Not all birding excursions are successful. Yesterday’s outing was a perfect example of this fact … including gas station cuisine. Let me frame the scenario. Early in the morning I drove from Duluth to Northstar Lake where my family owns a small cabin. My goals for the day were to turn on the water system, monitor the bird nest I have been watching this spring, and finally catch a forecasted Northern Lights.

Wading into the cold spring fed lake, I soon had the water system working for another summer. Now it was time to check out the nest. Unfortunately my feathered friends were a no show. However, I saw lots of other birds and luxuriated in the fact of driving almost 50 miles on paved wilderness roads without seeing another car.

My birding kept me away from the cabin over the extended dinner hour. Thus, early on during the drive home I stopped at a gas station to get some food. In northern Minnesota where I was birding, the gas station was my only dinner option. Thus, I enjoyed two steam warmed cheeseburgers with questionable meat, and a banana … a true gourmet meal.

Later that night my Aurora Borealis display fizzled while the temperature outside dropped overnight to 27F (unheated cabin). In short, it was a great time up in the remote parts of my region. Here are two photographs I did take … a flock of Trumpeter Swans landing near sundown and the night sky outside my cabin at 1:00 am. Life is good!

The greenish glow across the lake in the Milky Way photograph is another cabin’s security light reflecting off the new spring green leaves.