This week in the Northland

Most every day on our travels we cross the St. Croix River.  Jim always slows down so I can check for eagles and other things near the water.  Friday night I saw one out on the little island in the middle of the river and then on Saturday there was another one in the same place.

When I crossed the river on Saturday I noticed some guys in a canoe, so I pulled over to take their picture.  

I asked them if they’d had any luck and the guy said he had one on the line right now, but didn’t know what it was.  So as they go under the bridge, he’s reeling in his fish.  He gives out a whoop and says it’s a walleye!  Cool!  

I asked him to hold it up so I could take a picture.  He was more than happy to oblige.

That was exciting and he said it would be good eating for supper that night.  No doubt! 

A couple other exciting things happened this week. We saw our first fawn of the year.  Very small and probably only a few days old.  Another first was finding an endangered wildflower.  We were walking along a dirt road when I saw a pale purple flower growing along the edge.  I had no idea what it was and when I got back home, I checked my field guide, with no luck.  So I sent a picture of it to a friend and she told me all about it.  It’s a wild clematis, an endangered flower and she wanted to go see it so she could register the sighting with the US Forest Service.  It really is a pretty flower.   

Nesting News

Bluebirds and tree swallows are sitting in the nest boxes.  Phoebe is in her usual spot.  Mrs. Robin picked a very strange tree for her nest and the sapsucker has drilled out a hole for her brood.   Always something going on around here…and I love it all!