Another off topic post (like my recent post about Canal Park and the Alpena). While I don’t want to turn this blog into a northern Minnesota tourist guide, I know many of you have family members who couldn’t care the least about our fine feathered friends. Thus, I like to add an occasional post about things one might do to keep the entire clan happy when visiting / birding northern Minnesota. Today’s topic is “Logging in Days of Yore!”

It is definitely worth a stop at the Minnesota Historical Society’s Forest History Center in Grand Rapids. The “center” is an old logging camp built on the shores of the Mississippi River. Most of the folks you find at the Forest History Center are volunteers who believe passionately in helping you learn the history of the region. Northern Minnesota was essentially clear cut in the early part of the 1900’s.

Take the time to watch this short video about the last log drive on the Little Fork River (a bit north of Grand Rapids). Make sure you click “play”. Don’t skip the first few static minutes, but by about minute #3 you will be treated to watching the last log drive every to occur in Minnesota … year 1938: Last Log Drive on the Little Fork River

Also a bit north of Grand Rapids is the only remaining Civilian Conservation Corp Camp in the Lower 48 which is in remotely good shape: Camp Rabideau. All the hiking trails I use near my own house were built by the CCC in the 1930’s. If you would like to read about the logging industry in northern Minnesota, here is a great overview from the Minnesota Historical Society. The picture is theirs, not mine.

I will never post about “tourist / historical sites” unless I have personally visited the spot in question, and found the experience extremely interesting.

Yesterday morning shortly before 6 am I took the pontoon boat out for a cruise on Northstar Lake. This body of water is 60 miles south of the Canadian border in northern Minnesota, and is the southernmost lake of the Hudson Bay Watershed. It is also my little part of paradise. The lake is very wild, and this 30 second video takes place in a channel near my cabin between two sections of the lake (email subscribers video link).

Luckily by being out early I beat the Canadian forest forest fire smoke which rolled into the area a few hours later. For me it was dead calm and perfect photographic conditions. While checking upon two Common Loon families, I heard a very rare bird song … Black-Billed Magpies. While magpies are common in the western states, they are extremely rare in my area … even more so in the Boreal forest. I discovered a nest!

Black-Billed Magpies

Black-Billed Magpie Range (map courtesy of Cornell’s All About Birds)

Common Loon Families