Happy Birthday John.

Today was John's birthday.  Happy Birthday John.  I love you.

We drove over to Park Rapids to eat at Rapid River Logging Camp.  This was our second time to eat here.  The last time was in 1993 during one of the Titus reunions.  We arrived around 2:00 p.m. so there was no lunch crowd.  We had the whole place to ourselves. 

Rapid River Logging Camp

John waiting on his food. 

Our platter of food.  They serve the meals on one platter and you pick what you want.  They also served sides of macaroni salad, baked beans, slaw, rolls and cornbread.  For dessert they serve doughnuts....which we could not eat we were so full.  Our server packaged them to go. 

Afterwards we walked around the grounds.  Since it is an old logging camp they have old logging equipment to look at. 

The scenery behind the logging camp.

An old steam thresher.

At the front of the property there were a few chickens, ducks and turkeys hanging out.

Ain't he handsome?

Don't know what kind of chicken this is.  If anyone knows please tell us.

We still weren't ready to head back home yet so we rode over to Akeley, MN to see the Paul Bunyan's 50 foot statue. 

Tonight we cut John's cake I made him yesterday. 

Yellow butter cake with creamy frosting.  I tried a new frosting recipe.  It was really good.

As usual there is always something to take a picture of here at the refuge. Today we had a couple deer hanging out in what we call our back yard. 

We are off again tomorrow.  Hopefullly we will see more wildlife to photograph. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Checking the trails.

John attended chainsaw class again today.  He will be finishing that tomorrow.  I know he will be glad.  I rode with Judy again today to check trails for downed trees.  We saw lots of wildlife today. Oh, and we did find some downed trees too.

Judy standing under one of the downed trees.  This one was rather large. 

Yep.  We will definitely need help moving these. 

Riding the trails gives us an excellent opportunity to take photos.   Here are a few: 

 Two geese families out for a walk.

The swan family out for a stroll. 

Snapping turtle.

Deer.

Pelicans.

Yellow Lady Slippers.

Hopefully next week I will be able to accompany Judy on the trails again. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe.

Grouse and babies.

Up very early this morning as John had to be ready to leave for chainsaw class by 7:00 a.m.  Ugh!  This morning I worked with fellow volunteer Judy to check trails for downed trees.   This is one of my favorite jobs because you never know what you are going to see on the trails.

 Saw these guys on the way to Tea Cracker Trail.

We traveled down Tea Cracker Trail and enjoyed the scenery and the sounds of the birds.  There was only one downed tree.  It was very small and Judy and I moved it out of the way. 

Our second trail to check was River Road Trail.  Judy was telling me about a lady named Donna who, with the help of her dog Annie, finds and bands the new woodcocks.  Her dog wears a special collar and has been trained to spot the woodcocks.  Very interesting.  We arrived at the River Road Trail and got out to enjoy the scenery from the bridge.  We hadn't been there very long when Judy heard a noise.  When we turned around it was Donna and her dog Annie.  Wow, we were just talking about her.  It was cool to meet her and her dog. 

Donna and her dog Annie. 

Annie taking a break. 

We didn't find any downed trees on the River Road Trail and we started back home.  Judy stopped so I could see some more yellow Lady Slippers. 

These were larger than the ones I saw last week. 

We jumped back in the truck and just a little ways up the road we saw a Ruffed Grouse with eight chicks standing in the road.  Judy pulled over and we got out to take photographs.  We noticed someone speeding up the road so Judy motioned for them to slow down so the Grouse and her babies could get safely off the road.  It took a few minutes.  The mother went into the thicket and started calling her babies.  They finally followed their mom. 

This afternoon I worked at the Visitor Center.  We were rather busy with phone calls and 48 visitors.  I didn't see any Orioles today, just lots of Red Winged Black birds, a Blue Jay and several Gold Finches and  the usual red squirrel.

Tomorrow John has chainsaw class again and I will be riding the trails with Judy.  It should be interesting.  Hope we see lots of wildlife tomorrow. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Turtles and Swans.

SUNDAY:

John was busy mowing the area around the Visitor Center while I worked inside. We had 58 visitors today so that kept us busy.  While working today we were on the look out for the baby swans that hatched a day or so before.   Later on in the afternoon we were able to get a glimpse of them from quite a distance away. 

Here they are.  I zoomed in as far as I could and the picture blurred a little. Hopefully I will get another opportunity to get a photo of them. 

We had the usual visiting birds and squirrels.

A Hairy Woodpecker and a Redwinged Blackbird. 

This little red squirrel decided to hang out and eat all day.

Shortly before 5:00 p.m. we were visited by a painted turtle.   He was moving pretty fast but I was able to get a couple of pictures. 

MONDAY:  

John attended a staff meeting then a maintenance meeting at the Visitor Center then joined 2 other refuge employees at the first day of a four day chain saw course in Detroit Lakes, MN.  I worked at the Visitor Center all day.  It was a rather quiet day.   Not many visitors out today.   I didn't get any interesting photos.  Hopefully tomorrow while I am riding with Judy I will get a few. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe.  

Staying busy at the refuge.

The last few days have been very busy ones.  John has been mowing various spots throughout the refuge as well as working on Sundays in the Visitor Center.  I was assigned to help with some of the environmental education outings held in the refuge recently.  The first group of students were a small Native American group from a nearby school.

These students are getting ready to participate in a game called "Oh Deer" which teaches them about wildlife, their habitat and survival of the species.  The students enjoyed the game very much. 

 Rick (far left) lining the students up. 

Monday and Tuesday of this week we had two more groups come to the refuge to participate in educational programs.  Wednesday was by far the largest group......more than 120 students.    I was assigned to help with the GPS segment. In the GPS exercise the students were paired up and given a hand held GPS programmed with information on the migration of certain birds.  Each student picked a bird and followed the GPS to find the migratory path of their bird.   Very interesting to watch.

Tuesday afternoon I joined fellow volunteer Judy to checkout the trails within the refuge for fallen trees.  We found several small trees that we were able to move off the trails and finally came upon one that we could not move. I am so glad I brought my camera along.  You never know what you will see in the refuge.   Thank you Judy for inviting me along.  I had a fun afternoon.

  On our first stop we saw this little raccoon.  He scampered off into the bushes when he saw us. 

We came across a few Columbine.....

 and a few Yellow Lady Slippers.  

Later that afternoon John and I drove to Detroit Lakes to pick up our prescriptions.  On the way back I took a few more pictures. 

I think this is my favorite picture of the day. 

Wednesday, John was on mowing detail again.  I worked at the Visitor Center in the morning and then accompanied our volunteer coordinator Janice during the afternoon for a cleaning assignment. 

This little guy stopped by the Visitor Center and stayed most of the morning.  

Today is one of our days off.  We woke up to thunder and rain.  Fred was not happy about that.  Don't know what we will do today but I am sure we will think of something. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Baby Fox in Tamarac

John and I worked in the Visitor Center today.  On our way in this morning we saw a baby fox (Kit) on the road leading up to the Visitor Center.  We stopped and tried to get a picture but he ran off.  We saw it again on our lunch break but off it went again.  On our way home tonight we saw him again and were able to get a few pictures.  They aren't the best since we had to remain a good distance away.  It was laying on the side of the road.

Such a cute little guy.  I hope we can get more pictures of him. 

Also while working today I took a picture of what I think is a female hairy woodpecker. 

I hope if I am wrong Judy will help me identify this little guy. 

Tomorrow will be another work day for us and hopefully another good day to take pictures. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe.