Total Snowfall This Month: 17.5"

Over 99 Photos (like the one of this loon) added to our new photo map. If you haven't, try searching "Mid Oaks Ave N, Stillwater, MN" on the map, zoom in as far as you can go, and doing a satellite view. We've tried to make the exact spot where we have taken every phot.

Three and a half inches of snow since Christmas Eve morning. Saw three Bald Eagles, along with three or four lone male Pheasants and a few small flocks of pheasant hens on the way to Nisswa.

Snowfall as of Saturday morning.


Saturday night sunset


Icicles under the deck this morning

4.5" of snow since early Saturday morning. Started out with the heavy, wet stuff yesterday, then switched into the light, powdery as the temperatures dropped overnight.


Photo of bat house in yard.

Spotted a track today, fuzzy feet, body, probably a foot and a half long, made impressions in the snow, with an impressive strides of over two feet. Probably a cottontail.


A photo of Tuesday's hoar frost.

White-tailed Deer spotted in Nisswa, MN. Seemed to be a younger one, just in the process of losing his spots.

Spotted three Bald Eagles and a Red-shouldered Hawk on the road between Cambridge and Foley this weekend.

10:40 AM


Snow on the lawn was 7.75" as of last night, with a light dusting overnight. Technically, this is only up an inch and a half from the last measurement, but with strong Northern winds and the slow pressure of gravity, Saturday's snowfall had settled. It's estimated that we got around 3" in our area.

10:12 AM

County Rd C in St Paul, MN
Lightly snowing again; they're predicting 4" by evening. Feeder activity's been pretty strong. The peanut and ground feeder have been drained once, and the thistle feeder is 1/3 down.

5:01 PM

It's lightly snowing again.

The flocks of birds finished off about half of my thistle feeder between yesterday and this afternoon. Filled it, the ground feeders, and the peanut feeders up to the brim, a task I expect to be repeating at least three times a week until April.

Winding trails of mouse tracks all over the lawn, darting in and out of holes in the snow.

11:20 AM


Photo showing snowfall as of 12/1/08 at 11 AM and 12/2/08 at 10 AM.

Total Snowfall 10/1/08 to 10/2/08: 6.5"

8:30 PM



Snow tapering off, but the weather glass is still indicating a notable low pressure front, and the warnings are pressing on until 6 AM.

5:11 PM


Snow seems to have let up a bit, and it looks like we're between cells. 3.5" currently on the lawn.


Garden at 4:17 PM

2:28 PM


Heaviest stuff still seems to be South of us, though we've got about three inches in some spots. As long as the weather holds out, I can see this stuff hanging on until Christmas.


Video from the feeder as the storm progressed. (Click to view video)


Snow in Garden 1:37 PM


Northern Cardinal in snowstorm


Snowflakes on deck

12:46:00 PM

The mottled yellow/red blotch is still pirhouetting up towards us like a ballerina from some Dantean nightmare. Snow coming in waves; light, then heavy, with strong winds.


Flocks of Golfinch, interspersed with Bluejays, Chickadees and the occasional Cardinal or Junco are swarming the feeder, bickering over the perches.


Bird tracks


Snow on garden, 11:04 AM


Snow on garden, 12:14 PM

10:56:00 AM
Snowfall in Wyoming, MN

Looks like this may be the first big snowfall of the year. Minnesota's under a winter storm warning, and the white stuff's started to fall. Morning started off with light snow, which shifted to the heavier, blowing sort around 10 AM. Made a run to the hardware store, and the roads are already slick.

Saw the first Junco of the year.


MN 61, outside Wyoming, MN


35 Southbound out of Stacy, MN


11:20 AM CST; the worst hasn't hit us yet.

November Precipitation Totals: Dusting

The predicted four inches was downgraded to two, then petered out into possible light flurries for this evening. There's still a light dusting of snow on the ground and solid hopes for a white Christmas in the Twin Cities.

Our hundredth post arrived amidst a dusting of snow, high winds, and temps hovering in the teens. Snow is supposed to be moving in sometime tonight, with an alleged four inches by Wednesday afternoon.

Heard the cackle of a Pileated Woodpecker this morning, and saw a small flock of Blue Jays picking their way through the cherry trees along the road.

Wildlife Spotted this Week:

• Black-capped Chickadee
• Blue Jay
• Eastern Chipmunk
• Goldfinch
• Green Frog (Hibernating)
• Grey Squirrel
• Northern Cardinal
• Nuthatch
• Pileated Woodpecker
  
  A few shots from our Thanksgiving trip up to Nisswa, MN.

MN-95, NE of North Branch.


Lake Edna, Nov 23rd.

More snow and around 29 degrees F. Seems to be coming in waves and sticking to the ground a little more persistently this time (just a dusting so far), but I doubt it will be sticking around past noon tommorow.

Damp streets and fog persisting from morning into the evening. Drove home through banks so thick I could barely see 20 feet in front of the car, riding the brakes all the way afraid a deer (or bicyclist) would dart across 61. Temps must have held in the upper 30's/lower 40's even overnight; not a chunk of ice left on the pond.

More light snow!

Vacuumed the leaves off the lawn and managed to get the majority of the fish out of the outdoor pond and into a basin indoors. Also managed to net up one hibernating Green Frog. Going to attempt to keep him indoors, hopefully keep the temperature of his water at or below 50 to keep him in hibernation.

Now that the vegetation's gone from the edge of the pond, I can see it really needs work. Oh well, that's something to worry about next year.

Grand Marais Recap: Day 2 (Oct 9, 2007)

Sun peaked out over Superior in the morning. The air was still cold, but the wind was calmer than the night before. Saw the fall colors over the hills surrounding Grand Marais and a flock of ring-billed gulls picking their way along the shore.



Cloudier when we got to the Anderson's, but bright enough to do a quick photo shoot down by the beach.



Devil's Kettle was like a waterfall on crack this year. There areas we used to climb around by the top of the falls were under five feet of white water.

Snow! The only accumulation to speak of is a dusting on the decks and rooftops, but visibility was bad on 35W this AM, slowing rush hour traffic down to around 40MPH until we hit White Bear Lake, when everything seemed to clear. Temps in the upper 30's.

Have taken the statuary and the fish put in a temporary indoor pond. Have been scooping the pond for frogs, but have not found anything as of yet.

First snowfall of the year! Light flurries today with a strong wind; temps in the upper 30's through most of the day.

September Rainfall Totals: 8"
October Rainfall totals: 7.5"

Please note that I'm working with an extremely primitive rain gauge and am not even going to attempt to graph rain for particular days in October as we missed approximately one week while off on vacation.

Grand Marais Diary Recap: Day 1


Left in rain, travelled in rain. A bank of fog over Superior and the surrounding hills.



Fed by the wettest fall on season, gullies of water shot from the stone cliffs, pooling in the ditches, overrunning the road in spots, and staining the fringe of Superior a root beer brown. Spurred by runoff, the French River was like a river on steroids.



Spent the night in town at the East Bay Suites. Took a walk through the town and along the harbor as the sunset behind the Sawtooth Mountains.

Sorry for the gap; just returned from our trip Grand Marais last week. To recap, nothing's blooming anymore, and the only colors left in peak are the Oaks. Goldfinch are passing through in droves (some moving South I suppose), and the frogs are starting to get comfortable on the bottom of the pond.

1.5" of rain the week we were gone.

Cloudy today with temperatures down in the mid 50s and 2.5" of rain in the gauge. The oaks are turning a rich golden colour as we get further into the season.

1.5" of rain early Friday morning, drizzles this morning, but not enough to register in the gauge. Sun appeared later in the day, pitching temps into the upper 80's in the late afternoon with high humidity.

Several roads were closed off in Carlos Avery WMA. Spotted a Heron and Egret in Pond 6. Not much left in bloom in Carlos Avery, but the Oaks are finally starting to turn.

Steady rain yesterday afternoon, heavy in spots. Sunny and pleasant this morning with 1" of rain in the garden gauge and temps holding in the 50's. Rose into the 70's in the afternoon. Took a few shots at Roseville's Central Park during my lunch break, unfortunately didn't bring the telephoto lens with, and missed some Mallards in the pond and a hawk wheeling over the boardwalk in Harriet Alexander Nature Center.


Grasshopper at Harriet Alexander Nature Center


Harriet Alexander Nature Center, shot from boardwalk


Restored Prairie at Harriet Alexander Nature Center


Fountain at Muriel Sahlin Arboretum


Muriel Sahlin Arboretum