The Rest of the Wolf Story- May 23, 2008 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...http://hestons.blogspot.com/2008/05/rest-of-wolf-story.html The Feeder is the Place to Be- May 22, 2008 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...http://hestons.blogspot.com/2008/05/feeder-is-place-to-be.html Getting a Little Wild Around Here- May 21, 2008 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...http://hestons.blogspot.com/2008/05/getting-little-wild-around-here.html Gone! Ice Out on Gunflint Lake- May 13, 2008 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..http://hestons.blogspot.com/2008/05/gone-ice-out-on-gunflint-lake.html Going...Going....- May 13, 2008 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...http://hestons.blogspot.com/2008/05/goinggoing.html Nothing Fishy Goin' On Around Here- May 11, 2008 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...http://hestons.blogspot.com/2008/05/nothing-fishy-goin-on-around-here.html Yet Another Woodpecker: The Black Backed- May 9, 2008 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...http://hestons.blogspot.com/2008/05/yet-another-woodpecker-black-backed.html Planting Trees--The Update- May 7, 2008 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...http://hestons.blogspot.com/2008/05/planting-trees-update.html We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Blogging....- May 5, 2008 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...http://hestons.blogspot.com/2008/05/we-interrupt-our-regularly-scheduled.html Bright White for Green Up- May 3, 2008 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 asideSo begins our day of...http://hestons.blogspot.com/2008/05/bright-white-for-green-up.html |