Explore the Northern Wilds
[ In Critters ]
The North American porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum, is Minnesota’s second largest rodent surpassed only by the beaver. Like the skunk, this is an animal best given some space if encountered in the wild.
As my fishing buddies will attest, I like gear. But my travels as a fishing writer have forced me to scale down my gear to the bare essentials. What I’ve learned is for 90 percent of my fly in trips, I can get by comfortably with 10 percent of my usual tackle. Here’s a look at how to prepare for a fly in.
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Bright Woodland Singer: Purple Finch
Late winter is finch time. When the cone supply runs out in other areas, flocks of finches sometimes show up at this time of year. One of the most common finches is the purple finch. The name of this species (like so many others!) is a bit misleading. Not purple at all, male purple finches are suffused with a dusky rose color over bold brown-and-white streakiness. Females lack the rose color.
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Late winter is finch time. When the cone supply runs out in other areas, flocks of finches sometimes show up at this time of year. One of the most common finches is the purple finch. The name of this species (like so many others!) is a bit misleading. Not purple at all, male purple finches are suffused with a dusky rose color over bold brown-and-white streakiness. Females lack the rose color.
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When I chat with Thunder Bay visitors about their favourite day trips, one spot consistently ranks high–the impressive Terry Fox Scenic Lookout at the northeast entrance to the city.
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One of the first sure signs of spring in the Northern Wilds is when the sap starts to run in the sugar maples. Don Mount of Two Harbors has made maple syrup for 30 years. He says it varies somewhat with weather conditions, but the middle of March through the first two weeks of April is when the sap flows in the sugar bush. Usually, the run doesn’t begin until snow has melted away from the base of the trees.
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If you are looking for an interesting walk that will take you back in history, drive to the end of Duluth’s Park Point and hike about two miles to the site of the old Minnesota Point Lighthouse. It doesn’t look like much today, but the dilapidated tower was the first high-powered lighthouse on Lake Superior.
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On the map, Atikokan is a small town in Northwestern Ontario, just east of the wilderness paddling paradise of Quetico Provincial Park. But Atikokan also has a special "northern wilds" status – it’s the Canoe Capital of Canada. It is also home to one of the few women canoe builders in North America, Thelma Cameron.
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It was one of those Minnesota winter mornings when the sky is bluer than any summer sky can be. Though we had hiked along the Caribou River many times, this waterfall trek held a new excitement. It was the first time we had hiked on the river itself. Already heady from seeing four bald eagles along Highway 61, we slid our feet into snowshoes, anxious to venture out onto this winding frozen path.
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Earl Orf of Shoreview is a lifelong birder who enjoys photographing birds in the Northern Wilds.
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The International Wolf Center in Ely houses four live ambassador gray wolves for observation–Malik, Shadow, Grizzer and Maya. Another wolf, Nyssa, died suddenly in 2005, causing the remaining wolves to make adjustments in their social order.
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Our first chances to see snowy owls come with the first cold blasts of Canadian air in early winter. Then, in open areas, like airports, industrial complexes, and farm fields, or along the North Shore of Lake Superior, snowy owls begin turning up. They are true tundra birds, nesting as far north as only a handful of other species. Most of them stay north of us, even during the coldest winters.
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