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May 2008
5/24/08
Red Tailed Hawks nest and Anniversary Trip
5/18/08
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5/9/08
5/8/08
5/6/08
Saturday, May 24, 2008
9:56:00 AM EDT
Hello friendly blog readers! Well I should have done two entries here but i decided to combine them. Let's see how well it works.
On Tuesday morning after work I met our friend Paul at an undisclosed location in the northern suburbs to see the nest of a red tailed hawk. I got there first and in spite of good directions I headed east instead of west and ended up looking at a family of deer. When i realized my mistake I immediately spotted the nest but before I could get near four red tailed hawks began circling overhead and squawking up a storm. Eventually I got a safe distance from the nest to check in on it. Then Paul arrived and set up his scope. One of the interesting things was a crow and at various times a bluejay seemingly stalking the red tailed hawk.
The crow followed the hawk all over the area on numerous occasions and at dangerously close distances. 
The bluejay was taunting him when ever he sat in a nearby tree. Paul and I were out there about three hours watching the hawks and chicks and speculating on the state of the universe. 
There are three chicks, one of them darker than the others and one of them made a couple of attempts to fly from the nest to a branch holding the nest so they might not be there too much longer.
I finally had to say goodbye to Paul as I had lost part of a tooth the previous evening and had to go to the dentist to get a temporary filling pending a crown.
The next day Carolyn and i took our anniversary trip. We got up bright and early Wednesday morning and headed north. We stopped at Tobies in Hinkley and had breakfast but Carolyn left her jacket there and we didn't notice until we were near Jay Cook State park. I called them and they agreed to hold it for her.
So our first hike was at Jay Cook. It was just lovely up there. We took our time and looked at a few wild flowers but they are late this year up there as they are here. Near the end of the hike I spotted what looked at first like a gray fox but two other hikers told us it was a Pine Marten.
neither of us remembered ever seeing one before. We stopped and spoke to a naturalist there and she confirmed it. She also gave me her email address and asked that I send her some pictures, which I did later on in the day. The pine marten is part of the weasel family. This one was very calm and I wanted to pet it but i suppose it would have taken my hand off if I'd tried.
We then went on to Duluth and out to canal park point. the lake was unusually calm. We had seen few flowers except for this trillium
and there were few birds at the lake either. At last we checked into our room at the Inn on Lake Superior. It was much nicer than it used to be. The breakfast nook is expanded and it has a big screen wide screen hd tv in the room. We were more happy that our first floor room allowed you to walk right out to the lake.
After a nap we did just that and found numerous sailboats in the harbor doing their exercises.
We watching this a while then went to dinner at Old Chicago and ate pizza.
Later we watched the end of American Idol on the big screen tv. It was quite a show. The next day we got up early and went to Gooseberry Falls. We hiked all around the falls and later followed the river down to Lake Superior where I found this quiet little spot.
We also found a little battle going on between a gull and blackbird over a fish. The gull won and though I didn't post them I have pictures of the gull eating the fish.
After gooseberry we went to Betty's Pies and ate lunch and then back to the hotel. We later saw the new Indiana Jones film. Carolyn had a cold by now and didn't feel like doing much else. The film is cute but not a great film.
The next morning we went to the park point again and saw our first Killdeer of the year. Then went home after picking up Carolyn's jacket at Tobies and eating more pie.
Once home Brooklyn and Brandie, who had spent the night at our house and watched Capsie, had left us a anniversary note which was very nice and nearly made us cry.
So that's it folks. Hope you enjoyed this very long entry.
Ron
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9:56:00 AM EDT
Red Tailed Hawks nest and Anniversary Trip
On Tuesday morning after work I met our friend Paul at an undisclosed location in the northern suburbs to see the nest of a red tailed hawk. I got there first and in spite of good directions I headed east instead of west and ended up looking at a family of deer. When i realized my mistake I immediately spotted the nest but before I could get near four red tailed hawks began circling overhead and squawking up a storm. Eventually I got a safe distance from the nest to check in on it. Then Paul arrived and set up his scope. One of the interesting things was a crow and at various times a bluejay seemingly stalking the red tailed hawk.
I finally had to say goodbye to Paul as I had lost part of a tooth the previous evening and had to go to the dentist to get a temporary filling pending a crown.
The next day Carolyn and i took our anniversary trip. We got up bright and early Wednesday morning and headed north. We stopped at Tobies in Hinkley and had breakfast but Carolyn left her jacket there and we didn't notice until we were near Jay Cook State park. I called them and they agreed to hold it for her.
So our first hike was at Jay Cook. It was just lovely up there. We took our time and looked at a few wild flowers but they are late this year up there as they are here. Near the end of the hike I spotted what looked at first like a gray fox but two other hikers told us it was a Pine Marten.
We then went on to Duluth and out to canal park point. the lake was unusually calm. We had seen few flowers except for this trillium
After a nap we did just that and found numerous sailboats in the harbor doing their exercises.
Later we watched the end of American Idol on the big screen tv. It was quite a show. The next day we got up early and went to Gooseberry Falls. We hiked all around the falls and later followed the river down to Lake Superior where I found this quiet little spot.
After gooseberry we went to Betty's Pies and ate lunch and then back to the hotel. We later saw the new Indiana Jones film. Carolyn had a cold by now and didn't feel like doing much else. The film is cute but not a great film.
The next morning we went to the park point again and saw our first Killdeer of the year. Then went home after picking up Carolyn's jacket at Tobies and eating more pie.
Once home Brooklyn and Brandie, who had spent the night at our house and watched Capsie, had left us a anniversary note which was very nice and nearly made us cry.
So that's it folks. Hope you enjoyed this very long entry.
Ron
Written by rontaube Blog about this entry |
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This entry has 2 comments: (Add your own)
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Sounds like a wonderful anniversary. Loved the pictures of the Hawks and the Pine Marten. I've never seen one before. Just seeing these photos and hearing about your sojourn has me itching to go hiking in the woods around me. Unfortunately the weather has been uncooperative lately with the cold and rain. Hope today finds you and your wife enjoying the holiday dear friend. (Hugs) Indigo
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5/26/08 11:17 AM
So, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to both of you, Ginny