| April 29, 2004 8:20 PM - Thu |
| I've been surfing the web looking up mushrooms and mushroom hunting. I'm sure you'll all be happy to look forward to mushroom pictures appearing here. A lot of people think the Morel mushrooms are such delicacies. I'll keep you updated on my search to find them. It sounds like within the next few weeks they can be spotted. It needs to warm up a little more though. Here is one more picture of a bloodroot wildflower. It is my try at an 'artsy' looking picture: |
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| The following photo is of a 'Sharp Lobed Hepatica'. I took this at the Mississippi River County Park north of Sartel, MN. (On 4/18/04 I posted a photo of the 'Round Lobed Hepatica'.) I think I have found all the Hepatica varieties now <grin>. |
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| April 28, 2004 9:40 PM - Wed |
| I went out chasing after a thunderstorm this afternoon and ended up near Mille Lacs Lake. (I know, pretty stupid to go that far but one thing leads to another.) I looked at my map and I was near the Mille Lacs Kathio State Park. I hadn't been there before so I decided to check it out. The following photo is of a Whitetail doe. I was able to get really close because it seemed it was so busy eating the new spring grass. (Yes, Jim, this is a wild deer.) |
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| After I left the park I drove along the south shore of Mille Lacs Lake. Here is a sunset photo: |
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| April 27, 2004 9:00 PM - Tue |
| I have been very remiss in updating this page, but I have been very busy taking more photos. For now, I will post this sunset picture I took today on my way home from the Mississippi County Park north of Sartell: |
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| April 25, 2004 10:30 AM - Sun |
| This wild flower is called Dutchman's Breeches. It is a member of the poppy family. I took the picture at the
Harry Larson County Forest in Wright County. It is one of the many Wright County parks and is located just north of Lake Maria State Park. |
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| April 23, 2004 10:40 PM - Fri |
| I went up to Mississippi River County Park this evening. It was a very nice night. Here is a sunset photo: |
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| And a different view of this sunset: |
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| April 23, 2004 5:50 PM - Fri |
| Tom, Jim and I all went geocaching last night. Found two caches. One by Jim and one by Tom. Will update some plant pictures this weekend, and I want to go up to the Mississippi River Park this evening so this is a quick note. Just one photo to share, the following red willow buds. I took this at Sand Prairie WMA on Wednesday evening. |
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| April 20, 2004 8:30 PM - Tue |
| It is raining this evening so the camera gets a rest. Yesterday evening I went to the Lake Maria State Park. It is located north of Maple Lake, MN, on Co Rd 11. It is about 20 miles from St Cloud and is the closest State Park to me. I only hiked one trail and didn't get a lot of photos, but here are a few. |
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| This is a small marsh pond called 'Bjorkland Lake'. It was very nice and peaceful. Lots of Red Winged Blackbirds and other small birds. I only saw two Mallards flying by and they didn't stop to have their picture taken. If you have time, look at the full size version. It is about a mile hike from the Visitor Center. (Less if you take the shortcut.) |
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| This is the Visitor Center at Lake Maria State Park. I was surprised. It is very nice. There are a number of interesting exhibits inside along with picnic tables, rest rooms, etc. There are also picnic areas outside. You can drive to it (just a short walk from the parking lot.) It is where the Bjorkland Trail starts that leads to Bjorkland puddle (whoops, Bjorkland Lake). Don't get me wrong, even though it is not a big lake, it is nice. I just get a kick out of the name. |
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| This shot doesn't do justice to how nice it looks at sunset on a nice day on these hikes. Maybe you can get some idea of how enjoyable it is from the picture. I must remember to try to get better 'landscape' pictures. I will be working on that. |
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| April 18, 2004 10:50 PM - Sun |
| I am putting up a few photos here from my trip to Wild River State Park. I have been working all evening reorganizing my pictures and getting the pages set up for animals, birds, wildflowers, etc. It is amazing how the time flies when working on this. Will keep trying to update things. |
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| They were making maple syrup. All volunteers. If you sign up and work, you get paid in syrup. |
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| I saw my first flowers of the spring on Saturday. This is a bloodroot (the only one I know). |
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| I haven't had much luck getting good animal pictures so far, at least of the more nervous animals, but this little red squirrel was too busy chewing on an acorn to notice me. |
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Vote on this photo |
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| I don't know what kind of plant this is, but it has cool leaves. I'll be watching to see if and what kind of flowers it has. |
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| The following is a 'Marsh Marigold' |
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| This plant sure had a pretty purple flower. It is very small and I only found one. It is a
Round-Lobed Hepatica. |
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| This is a view of the St Croix River from along the river hiking trail at Wild River State Park. It was beautiful when I took this picture, but I can imagine how nice this would look in the summer or fall. |
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| Here is another plant with really unusual leaves. The plant is about 6 to 8 inches across. |
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| This beaver was swimming in the river. The picture is poor, but my first beaver picture. He looks kind of cold and wet. |
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| April 18, 2004 5:45 PM - Sun |
| Well, no storm pictures and no storm either, at least for us. I updated the Sand Prairie Page a little, but it will need a lot more work. Sand Prairie page. |
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| April 18, 2004 1:50 PM - Sun |
| I see they have just issued a tornado watch for our area. I'll have to get out for some storm pictures. |
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| April 18, 2004 9:20 AM - Sun |
| I've been busy the last few days. Friday after work I went back out to Sand Prairie. And Saturday I drove over to the Wild River State Park near St Croix Falls, MN. |
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| Wild River State Park is very nice. The Ranger was very nice and helpful. I am going to plan on going there camping this summer. Also there are a couple of Wisconsin State Parks on the other side of the river that are fairly close by. I would like to check them out. |
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| I have been to a number of different places now. Overall, Sand Prairie is still my favorite place and luckily it is so close by. I have gotten (in my opinion) some of my best pictures there. In thinking about it though, it is also where I have spent the most time. Maybe that is the real reason. You have probably seen enough Canada Geese pictures, but I like this one: |
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| Here is another very far away shot of some kind of hawk or owl. Another entry for the Unidentified Bird Contest: |
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| Previous Entries: |
| 4/1/04 to 4/15/04 |
| 3/16/04 to 3/31/04 |
| 3/1/04 to 3/15/04 |
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