Blue Flag

Two of our granddaughters spent a few days with us this week. Along with playing on the shores of Lake Superior we were able to see lots of wildflowers and wildlife. The Blue Flags or Wild Iris have just opened up. This is one of my favorite marsh flowers.

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Pink Lady's-slipper 001

The pink lady’s-slippers or moccasin flowers have started to bloom in Cascade River State Park.

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When the morning sun backlit them their colors brightened.

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Lupines 001

The lupines are more abundant and can be found in many of the ditch banks and old meadows along the backroads.

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They aren’t native to the North Shore but are attractive.

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Painted Turtle

Our granddaughters got to watch a painted turtle lay her eggs. Everyone was trying to guess at the number of eggs. All of us were surprised when the fourteenth egg came out. We didn’t think the hole was that deep. Almost every year one or two painted turtles lay their eggs in our flower garden but this is the first time we got to see the whole sequence.

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Whitetail Deer

Our resident deer came by several times. They stop often for a drink from the pond. We saw one mom with one fawn and second mom with twins.

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Whitetail Fawn

This little guy came by one morning and seemed like it had lost its mom. It circled the house. Mom wasn’t anywhere in sight. I’m sure it didn’t take her long to track the fawn down. I noticed fresh bear droppings so the bear could have given chase and separated the twins from the mom. A few years ago, a bear caught one fawn just below our house. The bleating of the fawn was intense. Then silence. This happened in the dark so when I checked in the morning there wasn’t much left other than some blood and droppings.

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Sandhill Cranes

Our neighbor called and said they had two sandhill cranes with babies. I was fortunate to find them still there when I drove over. The babies must have just hatched as they were so teeny compared to mom. Most of the time you couldn’t even see them in the grass.

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Storm

The week ended with a storm moving out over Lake Superior at sunset creating a breathtaking view.

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