life lately

I've taken hundreds of pictures since moving here to Minnesota. Here are some that portray life here in the woods.











In my quest to take more pictures of strangers, I snapped this shot of a grizzly old biker at an overlook we stopped at on our way to Duluth



We went to Duluth on one of our days off and ate fish freshly caught from Lake Superior









After lunch, we went for a walk down the pier by Lake Superior



















I kept falling behind my friends, since I wanted to take pictures of everything



I wish I had brought my swimsuit













Lake Superior is beautiful. It quenched my thirst for the ocean, since it's such a large lake that one could be fooled into believing that it was part of the ocean. The shoreline sloped steeply so that just a few feet in I was up to my knees. I threw varying sizes of stones into the water to create a tiny symphony of different sounding splashes











I love, yet hate, taking pictures of gumball machines. I can't explain it













Yes. Yes I did











We went rock climbing one day in a park just ten minutes away from the center. I found this yellow-shafted flicker feather



We also set up a hammock, which was the BEST IDEA EVER



















Breaking sandstone rocks to create miniature explosions. We are all four





Remnants of a snapping turtle





We went to Hawk Ridge to see the fall migration of raptors. These are a couple of Sharp-Shinned Hawks (or Sharpies) caught in their net systems for banding, so they can be tracked and monitored throughout their migration. We mostly got juvies



friends











Merlin release



A Peregrine Falcon! I'm so glad we got to see one up close













Husky friend



Northern Goshawk





Favorite picture













Secret picture of our wildlife coordinator





Northern Goshawks are PISSED OFF birds. They naturally are inclined to be LOUD, which we had the pleasure of hearing first hand when she started screaming in front of us. The employee holding her had to quiet her by putting a hat on top of her head (darkness de-stresses birds)

Hawk Ridge was AMAZING. I wrote a tiny bit about it in a blog post previously, but now I'm gonna give you the dirty deets. Just kidding, none of it was dirty. We headed up to Duluth early in the morning in order to get there during peak bird watching times. During our time there, we spotted Broad-Winged Hawks, Red Tailed Hawks, and lots of accipiters making their way along the North Shore of the lake. The coolest part about Hawk Ridge is that they have a banding station in order to monitor and count the number of raptors making their way south for the winter. We all got to see the banding facilities, in groups of five and six (since the birds would not really be lured to an area filled with a loud, excitable group of naturalists). When it was our turn to tour the banding station, we were led down the road to the turnoff into the forest. Along the way, we met up with someone who had a large, plastic tube in her arms. We gazed curiously at it and she obliged, pulling a Northern Goshawk out of the tube like she was unwrapping a popsicle. They keep the birds in tubes in order to keep their environment dark which, like I mentioned before, keeps them calm. Also they slide quite easily into the tubes, which keeps them from being uncomfortable and they can't bite or foot their captor. Only certain raptors were being transported from the banding station; they were brought to the main viewing area for educational purposes. That way people could see the raptors up close, learn a bit of natural history, and they had the opportunity to give a donation in order to "release" the animal. I debated doing it, as it was $20 to release a Sharp-Shinned Hawk, but in the end I didn't. I had fun taking pictures of other people releasing the birds, though. When we reached the banding station, we were taken to a small blind that just barely fit all six of us squeezed onto the bench in front of a viewing window. Laid out before us was a field full of raptor nets (which I've forgotten the name of, but I wrote about them in my previous post where I talked a little about Hawk Ridge). The nets are set up facing the sunshine, so they seem almost invisible in the rays of light, and small passerines and columbiformes such as starlings and pigeons are placed in small vests attached to leashes to serve as live bait. The raptors are lured in by the movement, but the nets catch them before they can get to the "bait" animals. We were suddenly surprised to see a Sharp-Shinned Hawk swoop in from out of nowhere, diving straight into a net. Immediately, banders ran out to the net to untangle the Sharpie. Our guide brought the bird to us and asked if we'd like to smell him. Um, the answer is always YES to such a question. She shoved the bird into our faces and we inhaled deeply. He smelled delicious, just like the forest. Not delicious as in I would like to eat him, but delicious as in it is one the most pleasant smells I've ever smelled. Like macaw feathers. He smelled like dark, woodsy soil and ponderosa pine bark. We unfortunately didn't get to release any hawks, but we did see an awesome collection of birds, including Sharpies, Northern Goshawks, Peregrine Falcons, and a Merlin. I would go back in a heartbeat (in fact, we want to go to an Owl Night, a night in October where they do an owl program and hopefully will bring out owls they might catch in their nets for us to see).

Today is the first full two days off I've had yet in October and I'm LOVING IT! I've done so many Halloweenie things that are making me so happy: doodled Jezebel, watched Hocus Pocus, painted owl charms, worn my skull ring, taken photos of Halloween and fall inspired details, lounged on the pontoon in the sun and the last of the fall colors (it's also warm, DOUBLE YAY!), listened to my Halloween playlist, danced in the kitchen to my Halloween playlist, and I plan to paint my nails Halloweenie in just a short while. I also have a mini pumpkin to paint! I love life :D