This weekend a friend of the family was super kind and invited me over to see an extremely rare bird, a Varied Thrush. I have included the range map from Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology. This bird should not be hanging out in Duluth, Minnesota. The thrush played peek-a-boo with me at sunup, but I was thrilled to have this view! Unfortunately the Varied Thrush is on private property a fair distance from any public road … thus not available for easy viewing (I can not reveal the location).

Varied Thrush and Range Map

The weekend continued with other unique experiences. Molly and I skied 20 kilometers across the frozen ice of Lake Superior from Ashland to Washburn at NIGHT! The event, Book Across the Bay is normally only 10 kilometers long, but in the gathering darkness Molly and I skied 10k from the finish to the start. Upon reaching Ashland, we had 20 minutes to rest before skiing back through the night. I used my GoPro to take some short videos. If you watch the two minute film you will gain an appreciation for skiing through darkness, past bonfires, hearing jazz out on the middle of the lake, and even seeing a fire breathing dragon … all with well over 2,000 of your best friends. I was starting to lag when I reached the finish. 20k is more than I had skied so far this year.

Sunday saw me volunteering in the Bog, but of course I had to go birding on the way home.  These Ring-Necked Pheasants and Evening Grosbeaks provided me some nice views.

Mr. and Mrs. Ring-Necked Pheasant

Mr. and Mrs. Evening Grosbeak