Boreal Owl Blog and My Sis is running for City Council!

Another wet. windy and cold day in Duluth. In fact they are forcasting this pattern till Wednesday and then after Wednesday the temperatures will be steady around 35 degrees! I am leaving on Friday for Colorado and I know the temperatures will be in the 60-70's.

Those who are regulars to this blog may of noticed I been playing around with fonts and font colors on the blog and that is because I am trying to find a good font color that will nto burn the eyes out. I was noticing that white, yellow and light blue can burn the eyes out, So I went with something darker. Also I added a link section to websites I visit, blogs I read and few other places like "Loose Change Blog". Now those who already visited the blog may of found it interesting to read but I got hooked to these people after one night sitting up and could not fall asleep and was clicking the channels on the TV and I saw this documentary on PACT TV (Public Access Community Television) about how this group were making connections on how the 911 events were a inside job. Meaning the 911 tragic events were planned and executed by our own goverment. Of course, like many of you all I thought "no way" but after seeing this documentary it really bothered me and made me think and wonder that the 911 events could of been planned by our own goverment.

So I added it to my links so other visitors like yourself can visit their website and make your own conclusions on what they are saying. Also on another night I saw this other documentary about this place in Northern California called Bohemian Grove. This documentary is about a very private club called the Bohemian Grove that many high goverment officials and other high profile people belong to like George Bush Jr., Henry Kessinger and media people like David Gergen. What was facinating about this documentary was how a person snuck into this place and made lots of video about the place and also the mock sacrifices the club members performed! This documentary went into how the Bush family, Carl Rove's family, and Arnold Schwarznegger was tied into Hitler's Nazi movements. I do not know the name of the documentary but it was very interesting.

I haven't made any firm decision where I stand on all of this but I thought I link some of these sites up for you to visit because they are very entertaining.

Ok back to birds. Again like I said I was doing some surfing on the net and visiting some blogs I normally do not visit all the time. Today I was visiting Bill Lane's Blog http://www.mindspring.com/~owlman/

Bill Lane's has a strong love for Boreal Owls. He has been surveying the same owl routes each spring season for 20 years give or take a year or so. Many if not all of his owl routes has gone through some destructive changes due to logging but Bill will not leave these owl routes but continues to go out each spring season to see if he can muster up a Boreal Owl. I read today he was out checking his nest boxes to see if any Boreal Owls are using any of his owl boxes he put up the last two winters or so. Well today on his blog he described how he melted down and cried or sobbed because no Boreal Owls are currently using his nest boxes.

Now you maybe asking yourself this question, "does this mean there are no nesting populations of Boreal Owls in northern Minnesota?" The answer is "NO"!! Here's why I say this, in 2006 and 2007 I heard up to three Boreal Owls singing on the Stoney River Rd in eastern Lake County. Also there is plenty of habitat that Bill has not surveyed in Cook County or also eastern Lake County that butts up against Cook County. Another fact is that there is so much habitat in the Superior National Forest, BWCA and the Voyeaguer National Park that has not been surveyed for Boreal Owls. There are counties like Koochiching County, nothern Itasca County, Roseau County, Kittson County, Land of the Lakes County, and northern St. Louis County that has not been seriously surveyed for Boreal Owls. Yes I feel bad for Bill because the owls he spent a good time researching looks like they are no longer found on his owl routes and his owl routes are a small fraction of other places where the owl could exist. I am also glad that the DNR listed the owl as threaten but to me that listing means nothing because like I said the DNR only do these type of listing to make themnselves look good to the public. You know as much as I do that if the DNR has to make a decision about allowing a ATV trail thru prime Boreal Owl habitat or protecting the owl habitat -- well you know the DNR is going to chase the money trail! I guess the other good thing about the listing of the Boreal Owl to threaten species is that Bill can request more grant money to support his owl research.

Last night Monica invited me to help her out at the Harvest Food Bank "Taste of the Nation" event at Fitgers. The event was all sold out! The food was excellent! I ate several spring rolls with truffles sauce and found a chef making tuna tartat! I was in heaven walking around eating like a king and also all the wine in the world to taste! I also met some people I have not seen in many years like Susan M. who I worked with for two years at Tofte BlueFin Bay. She and her husband own the Gunflint Tavern. We talked for a very long time and told how her restaurant is so popular with birders. Then I met some high school graduates I have not seen in a very long time. Monica introduced me to her friends who manage WDSM TV, KQDS Radio and other people who are in the media. Then our friend Jeff Anderson is running for city council and Jeff was happy to hear that I will load my truck with signs and place them where needed and the BIG NEWS is that my very own sister -- Pam Smith is running for city council as well! Monica was asked by my sister to handle her finances and is planning several events to raise money for her campaign. So this fall season I will be very busy helping Jeff and Pam with the signs. By the way I came from a large family. Pam is the eldest, then me, Mary and my twin brothers Mark & Matt. We are all married except Matt who is living with Mark and his family in Myrtle Beach South Carolina.

Well hopefully I will update this blog one more time before I leave fo Co.

Later!

The Sax Zim Bog Meeting

Yesterday I met with Toivola-Meadowlands Dev. board along with the mayor of Meadowlands. I gave a an hour and half presentation to them about the history of Sax Zim Bog, the owl irruption and problems that occured during the owl irruption and finally talking about projects that would benefit the community.

The first project I discussed was the need for some feeding stations or yards birders can visit to view winter birds (Pine Grosbeaks, Evening Grosbeaks and Redpolls). Two yards will be available for the public viewing next winter! One of the feeders will be at the Abramson's and ther other at the Prudhomme's. I will give detail locations where to visit these feeders when the time comes. Right now I need to contact some local merchants to see if they would like to donate some feeders and feed to these good people. By the way the habitat these yards are located in are outstanding locations! They are near the Whiteface River and also there are plenty of coniferous trees and open areas to attract a wide assortment of birds!

The second project was hanging some deer rib cages that attract woodpeckers, chickadees (both species) and Gray Jays. The group said I should have no problem getting some rib cages this fall to hang up after the deer hunting season. I wil hang up some deer rib cages along Owl Avenue, McDavitt Rd and Admiral Rd. These rib cages should really attract the Boreal Chickadees and also give birders outstanding views of birds feeding on the suet.

The last project was getting the Winter Birding Festival off the ground and approved by the group. The group really would love to see this happen and are very eager about having a festival in their small community. We talked at length what my role will be and also ideas on lodging, catering and field trips. We will meet again after I get back from Colorado to set a date, and begin the process of putting all our ideas into action. I suspect the winter festival will be in February of 2008. the Sax Zim Winter Birding Festival has all the capabilities to be a very large/popular festival that would attract birders from all over the U.S.

One of the interesting tidbits I heard was this "Friends of Sax Zim Bog" left these people hanging and NEVER fullfilled thier ideas! I promised them I am not going to leave you guys hanging on empty hopes and wishes! This same group met the very same group as I did and told them this and that but never came back to show them how or gave them direction. I told them "what ya expect when some of the members lived in the Minneapolis area and others were goverment people just out to put thier name associated with this group as a public relation move". You see this group is not filled with young folks or middle age people. The mayor and the TMDG are basically senior citizens who were born and raised in this area. They lived on farms and worked the land and have no understanding about birding or even how to write up grants. What I saw were people who have a lot of pride and love for this area! The group has little or no money but they have enthusiam and energy to get the festival going. I hope this festival is huge success because all income from the event will go back to the community! I am volunteering all my time to see this event get off the ground. What pisses me off the most is that all these so-called "FRIENDS" of Sax Zim Bog did not do one damn thing to help these people! I accompolished more in a hour and a half then what this lame group try to do in 6+ months of meeting at the Wilbert's Cafe in Cotton. I never understoon why this group never met at the Senior Complex in Meadowlands since the heart of the Sax Zim Bog is in Meadowlands!

Also the supervisor of the Meadowlands sewage ponds is willing to contruct a viewing platform at the ponds for birders! I told the group we should hold off on this idea since the ponds are only birded during the month of May in association with the St. Louis County Birdathon.

I also talked about the logging issues in the bog. I had to walk a fine line as some of the woman were tied to loggers. I told them its not the loggers fault because they are doing what it takes to put food on the table of their families but its the state foresters and the DNR for allowing this to happen. I told them they are trying to manage a worm that is feeding on the spruce and tamaracks. I told them its a lame excuse for them to make money off this so-called management practice by putting state land up for bids. The logging is talking away habitat from boreal birds and these boreal birds are the reasons why birders come here in the first place. They understood and I told them if all the nearby accessible bogs are logged out, birders will no longer come here! The look on their faces was looks of sadness and hopefully the mayor and the group will talk amongst themselves to find ways to stop this logging but in my opinion the only way to stop it is in the voting booth. We need a governor who will select a DNR commissioner that is concern about bogs and other fragil habitats vs. logging away and be more focused on how much money the DNR can make off the natural resources like timber!

Over all the meeting was a success! The elderly woman and the two men were excited about the prospects of the festival and were very supportive of the other projects. I made some friends up there in Meadowlands and also listening to their stories was wonderful.

Later!

Look What I Found in Our Yard!

This Long-eared Owl was found in my yard this evening. I guess if it wasn't for the chickadees and nuthatches I would of never know this owl was roosting in my yard! This would be a new owl species for our yard! I have Short-eared Owl, Great Horned Owl, Hawk Owl, and Northern Saw-Whet Owl.

Keys to Running a Good Field Trip

I just read on Birdchick's (Sharon Stiteler) blog is that the KEY to running a good bird trip is the FOOD! HUH? I been running and organizing trips for nearly 25 years and also been guiding people from all over the globe for nearly 30 years. Everytime I ask the person or group that I am guiding/leading I always tell them this "Do ya want to eat at a real nice restaurant and spend about 1-2 hours inside or do want to get a sandwich at the ICO or Little Store gas station and eat in the car and tally up more birds?" The answer is always the same and its goes like this, "We came here to see birds and I can always eat good later on tonight".

Birders that participate in groups that take you out to another state to view birds are not interested in hot meals during the day! They rather see their target birds vs. sitting in a booth waiting for their food, waiting for others to finish their food or coffee, waiting for the bill, waiting for others to finish their business in the restrooms, waiting for the conversation to turn about getting back in the van or bus and get back to birding. Birders that I know would rather eat some sandwich at McDonald's or Subway and be out in the field pronto!

I am leading two groups of highly energize people that travel who knows where to view their target species in Colorado. There are several things on my mind during the trip, 1. Get to the locations on a timely basis to view target birds. 2. Find target bird and put target bird on a scope. 3. Make sure EVERYONE sees the target bird or birds! 4. Check the area out for other birds and call out all birds in that location because you never know who might need what for their list. 5. Get back in van and inform the group of the next stop and what birds we expect to find there and also ask to see who needs a restroom! As for breakfast & lunch I announce where and when and give the group options as to how they rather eat. Do they rather eat in a diner, gas station, fast food or fancy restaurant. I tell them the ups and downs of all the selections on how it might effect the trip/schedule. I will do whatever the group wants to do but like I said it always comes down to birders rather be in the field looking for birds or driving around out in the boon docks looking for birds vs. spending valuable time locked into a restaurant. In my opinion the best time to eat at restaurants with a birding group is during dinner. EVERYTIME I give selections and discuss the selections, birders will always vote for a quick meal and more birds. That is the main KEY in having a successful birding trip - I promise you!

Well March 28th I will be meeting with the Toivola-Meadowlands Community leaders and chat with them about their reactions to my projects & festival ideas. Everytime I think about the progress I am making with this community, I wonder why this other group called the "Friends of Sax Zim Bog" never got this far with this group? I wonder why they never thought about a birding festival or speak out about the logging issues in the area? Why did this group just accepted the reasoning of the state loggers reps on why they have to log certain areas of the bog versus debating them and their reasons? The answer is that the chair of the this group is head of the nearby region of the DNR Non-Game Division and IF she voiced her opinions against the logging that the DNR has backed, then she would of been openly criticizing her own employers!

The group is dead and also while this group was active it did nothing and I mean NOTHING in getting Sax Zim Bog going in the right direction! Maybe and hopefully after they see the one man team of Mike Hendrickson, they will see what they could of done or should done rather than just talking about ideas and doing nothing in getting their ideas up and running! Since the group composed of some goverment workers (DNR, Forestry and ect) doesn't this show a clear example of how these folks operate or work. For example the group has data in puttng together a map/brochure for the area and its been nearly 3 years and the data is still sitting in someone's computer! Kim Eckert with help from myself and many other birders put together a bird list of birds that have occured in the area and their status and of course all this data is getting dusty because the group sat on their asses and did nothing with this data! The DNR hired Mark Stensaas who then asked me to help with a Sax Zim Bog brochure of birds in the area and this was 2+ years ago! The DNR has yet to produce this brochure and pay Mark and myself for all the work we did on it! Yep again folks the DNR are a bunch of fat asses and when I say the DNR I mean every branch of the Minnesota DNR are bunch of fat lazy asses wasting out tax payers money sitting on their asses doing nothing constructive! The only person who I respected was Carrol Henderson but because he was so pro active with the non game division ( you know the division that means nothing to the DNR because its just a PR division to please environmentalists) well Carrol got shift around and basically ruined the non-game division.

I quess it really down to us and mean us birders to get things done rather than asking the DNR to help or get them involve on projects because getting involve means to them by sending a rep to attend meeting and that is all. I will get these projects up and running in Sax Zim Bog because the leaders of this community are interested and eager to bring in birders to their area.

What pisses me off the most about all the logging that is currently going on in the Sax Zim area, is that the Minnesota DNR could of at anytime haulted the logging because it was detrimental to the bog birds that nested in the bog, the plants that occur in the bog BUT NOOOOOO the Minnesota DNR allowed this to happen and were happy to see the logging occur in these bogs!

Later!

I'll Admit it, I Watch American Idol!

It sure feels like spring today. The temps today are in the mid 40's and the snow is melting leaving large brown patches of lawn. I saw a small flock of Canada Geese fly up the St. Louis River this morning and as soon as I finish this posting, I am going to head over to some spots along the St. Louis River to see if any Grackles moved in or Red-winged Blackbirds.

It was sad to read that Noel Wamer passed away last Sunday evening. I guided out Noel a few winters ago along with his wife. His wife passed away a couple of years ago and when I talked to Noel last September he told me he was in poor health. Noel recently did most of his birding on the computer since he wasn't able to get out much because of his health issues. All I know from guiding Noel, was that he was a easy guy to talk to, he laughed and joked around quite a bit with me and my memories of him are good ones of Noel.

The above photo was taken by Giles Forrest of Yorkshire England. This photo is one of the best photos I seen of a Boreal Chickadee. What is very sad about this photo is that the spruce tree that this chickadee is perched on is now cut down and the wood from this tree was turned into toilet paper! This photo was taken on Owl Avenue in Sax Zim Bog and from what I was told that all along Owl Ave. 100 feet of bog was logged down on each side of the road and in some areas it was logged out wider. Very sad!

I see that Laura Erickson's blog on Blogger.com was taken down and all the contents were removed and I assuming she is working hard to create another blog somewhere else like Wordpress or Live Journal. I visit her old blog and noticed a lot of the photos, links and other stuff were removed from the site. I hope Laura's wishes were granted and got her stuff back from Netshops

My Lake Superior Boating Trips will have a 1/4 page ad in the next issue of MOU's Birding Newsletter. Tony Hertzel created the ad for me and did a hell of a job with the graphics! Thanks Big guy! My first trip is on May 19th and for all you Minnesotan birders, this is a very good trip to signed up for. Mid May out on Lake Superior should be very exciting and most of all we should have a very decent chance for some of the target species I am looking for. Those targets include; Arctic Tern, Red-throated loons, Red Phalarope, and hopefully a Little Gull. What is more interesting about these trips is that I am the only birder that is actually using a boat searching for birds on the Great Lakes. You think someone else would be doing boat tours off Lake Erie or Michigan where gulls concentrate in large numbers. There is so much to learn about the Great Lakes and bird migration patterns.

I wish I had time this year to listen for owls at night. I like going to northern Lake Co. and listen for owls along Stoney River Road. This road is very good for hearing Boreal Owls. Last year Tom Auer and myself had a male Boreal Owl sing along this road and the year before we heard two along this stretch of road. This year I will not be able to make the trip up there. Other than Boreals, you can hear Great Gray Owls, Long-eared Owls, Barred Owls, Great Horned Owl and Northern Saw-whet Owls

Well its time to get off this chair and head to work! Many of you know that I work part-time at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church and I received news from our priest that a small group of parishners are demanding a parish council and that is fine with us but the people who are demanding it are the assholes who do nothing but whine about everything about the church. We need a parish council and hopefully those elected will be the positive people who want to do good things rather than use the council for their own agendas. So our priest is very worry about this and so am I because if these assholes get in they will be be putting the priest under their thumb and will have more control on what I do around the church

My good friend Tom Auer is currently in Colorado and eventually Tom will be in Arizona working a bird project in Yuma AZ. We had lunch the other day and its been over year since we saw each other and I was happy to see him again, even though we talk 1-2 times per week. Hopefully Tom will get hired this spring guiding birders at St. Paul Island in Alaska. This sort of work will do wonders for him and open doors for him to get hired for large companies like VENT or WINGS. Good luck Tom!

Well other than that my NCAA college bracket is a mess and my best bud Paul is kicking my ass with his bracket picks. Well tonight is American Idol and I am pulling for two people to win it all, Melanie Doolittle and Jordin Sparks. I know Takisha Jones has a decent chance to win it all with her strong voice but last night she dissapointed me with her song pick as did Stephanie picks. I am praying as hell the voted are going to knock off that india kid with the long locks because he looks like Michael Jackson and sings so damn bad! For the guys I like Chris Sligh. Why? Well he's chubby, wears horned rimmed glasses and has a great sense of humor! I know -i know MIKE what in the hell are doing watchin this freaking show? I blame it on my wife and daughter! Oh by the way I also love watching Top Chef and Girls Next Door!

Hey Guess Whose Blogging?

Yeppers everyone I am baaaaack in the saddle and ready to take over where I left off. I needed a vacation from blogging and for the life of me I don't understand where some people can constantly blog several times per week or day! So do NOT expect that this blog will constantly have some new blog posting every day or every week. I'll post when I am damn good and ready to post a blog entry!

Of course I will blog about all sorts of shit and I am sure I'll piss someone off but hey thats what blogs are all about. Pissing people off.

Well today I get an email from a MOU insider telling me I cannot advertise on the MOU listserv anymore. So I sat back and figured out that this person must of been referring to a post I made back in late Feb. about the 2007 Lake Superior Boating Trip and announcing the dates of the trips and referring people who are interested to click on my website link.

Birders find ways on their state birding listservs to bring birders to their websites where they sell books, calendars, bird trips, newspapers and all sorts of crap. Birders do this by creating signature links advertising their website under their names after each posting. Some birders like myself and others will being birders to their sites by saying "if you want to see my map for so-so place just click here" and there they are seeing your site and looking around at what you do or what you sell.

For some reason I am being signaled out and making it though I am the only one doing this sort of thing. At least I am honest by just telling people about my trips without resorting to being a damn sneak about it. I know one thing NOT A DAMN THING WILL COME OF THIS because its so petty and its all because someone wants control! I post 99.9% of the time bird sightings or bird updates about Sax Zim Bog. Every once in awhile I will post something about my Lake Superior Trips on the listserv and of course because I just kick the door down and announce my intentions those who resort to clever tricks in getting the public to thier websites are pissed off because I had the nerve to do something they are to afraid to do themselves. Believe me nothing will come of this -- trust me on this.

Since I am back blogging, I see our little rose-tinted glasses wearing Ivory-billed Skeptic is still keeping his blog alive with his nonstop 24/7 postings of IBWO crap. I mean really how many years are these idiots going to debate the existance of a large woodpecker? Remember those days in high school at a football game or basketball game when the home team chearleaders will shout "we got spirit yes we do, we got spirit how about you?" and then the visiting team will yell the same line back at the home crowd "We gotta spirit yes we do blah-blah-blah--" Well this is how I look at both of these camps. They try very hard to top each other by publishing this or saying that or blogging about this and that. I guess you got give these guys credit for keeping the energy up to yell at each other 24/7 over a freaking bird!

I love this photo on the left. I am getting better with this digiscoping and I have to thank Laura Erickson for lending me a Nikon scope with a 20x eyepiece that really made my photos much crisper.

Is it just me that have noticed this but there is no news coming from Hawk Ridge Bird Conservatory. WAIT hold on for a sec, who came up with that idiotic name? I have yet to meet anyone who says "Hey lets go birding at Hawk Ridge BIRD OBSERVATORY" Honestly everyone in Duluth calls the place "Hawk Ridge" and if you look at any newsprint articles in the Duluth News-Tribune, the place is always mentioned as "Hawk Ridge". Even during tape news segments on local TV its called "Hawk Ridge" Why or who decided to change the name? Anyway, there is no postings or nothing on thier website about the 2007 St. Louis County Birdathon and there appears to be no Spring Hawk Watch on West Skyline in Duluth this year. OHHH since I mentioned the spring hawk watch did anyone notice the posting on the MOU-Net by Dave Carman? Did you see that he was able to ID a swan that was sitting out in some open water behind the WLSSD Sewage Plant from the top of Enger Tower West Skyline Drive? Holy crap! Now I been at the viewing areas where Dave was and there is not a chance in hell you can view the base of the bill of this swan from where he was or see if the culmen was curved or straight because at this time of the year Trumpeter Swans are just as likely as Tundra Swans! UNBELIEVABLE! We all read Kim Eckert's article in this month MOU state journal "The LOON" and how tricky swan identification can be and its even tougher when you are almost a mile plus away from the bird! How many Golden Eagles he saw? I am sure I'll get some anonymous posting on this --wink wink

Hey in a few weeks I will be gone in Colorado leading some folks around for two weeks. Then in June I am off to Churchill leading another group. I am pumped for the Colorado Trip but not so pump about leaving my family behind for two weeks. My daughter is going to play spring basketball on a AAU league which is a top level league for basketball players. She is only a 6th grader and she is currently 5'9 and she played on two teams this past winter. She tried out for a 7th grade travel team and made it as a 6th grader and then played with her friends on a 6th grade rec league. She averaged 25 pts per game and 15 rebounds on her 6th grade rec league and averaged about 8pts per game and just as many rebounds on her 7th grade team. I work with her all the time and she loves basketball. My son played basketball and carried his team by being the leading scorer on his team. He played during a halftime show at a high school event and scored 6 pts and got several loud cheers for his shooting skills and lay ups he made. So being gone and missing out on my daughter's basketball will damper my time out there and also getting my son ready for little league baseball.

You gotta love Pine Siskins! Every winter you can pretty much expect to find these birds at any feeder. Speaking of feeders, I just got an email from my friends in Meadowlands and there will be up to 3 bird feeding stations erected where birders will be allowed to come in and view the birds without some old hag running down her drive way telling birders parked on a public road they are not allowed to look at her birds. Those days are done! We will have our place to look at these birds in peace. Also I am working with the folks up there in getting a winter bird festival off the ground! This festival will be huge and I am glad the women & men of this community are getting me involve in helping them with it. I guess my personality and charm blends with these folks in "GOD's Country" aka Sax Zim Bog.

Later all!

Pine Grosbeaks in the Yard

Well I decided to move my blog from Wordpress to Blooger.com. I was messing around with templates and screwed things up and got frustrated and said "Fuck it" so I move everything over to this place since I am more familiar with blogger than wordpress.

Well I had several immature or female Pine Grosbeaks in the yard today and decided since the sun was beeming on them, I took some photos of them. I am still trying to figure out digiscoping and understanding my Nikon 4500 Coolpix camera, so I took several images in different types camera settings.

This is another bird giving me a different view. Oh by the way the birds are eating on our ornamental crab trees that I planted 9 years ago. They are a species of ornamental crab apples that the University of Minnesota came up with and they are tough against diseases and bloom every spring with a shower of reds and pinks.

Well my dear friend Laura Erickson is going through a lot of emotions as she resigned as staff ornithologist for Binoculars.com. Binoculars.com was sold to a larger company in Nebraska and part of sell was Birder Blog that Laura spent a lot of time writing each day numerous times on environmental issues, friends, birding issues, her travels, happenings in the backyard, in Duluth and surrounding areas and everything in between! Laura's blog was HUGE! Laura wants her blog or the contents of the blog back to her ownership but the owners are acting like idiots and refusing to do so! Laura has a new blog site: http://lauraerickson.blogspot.com/

Well my son Ben was again a victim of more bullying at recess and Monica and I went to the Duluth School District and we now have the harassment cordinator looking into what is going at the school. She is going to give presentation in each of the classes about the problems with bullies and harmful effects children go through when they are being bullied in schools. I am glad for this and hopefully by doing this the kids will learn to play together rather than fight or argue with each other during recess or during school.

On Sunday my eldest daughter will be trying out or playing with the AAU Northern Lights Basketball Team. This is a very intense but very fun league where college players or ex players coach girls who dedicated to playing at a high level of basketball. Becca is very excited in learning new ways to improve her game.

Becca is one the top 6th graders in the western district of Duluth. At 12 years old she is 5'9" and averaged 20 pts per game plus 15+ rebounds per game at the 6th grade rec level and at the 7th grade travel league she averaged about 6-8 pts per game and 10 rebounds. She will return to the 7th grade travel squad next year. Her dreams is to get a full scholarship to play b-ball at a major university and major in Marine Biology or English. (she wants to be a author as well)

This is the time of the year where birding is rather slow. Winter species are still around, the snow is melting slowly, migration comes in small bites vs. large movements they witness in southern Minnesota or western Minnesota. Spring doesn't really show its face till late April in or around Duluth.

Well here is one more photo of the grosbeaks in our yard. I used a sponge filter on photoshop to create this texture and it really turned out pretty good.