those details off a bit, but it's close.) It was good to hear that I wasn't going crazy, back all those years--that I really had likely heard waves. I've also learned that there is a great deal of information about building ice roads available on the internet, and that there is even a TV program about the ice roads in Canada. Since we don't have television, I had never heard about the show, but several folks have mentioned it to me.

So Greg has been helping to haul loads of lumber across the lake. This morning, I thought that I would ride along to town, while he and the other guys picked up their loads. It was bitterly cold and windy in Grand Marais, too--yay! We saw lots of steam rising off of Lake Superior, forming a large cloud along the horizon. When we got back up here, I skipped out on the ride across the lake......Things to do! Honest! (I'll probably ride along on that part another time.)

Here is a shot of how it looks out there:

Our regular group of fishermen was up over the weekend. They reported fair catching conditions, going home with some nice lake trout. They had one thing to note for us though: Seems that ice road goes right through some prime fishing territory. On one side of the road, it was 30' of water, and the other was about 65'. They have requested that the road be moved this summer, so that next year it won't be in the way of their fishing plans. Greg will definitely work on that.