Category Archives: Year 9

Responsible Logging … Not Clear Cutting

Year 9

Most of the loggers here in Northeastern Minnesota have adopted  logging methodologies which rather than harm the land, actually enhance the ability of the forest to support wildlife. I particularly want to call out a pioneer who helped my area return to its white pine heritage, after the northern part of the state was clear cut in the early 1900’s, Jack Rajala. He knew his logging business would grow if he also took care of the land.

Anyhow, yesterday I was exploring some back roads by bicycle, and I benefited from responsible logging. The area shown was likely logged just last winter, but it was not clear cut. Animals and birds are already finding food and using the land. In fact, a mature, tall forest with little undergrowth tends to be dead in terms of wildlife.

A Migrating Lesser Yellowlegs finds food in a small rain pond

The Logging Area (note the white pines that were NOT clear cut behind me)

White-Tail Deer enjoy new grasses.

Northern Visitors Passing Through

Year 9,

Most birds migrate south in flocks, but the Solitary Sandpiper (Cornell link) which nests in northern Canada fits its name very well. I have never seen one of the birds with another of its species. This morning was no exception. One Solitary Sandpiper was feeding at the tiny mud flats Forest Hill Cemetery creek’s inflow. What is amazing is … given this little mud flat is extremely small, it is dumbfounding how every fall this tiny spot is a migration magnet. I always see a wealth of different bird species at this location.

In addition, my local Red-Bellied Woodpeckers must have raised a second batch of youngsters this summer. Dad was busy showing junior the ropes yesterday afternoon.

A Night to Remember: Northern Lights

Year 9

Six years ago in 2016 the sun was very active, and on the night of August 2, 2016, I was up on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area when a G2 Aurora Borealis storm hit. I stayed up ALL night! The BWCA is rated as having perfectly dark skies. Now in 2022 we are once again heading into a Solar Maximum period. I can’t wait!

See the Northern Lights section of my blog about maximizing you chances to see the Northern Lights in my neck of the woods. Why am I reposting about a night from six years ago? There are two reasons:

  1. The images demonstrate that one may view Northern Lights displays, even in summer, in northeastern Minnesota!
  2. I still have the original files from that fantastic night, which allowed me to reedit the images from scratch using Topaz Lab’s Sharpen AI (my blog post about Topaz). The results are impressive in terms of image improvement when considering the fact I was dealing with naturally “noisy” images because of high ISO night photography.

The person in some of the photographs is me. I used a time delay that allowed me to get into some of my own images. I also did foreground light painting with an extremely small flashlight in a few images. Let me stress I had visited each of these locations multiple times during the day. Thus, I knew “in advance” at night what to expect deep in the wilderness.

First Set of Images: Shallow Lake well inland from Isabella (a bit before midnight)

Second Set of Images: Pagami Creek Wildfire Area (about 1:30 am)

Third Set of Images: Sunrise at Greenwood Lake (about 4 am)

If you’re curious as to where I was that night, see below. I still use this region frequently for watching Northern Lights displays. I had actually started driving home to Duluth and pulled into the Greenwood Lake public boat launch to catch a few winks in the back of my Subaru Outback. However, when I realized the Aurora was firing up again I was able to view the pre dawn lights plus the Northern Lights at the same time. Super cool!