Outdoors
Spring at a Northwoods Creek
The latest video from the Voyageurs Wolf Project shows the array of wildlife that visited a small creek in Voyageurs National Park over the course of a few weeks in May. Critters passing though include a bear, wolf, fisher, marten, owl, porcupine and more.
This wolf pup is still working on a proper howl
The wolf pup in this video was trying its best to howl, but just couldn’t quite get it out. The footage is of the Paradise Pack of wolves at Voyageurs National Park, observed with a Voyageurs Wolf Project‘s trail camera. The project is focused on understanding the summer ecology of wolves in the park, located about 120 miles north of Duluth.
Uh-oh … wait, don’t panic
There are several different species of tent caterpillar. The one’s shown here, photographed in West Duluth, look a tad different than the dreaded forest tent caterpillars that defoliate trees and shrubs in nightmarish fashion. (more…)
A Brief Remembrance of George Hovland
I’ve only been in Duluth for 20 years, so in relation to George Hovland’s life, I’m just a newcomer. Even so, as a cross-country skier, my tracks crossed his over and over.
George always ran Snowflake Nordic Ski Center like a charity. The cashbox on the counter just sat there on the honor system. Each year, I signed up my kids for the KidSki program. This was during the window of time each fall where he gave a discount for signing up early. I paid full price because I could afford it. I also did it because, unlike a lot of things, I knew exactly where my money was going. I mean, outside of my family, cross-country skiing is my favorite thing. And each year when he got my check, George called me on the phone and said, “You shouldn’t pay full price. You can pay the discounted price.” And I said, “I know George. It’s me. I told you the exact same thing last year.”
One time, I was skiing classic style in the snow-blessed microclimate at Snowflake and George came up on me the opposite direction and said, “Great technique!” I was a little too pleased, but a comment like that from George, a 1952 Olympian, was like a benediction. (more…)
Frog Songs in the North Woods
The frogs have been incredible this spring. Here’s something recorded with three mics (for best listening, try putting on headphones — you will be engulfed in the tri-stereophonic bliss of creatures singing in the woods! Trust me, computer speakers won’t provide the embodied sense of being in the midst of it all!) Minimalist guitars included, but the frogs are worth it!
PDD Quiz: Duluth Parks II
Test your knowledge of Duluth’s western parks in this week’s quiz! As with the previous quiz on Duluth parks, Tony Dierckins’ and Nancy S. Nelson’s Duluth’s Historical Parks: Their First 160 Years was an indispensible resource. Historical images from the Kathryn A. Martin Library’s Northeast Minnesota Historical Collection were accessed through the Minnesota Digital Library, another excellent resource for local history buffs.
The next PDD quiz, reviewing this month’s headlines, will be published on April 25. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by April 21. (more…)
Aerial Video: St. Louis River in Spring at Sunset
Adam Jagunich takes his Yuneec Typhoon H Plus on it’s maiden flight over the St. Louis River as the sun sets in western Duluth.
PDD Video Lab: Bluebird Day on the Black Bear Highway
In this edition of the Perfect Duluth Day Video Lab we combine trail camera footage from the Voyageurs Wolf Project, which was previously posted on PDD, with the title track to Duluth band Woodblind‘s 2020 album Bluebird Day.
The original video features a vast array of critters. This trail cam happened to be a spot considered a “black bear highway,” and the happy bears seemed to need some music to dance to.
One Year on a Game Trail in Northern Minnesota
The latest video from the Voyageurs Wolf Project shows all of the wildlife using a game trail in Voyageurs National Park from June 2019 to August 2020. It’s a 15-minute distillation of more than 5.5 hours of footage recorded on a single camera, featuring an extraordinary variety of critters.
Intersections: Dudley Edmondson
Dudley Edmondson is an author and photographer with a passion and career in the outdoors.
The WDSE-TV series Intersections celebrates people across northern Minnesota who are making the region a better place to live, work and play.
In case anyone needs another nuisance to deal with …
… here’s the annual reminder that the ticks are back.
Another Day on the Beach with Two Wolf Packs
Another montage of excellent trail-cam footage from Voyageurs National Park. In this edition a variety of wildlife visit the beach in the September to January timeframe, but wolves are the main beach bums. Two different packs frequent the area — the Shoepack Lake Pack and the Nashata Pack.
The footage is from the Voyageurs Wolf Project, which is focused on understanding the summer ecology of wolves in the park. The beach is about 120 miles north of Duluth.
The Singing Wilderness: Summer to Winter in the Northwoods
This video contains all the wildlife captured by a remote camera from July 21 to Jan. 17 on a rocky island in the middle of a large bog in Voyageurs National Park. The camera is located in the center of the Cranberry Bay Pack territory and the collared wolves in the video are Wolves V083 and V084, the breeding pair of the Cranberry Bay Pack.
The Voyageurs Wolf Project put together the video and titled it after Sigurd Olson’s book The Singing Wilderness, a collection of essays on the different seasons in the northwoods.
Cranberry Bay is on Rainy Lake, about 125 miles north of Duluth.
Riverbend Skate Path in Warroad
About 200 miles northwest of Duluth, the Warroad River connects two ice rinks with a 2.5-mile skating path cleared by local dads.
Also in wild skating news, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is mentioned in the National Geographic online story, “‘It really is like flying.’ Explore wild skating on nature’s ice.” The article “glides across icy geographies, including Minnesota, Colorado, Alaska, and Vermont, where a 4.3-mile skate trail on Lake Morey ranks as the longest in the U.S.,” according to a blurb on the publication’s Travel newsletter.
Voyageur Wolves: Cranberry Bay Pack
Four members of the Cranberry Bay Pack of wolves cross the camera in this video from the Voyageurs Wolf Project. The wolf that stands in front of the camera is a pup that was born last spring.
Cranberry Bay is on Rainy Lake, about 125 miles north of Duluth in Voyageurs National Park. The Voyageurs Wolf Project is focused on understanding the summer ecology of wolves in the park.
Fish Frozen in Lake Superior Ice Sheet
Fish of increasing size frozen at various depths in 8 inches of ice or so. Pic #1: 3-inch fish. Pic #2: 6-inch fish. Pic # 3: 12-inch fish.
Selective Focus: Icy Blue Gitche Gu
Via Instagram, select images of Lake Superior in wintry blue. (more…)
Video: Wolf pack on a beach in northern Minnesota
“Definitely the coolest footage of a wolf pack traveling together that we have ever captured,” begins the YouTube description of this clip from the Voyageurs Wolf Project. Though recently uploaded, the clip is from October. The SD cards on the camera were changed in late January, leading to the recent discovery of the Shoepack Lake Pack footage — seven wolves strolling the beach 120 miles north of Duluth in Voyageurs National Park. The Voyageurs Wolf Project is focused on understanding the summer ecology of wolves in the park.
Video: Ice-fishing gear floating away on Lake Superior ice sheets
Marius Anderson of London Road Films shot this aerial footage in Duluth on Tuesday after an ice sheet broke from the shore and took a group of nearly 30 ice anglers out into Lake Superior. The Duluth Fire Department rescued all of the anglers; most of the equipment was lost. (more…)
Winter Sports in Duluth, 1929
This brochure from 1929 highlights “Winter Sports in Duluth,” including the old toboggan chute at Chester Park, as seen on the cover. (more…)
Ice Angler Rescue
Ice anglers rescued after ice sheet breaks away from shore.
KBJR. WCCO-TV. Star Trib. Duluth News-Tribune.
I was skating that ice 48 hours ago, so I’m going to crawl under my bed now.
Skated the big lake today
Skated the big lake today in -30 windchill or so. Had it all to myself because I’m a baller, shot caller, 20-inch blades on the Impala