We’re back! Our wonderful webmaster at Plum Creek Associates has linked us to our web site at www.TheRiverNest.com. So now you can expect more postings. Let’s get to it! First, let’s talk about the upcoming area activities, then the bird traffic.
This weekend the Nature Conservancy is hosting a volunteer work party at the Weaver Dunes Preserve. According to the press release, “This 592-acre preserve is home to numerous species of special concern in Minnesota.” Those “species of special concern” include both animals and plants. More information can be found on their web site at http://nature.org.wherewework/northamerica/state/minnesota or by contacting the Volunteer Stewards at (507) 289-3959 or schlasner@usfamily.net.
The first weekend in May we have what I call “The Hundred-mile-an-hour Garage Sale”! That Friday through Sunday, over a thousand garage sales are held in the communities from Prescott, WI, to Pickwick, MN, on both sides of the Mississippi River. People come with trucks and trailers to load up inexpensive treasures.
Also on May 1, 2, and 3, a lady named Skip Meurer hosts Papa’s Barn where you can visit a farm and shop in a barn (wonderfully renovated, not animal stinky!) for “Handcrafted and carefully selected items for your home, garden and gift giving.” Skip invites vendors to bring their wares, then she and her relatives arrange them throughout the barn and barnyard (again, clean). “Down the road” another Meurer family hosts The Woodshop, where Bill and I have purchased great side tables for our Terrace Suite. They’re open the first and second weekends in May and again the first and second weekends in October. You can contact Skip at skipmeurer2006@gmail.com or 651-565-4805.
The 2009 Great River Birding Festival is set for May 9 and includes Mississippi River backwaters boat tours, a ride on a Mini-Rail Car train through the Tiffany Wildlife Area and Chippewa River Bottoms near Durand, WI, and migratory bird banding demonstrations. For more details about the Festival, check out www.mississippi-river.org.
Speaking of birds, the eagles are thinning out. They’ve either moved up into the bluffs or headed north. We do have them year-around, though, because there are several nests in the area. So visitors still see them. When the eagles leave, the barges come. We’ve already enjoyed watching several travel the main channel in front of The River Nest.
Of course, the robins, red-wing blackbirds, goldfinches, and purple finches have been back several weeks. We’ve spotted a blue heron several times. The water level is too high yet for it to land in its favorite spot along our cove, but it keeps checking!
The pelicans are back! They are so funny! For the first time I saw them fly in a bird-like formation Monday night. Otherwise I think they fly like a swarm of direction-challenged bees! Last year they spent time in our cove, and we laughed at their dive-bomb landings!
When we first moved here, I was disappointed every time a bird wasn’t an eagle. Now I find great entertainment in all the birds that migrate through. I can’t wait to see the indigo buntings–my favorite color is blue, and Bill is cleaning up his oriole feeders. But I think the rose-breasted grosbeak will again be his favorite visitor.
Goodness! Did you make it all the way through? Thank you!
Carol Dunn, Innkeeper, The River Nest Bed and Breakfast
P.S. I’m going to try inserting a picture I took yesterday. It should look inviting.
A view from The River Nest B&B