Prairie Ninebark, a native shrub, in bloom

Saw a Kildeer in Roseville this morning, picking through wrappers in a hotel parking lot. The last Kildeer I can remember seeing was years back in Stillwater. It was March or April, the snow had gone from all but the thickest stretches of the forest, and the ice had receded several feet out (still probably an inch or more thick in the middle), exposing a sandy shoreline littered with fish and waterborne insects that had been killed as the ice moved in. The kildeer was hopping along, here and there nabbing a dragonfly larva (fat and green, like a raw olive), or pecking at the ribs of a dead sunfish. It took off when it saw me, piping its distinguishing cry as it wheeled over the ice.

It's not the first time I've spotted what would typically be distinguised as rural wildlife in Minneapolis's very urbanized suburb. I remember once doing a double-take as what I thought was a dog ran along the train tracks that cross County Road C. It was a red fox with a cottontail rabbit in its mouth.

Four strawberries by last count between two plants. The last of the Wild Geranium went out of bloom last night, and the Harebell and Monkey Flower look just about ready to pop.