Do you stop for Purple Cows in life? This term grew out of a bike tour and the “purple cow” I saw while on a nine day self-supported bike tour around 1/2 of Lake Superior (The Trans Superior Tour). I stopped to inspect the Purple Cow and was introduced to the “Woodcarver of Washburn” (read more about Purple Cows and our travels … Molly and I were interviewed for the local paper about our bike touring).

Earlier this Summer I found a new Purple Cow while out birding … a Seussical Cow! Yes, the esteemed doctor would be thrilled to see this roadside children’s bus shack. Here in the Northland where temperatures get dangerously cold in the winter, out in rural areas many families build small buildings where their children may await the school bus. Here is today’s Purple Cow. I waited to take a picture when I had the first light of the morning plus wildflowers.

Not just when birding, but also when travelling across America Molly and I almost always take longer routes that get us off the interstate highway system. Purple Cows are rarely if ever seen from super highways. Here is the original Purple Cow!

This day’s birding was (a few days ago) was unusual in itself. After all, how often does one see a Black Pheasant? In my case, never before this outing. The bird led me to do some research. While the pheasant might be an escapee as pheasant are rare in northern Minnesota … black pheasants which indicates a bird is melanistic are even more rare. Regardless, here is the Black Pheasant which definitely was trying to hide from me.