The Deluge in Northfield - Video

The big event of the week in Northfield and the nearby region was the six to eight inches of rain -- even more in some spots -- that came down on Thursday. Wave after wave of heavy rain passed through the area throughout the day and well into the evening. The Cannon River flooded in Cannon Falls, along with the Little Cannon, but did not (at least not to any significant extent) in Northfield. However, creeks overflowed, soccer fields turned into lakes, farms were underwater, several roads became impassable, and many people had wet basements.

I have a wet basement myself -- our sump pump failed at one corner of the finished portion of our basement, so water welled up in that area and spread throughout our family room. More water poured in under a door at the opposite, walk-out side of the basement, where there is a badly conceived exterior stairwell. We have a bedroom down there as well, which is also very wet; it seems to have received some water from both sources. We spent much of the night trying to keep up with it all, and quite a bit of time and hard work ever since, trying to get things dried out and assess what needs to be done next. Carpets, baseboards and the bottom of several walls were soaked. It's been quite upsetting, but I know that what we experienced was little compared to some others.

Friends at the small, diversified Seeds Farm and Laughing Loon Farm, just south of Northfield, were indundated. Much planted acreage and some chickens were washed away. Both farms are gratefully welcoming volunteers to help with the clean-up this week. Both have Facebook pages: https://www.facebook.com/LaughingLoonFarm?ref=ts and https://www.facebook.com/SeedsFarm?ref=ts. I've been following both farms' accounts of their spring plantings, and it's very sad to see so much hope simply drowned, though I'm sure they'll recover in time.

While watching one of the early downpours from the Neuger Communications Group office at the heart of downtown Northfield, I took this short video of water lapping over the curb in front of our building and gushing from a manhole across the street where the storm sewer became overwhelmed. It's funny to think, looking back, that this was only the beginning. At this point in the day, the planners of Taste of Northfield were still hoping to hold the event that evening, "rain or shine." In the end, of course, it had to be canceled.



A couple of local websites picked up this video (which, due to the magic of the smartphone, I had posted to YouTube and tweeted within a couple of minutes of recording it), and when I checked yesterday I was quite astounded to see it's had more than 800 views.

While coping with all the rain, we spared a thought for the close-to-fledging tree swallows in some of our bluebird boxes and hoped that they were staying dry and had not chosen that morning to leave the nest. And I hope our young bluebird fledglings, most of whom are only two or three weeks out of the nest, found shelter and are all right. We checked most of our nestboxes yesterday, and all those we checked seemed to have stayed dry. I'll be posting a bluebird trail report soon.

Update - June 18: We had another bout of heavy rain and hail overnight -- Weather Underground stations are reporting between one and four inches overnight in the Northfield and Cannon Falls areas (3.75 at Stanton airport).

Christmas Bird Count 2011

This was the view from the passenger seat at just after 8 o'clock this morning, as my little Christmas Bird Count group set off to spend the morning slowly driving the back roads southeast of Northfield, as well driving and walking the southeast section of town. We covered 29 miles by car and about half a mile on foot (mostly on the footpaths near Sibley Elementary School) in 3.5 hours. It was a pretty morning, with last night's dusting of snow still fresh on the fields and trees, but it was relatively slow morning for birding. While we had a few exciting moments, things were generally pretty quiet. We spotted or identified by sound approximately:

• 80 European starlings in a single group
• 51 house finches (about 40 in a single flock)
• 50 mallards (flying overhead)
• 26 American crows
• 21 house sparrows
• 17 black-capped chickadees
• 9 mourning doves (7 in a small backyard tree visible from a footpath)
• 7 blue jays 
• 7 wild turkeys
• 6 dark-eyed juncos
• 5 American robins
• 4 downy woodpeckers
• 3 American goldfinches
• 3 northern cardinals
• 3 red-tailed hawks
• 2 northern shrikes (one in town, near the ponds off Jefferson Parkway near Prairie St. -- an exciting "spot")
• 1 red-bellied woodpecker
• 1 white-breasted nuthatch

There were also a few pigeons, which are officially called rock pigeons these days. Numbers above are from memory and may be inexact, as we didn't keep our tally sheet after making our official report, but they are close.

Dan and Erika Tallman were the Northfield-area coordinators this year and hosted the pre-Count breakfast and the post-Count lunch. It's always fun to sit around the table with other bird-minded Northfielders, and some who come from elsewhere to participate because their home regions don't have a count.

We joined in the Christmas Bird Count the previous two years as well, and I blogged about both outings. In 2009 I saw my first horned larks and provided more general background about the Christmas Bird Count, and in 2010 I saw my first northern shrike and wrote about the frustration of unofficial turkeys -- turkeys that were on the wrong side of the road along our area boundary and so could not be officially counted.

The history and research value of the annual Christmas Bird Count (a project of the National Audubon Society and partners) were nicely described in an article that ran in the most recent Northfield News. Read it here.

Loon! And other first-of-the-year sightings

We've been checking the Superior Drive pond just about every day for new arrivals, and this afternoon we were rewarded by the majestic sight of a common loon (not so common here -- typically seen only briefly, in migration). I noted a loon at this location on April 5, 2008, and I know that they've been seen at around this time at the same pond in other recent springs. I also noted seeing one at Lake Byllesby last year on April 18.

It is hard for me to tear my eyes away from this magnificent bird -- so impressively large and low in the water, its head so absolutely black without any shine, its bill so powerful, its black-and-white markings so striking, including vertical stripes around the neck and the elaborate checks-and-spots pattern of its wings.

The eyes are a dark red, though they do not show up well in these photos.

The loon is a diving, fish-eating bird. It was challenging to get in the scope for these photos, because it tended not to stay above water for more than 10 or so seconds at a time. I'd just get everything lined up right and it would jackknife down again and reappear some seconds later many yards away.

Other newcomers at the pond today were several pied-billed grebes, the chicken-beaked diving bird that looks absolutely tiny in comparison to any other bird on the pond.

We also went to Lake Byllesby this morning. The water is far too high to be welcoming to shorebirds yet, but we saw a raft of many dozens, probably hundreds, of ducks -- mostly northern shovelers mixed with some mallards, first-of-the-season green-winged teals, and American wigeons. We also got a good look at our first-of-the-year American white pelicans and, on the way back, three great egrets and a belted kingfisher. Almost every bird mentioned here was a life bird for my son, so he was thrilled. It was a very good day of early spring birding!

Red-tailed Hawk Visits Our Backyard

As I sat at the computer Sunday afternoon at about 2:15, I could see the tops of our neighbors' cottonwood trees through a window. There are often crows up there, but I saw something else fly in and land that made the crows look small. I grabbed my binoculars and was amazed to see that the bird was a red-tailed hawk, a bird with a four-foot wingspan. No wonder it dwarfed the crows, which are not small birds themselves.

Photo taken by my son through glass door to our deck

These magnificent hawks are quite common out in the open spaces of our region, but to see one perching in a tree adjacent to our backyard (albeit in an area with large yards near the edge of town) was a first for me. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology notes:

You’re unlikely to see this bird in your backyard (unless yours is a big one). Red-tailed Hawks eat mostly mammals, so they’re less likely to visit a popular feeder than a Cooper’s or Sharp-shinned hawk is. ... The best way to find a Red-tailed Hawk is to go for a drive, keeping your eyes peeled along fenceposts and in the sky.

Trying to get a better view, I hauled out the spotting scope and set it up looking out of our dining room window. I don't have a good setup for taking photos through the scope, so there's some color distortion and vignetting (the dark circle around the scene), but we were excited to get such a good look at a hawk from inside our house. My 11-year-old son has really been enjoying watching birds lately and this was the first red-tailed hawk he'd seen since he started to keep a list. He grabbed the camera and took the top photo above while I was setting up the scope. I didn't crop that one so you could see its size in the treetops.

Lighting adjusted to bring out tail color

After about 15 minutes the hawk turned so its creamy front side was facing toward us, and just as we were about to take more photos it flew off to the west, in the direction of downtown Northfield.

Morning After the Blizzard

This morning there was no more snow than when I wrote last night, but the temperature had dropped 20 degrees F. The sun came out and shone upon dazzling heaps of white. A few chickadees and house finches came to the feeders once the sun was well up; I expect to have a bumper day today with birds seeking calories to stay alive in the frigid cold.

Low-angle view of the snow on the deck (note drift marks and old footprints)

My rear neighbor's balcony

If we get much more snow, the mailbox will disappear!

After the plow cleared our circle

 See more photos from yesterday's blizzard (also posted yesterday) and today's aftermath: View large slide show here or click through to the album below.

Blizzard Dec11

Nature's Snow Scuptures

Our 8-10 (amended: I just read a report that we did indeed get 10+ ) inches of dry, fluffy new snow formed a surprising pattern near a privacy fence at one end of our deck -- like a mini mountain range. Here are three shots, cropping closer each time. Interesting how the colors change when cropping this snowy scene really close.

The Water Recedes

 Here are some photos taken yesterday and today from my usual observation spot on the east bank of the Cannon River near Fifth Street. Though the water has come down considerably, note the log stranded on the water-covered lowest step in the photo above.

 Monday the barriers were still up along the riverfront...

... and Ames Mill still seemed to be a ship afloat.

 

 Sand the waters left behind

 High-tide mark in the parking lot. We along this stretch of the river were lucky; much of the real damage occurred in the next two blocks to the north, where the river is constrained between retaining walls and buildings that come right to the river's edge. (Here's a story in the Star Tribune about the large fish left behind on that riverwalk!)

Debris on the Sesquicentennial Legacy Plaza

Northfield Flood Photos, Saturday morning

Having missed out on being downtown yesterday, I did a little rubbernecking this morning by 5th and Water streets, Bridge Square, and the rodeo grounds and dog park area between Culver's and the pedestrian/bike bridge. The downtown bridges are still closed, and access to the riverbank area is blocked, with prominent National Guard and police presence, so there are no dramatic photos taken from the bridges or riverbank. You can see my Picasa album below.

Northfield Flood September 2010

Goslings Close Up

I was experimenting with how close I can crop in on goslings with this new camera. With the higher zoom (up to 12x on the optical zoom, compared to my old 3x), so I can get closer in to start with, and a larger photo size than previously, I can crop in quite a bit and still end up with a decent photo.



Several of the photos here are further crops of photos in the previous post, which were themselves already cropped. The one below is about at the limit -- it's starting to lose resolution -- but for web use it's still not bad.

I particularly like the lighting and the downy texture on the somewhat larger goslings below.

Goose Daycare

This seems an inordinately large swarm of goslings (22, at least) for this pair of adults, but Canada geese are known for setting up "creches," where a small number of adults watch over goslings from more than one family. If you click on the images above or below and look more closely, you can see that they are not all the same age. Look for differences in neck and bill length, as well as overall size.

Somehow I missed this next one on the first round, so I've added it now. I think the caption on this one should be "Like Herding Cats!" -- You can just see by the snaky neck on that day-care lady (or day-care gent) that its singular thought is, "Now you pesky kids GET over there where you belong!"


Here (below) is a single family group with younger, yellower kiddos. How quickly they grow up.

Blue-winged Teals

Here is a pair of blue-winged teals seen late yesterday afternoon in one of the ponds near the Amerman Pavilion and soccer fields on the southeast side of town. I'm told that if you go to western Minnesota, these are more common than mallards, which by the way are considerably larger. While we were watching these two, a mallard splashed down right next to them (rudely replaced them in the field of our spotting scope, in fact), and the size differential was very plain.

Fog and Open Water

Open water at last... though there is still a strip of ice along each bank.

Below, fog droplets dangle from the Ray Jacobson "Harvest" sculpture, with the misty river behind.

Hoarfrosty Morning

Here are some photos I took this morning, on Maple St. near Sibley School and down by the riverfront. In places, the frost is an inch thick.

Hoarfrost January 19 2010

Blizzard Time-Lapse Video

Northfield folks may have already seen this time-lapse video of the December 8-9 blizzard set up by Adam Gurno and Tim Freeland, but it certainly deserves a wider audience. Looking out over our town square, the blizzard-cam captured two days and a night in which 9.5 inches of snow fell, high winds developed, the town Christmas tree blew over, streets were plowed and got snow-covered again, and eventually the window through which the camera was pointing frosted over as arctic cold blew in following the snowstorm.

Noontime Walk Over the Bike Bridge

At lunchtime today my friend Mary and I followed the bike path along the east bank of the Cannon River behind the co-op, through Riverside Park, under the highway, over the new pedestrian/bike bridge, and down the path toward Sechler Park, behind the Malt-O-Meal plant. It was the first time I'd crossed the new bridge and so the first time I'd ever had the chance to stand and look at this particular view of the Cannon, facing southwest away from town. The bridge is named in honor of Peggy Prowe, former Northfield city council member, who has worked so hard to advance the Mill Towns Trail.


As we stood there, several geese flew from behind us and came in for a landing near this group of geese in the distance (barely visible in the top photo). Here you can see the white stripe across their rears which we don't that often get the chance to observe. (Click on the photo for a larger view.)

Here is a milkweed pod, seen alongside the path through the woods, burst open to show its silky white seed threads -- quite a contrast to the prickly-looking pods. (This photo is really cool when you click on it to see the large version. Go ahead, check it out.)

It was in the lower 50s but a beautifully sunny day. After our disappointing October weather, it seemed a perfectly good day to be outside for a while before heading back to the office for the rest of the afternoon. When I came out again, at about 5:45, it was nearly dark.

Downtown Heron

Click on the photo for a much larger, though not perfectly focused, view.

A couple of days ago I noticed a great blue heron hunkered down at the west bank of the Cannon River here in Northfield, across from where I work. I've seen one on this downtown stretch of river only once before, though I know they are commonly seen just a few blocks to the north, where the town-tamed river becomes relatively wild again as it wends its way through the Carleton Arboretum and onward toward Cannon Falls and eventually the Mississippi.

Usually when I photograph the river I try to avoid any intrusion of the traffic and fast food signs on the far side, but contrasts and unexpected juxtapositions interest me, and in this case the sighting of the rather reclusive heron and its small-town-urban setting seemed to call for a different view.

Prairie and Sky

Here are more photos from the St. Olaf college natural lands taken Saturday morning. The St. Olaf wind turbine dominates the landscape if you're looking anywhere in its general direction. The two wind turbines in Northfield, one here at St. Olaf and the other owned by Carleton College but standing on land slightly east of town, have come to be iconic symbols of this small city.

The tall prairie grasses (I believe Big Bluestem is what we're seeing here) bent and swayed in the breeze.

Light purple wildflowers in the aster family and goldenrod were common, as well as plenty of other plants I can't identify, like the greenish spikes below.

Can anyone tell me what these huge spikes are? They must have been close to ten feet tall. I have seen similar things on a much smaller scale, but have no idea what they might be.