| May 14, 2004 - Fri |
| I went to a new (to me) State Park today, the Sibley State Park near Willmar. It is about 60 miles away, but it took me over 2 hours to get there due to Minnesota's favorite summer sport of road construction. There were many birds, ducks and geese but a person would need more time to be able to get closer or stand still for a while to get better shots. When I get my bird page done I will put up some of the various bird pictures I took. They are not good (too far away) but it will be a start of trying to indentify them. Here is a shot of one that I got a little closer to. This is not a small bird (sparrow size), it is bigger (like a small robin). |
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| May 12, 2004 - Wed |
| I went up to the Charles Lindbergh State Park in Little Falls, MN, today. The trilliums were thick in the woods. I only spent a little time there. Definately a place to go back to and explore all the trails. This is a photo of a small creek that runs through the park. |
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| May 10, 2004 - Mon |
| Back down to the smaller county parks by Maple Lake today. I also stopped at Lake Maria State Park. There are lots and lots of wildflowers out in the woods now. When I started this, I thought they would be somewhat hard to find. But it seems all you have to do is get out and look and they are everywhere. The following photo is a 'Jack in the Pulpit'. |
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| I stopped by a small lake at sunset. The sky was almost totally clear, but everything turns golden just before sunset. It was very calm, and hard to describe how nice it was to be out and see things like this. |
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| May 08, 2004 - Sat |
| The trip today was to the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. It is located between Princeton and Elk River. You can take a seven mile drive through the area and they have four different hiking trails. It was very interesting. There were 3 or 4 other people out there mostly using binoculars to see the wildlife. On the drive you don't really get very close to any animal (except the Canda Geese who stand right along side the road). One guy I talked to was asking if I had seen any Sandhill Cranes so I showed him the picture I took of the Sandhill in flight. He was very impressed. He said it should be on the cover of National Geographic. But he also was worried if the wood ticks were out yet. He seemed quite concerned about wood ticks. I told him that Tom picked four ticks off after we went out last Thursday. It is hard to describe the horrified look he had on his face. He was probably a poor judge of photos also, but an interesting fellow none the less. |
| I took the following bird photo while doing one of the shorter hiking trails. I can see that birds will be hard to take good photos of. They sure hop around a lot, and as soon as the leaves come out it will probably be impossible to get a good shot. I will have to try to identify this one. |
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| I am still taking a lot of wildflower pics. I can't get over what is out there growing naturally that I have never seen before. This is a Sessile Leaved Bellwort. Why do they name these wildflowers such silly names? It makes my head spin trying to remember all the names. |
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| May 07, 2004 - Fri |
| I went to some of the parks by Maple Lake again this evening. I just want to put one plant photo up now, I don't know what it is, but I like it: I will ID it tomorrow. |
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| May 06, 2004 - Thu |
| Troy and Sandy did a little finishing project on his Explorer. Click here or on the photo below to see the project from start to finish. It is worth a look. |
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| May 05, 2004 - Wed |
| Tom and I went out to the Sand Prairie WMA after work today. I gave Tom the GPS coordinates of a large cottonwood tree so he could use his GPS to find it. Here is a photo of Tom using his GPS to try to find the tree: |
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| After a few more minutes of seaching he found the tree. You can tell how happy he is in the following shot: |
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| May 04, 2004 - Tue |
| I went out to Mississippi River County Park after work. Found a few new flowers. Pictures follow. I believe this is a 'False Rue Anemone': |
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| And (I believe) this is called a 'Downy Phlox': |
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| And I have to throw this one in, I don't know what kind of owl it is, but I want to get closer and get a better picture: |
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| May 03, 2004 - Mon |
| I found a few more wildflowers to add to my collection. This is a 'White Trout Lily': |
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| And this is the 'Common Blue Violet'. It is kind of a raggedy one. I will have to get some better shots. The Violet and the White Trout Lily are very small plants. The flowers are very small. |
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| May 02, 2004 - Sun |
| I went out to the Wright Co Park just north of Lake Maria State Park this afternoon. In case you might be wondering, I couldn't find any mushrooms but I did get a couple of new flowers. The following is a 'Large Flowered Bellwort' (Uvularia grandiflora): |
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| This is another 'Hepatica' flower even though it is white. I think it is the 'Round-Lobed' variety but I have learned that 'round' or 'sharp' lobed term refers to the lower plant leaves. I'll have to look closer when I go out again. These flowers, especially the blue and purple ones, are thick in the woods right now. Here is the photo: |
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| I think this is a blossom from an apple tree. (Not crab apple). I saw two of them today. Hopefully I can keep checking these out this summer to determine what kind they really are. |
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| Previous Entries: |
| 4/16/04 to 4/30/04 |
| 4/1/04 to 4/15/04 |
| 3/16/04 to 3/31/04 |
| 3/1/04 to 3/15/04 |