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WACOUTA NATURE NOTES
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Spring Is Busting Out All Over
Leaves coming out on bluff behind Wacouta Bay Since my last post, there has been a plethora of evidence that full blown spring is upon us....
Bruce Ause
Apr 26, 2017
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Surprise At The Beaver Lodge
Beaver Lodge On my posting from March 25th, I reported about the current beaver dam construction on and around Bullard Creek. As I...
Bruce Ause
Apr 14, 2017
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Wood Ducks Return and Turkeys Strut
Drake and Hen Wood Duck Since my last posting on our blog, many species of waterfowl have arrived in our area from their winter haunts. ...
Bruce Ause
Apr 3, 2017
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First Barge, Beaver and Pasque Flowers
First Barge of the Season The average date for the first barge of the spring to pass through the Hastings lock and dam # 2 is March 22nd....
Bruce Ause
Mar 25, 2017
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Eagles Nesting and Maple Sap Flowing
Eagle Nesting Despite the fact that the Minnesota DNR had a camera featuring an active bald eagle nest in the metro as early as January,...
Bruce Ause
Mar 9, 2017
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From Spring to Winter
Male Cardinal Starting the second week of February, spring arrived with a bang. With the unseasonably warm weather, several signs of...
Bruce Ause
Feb 25, 2017
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Cross Country Skiing Ends- Spring Just Around the Corner
Bald Eagle Nest near Wacouta Pond Unless we receive a big dump of spring snow, it looks as if my cross country skiing outings in Wacouta...
Bruce Ause
Feb 12, 2017
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Winter is Still Hanging Around
View of Wacouta from the top of Rattlesnake Bluff Despite the fact that we had a string of 8 days the last part of January where high...
Bruce Ause
Feb 4, 2017
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Winter's New Normal and ELC Connections
Ice Covered Norway Pine Needles One of the effects of global climate change is very erratic and intense weather events. It seems as...
Bruce Ause
Jan 18, 2017
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Manna (Fish) From Heaven
Winter View of Lake Pepin With the most unusual winter we have experienced this year, I decided to go for a walk down to the Head of Lake...
Bruce Ause
Jan 5, 2017
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From Minus 22 to 42 Above in Just 48 Hours
Wacouta neighbor Suzanne Blue shares her photo of the sunrise over Rattlesnake Bluff flanked by two spectacular sundogs around 9:00 am on...
Bruce Ause
Dec 27, 2016
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Eagles, Mergansers, Goldeneyes and Gizzard Shad
Adult Eagle perching Depending on the weather, fall migration for eagles and diving ducks ranges from the end of November to mid-December....
Bruce Ause
Dec 15, 2016
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Intense Action at the Bird Feeders
Pileated Woodpeckers Despite the open conditions and unseasonably warm temperatures through December 3rd, we are experiencing exciting...
Bruce Ause
Dec 4, 2016
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Finally Winter
Sunrise over Rattlesnake Bluff Despite the fact that Wacouta didn't receive any snow from the big storm system that pushed through...
Bruce Ause
Nov 20, 2016
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Longest Growing Season on Record
Winter Rye and Rattlesnake Bluff With records for November warm weather being shattered on a daily basis, the growing season continues. ...
Bruce Ause
Nov 12, 2016
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Past Peak Color
View of lower Wacouta from the bluff top looking east Peak color in the Wacouta area was on or around October 19th when this photo was...
Bruce Ause
Nov 1, 2016
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No Frost Yet/Warm Weather Continues
Rattlesnake Bluff as seen from Wacouta Pond Despite the lack of a hard killing freeze yet, the fall colors are continuing to develop in...
Bruce Ause
Oct 20, 2016
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Finally Some Color
The peak colors for the Wacouta area are at least a week to ten days late this year. That could be attributed to all the moisture this...
Bruce Ause
Oct 10, 2016
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Stuck in Transition Between Summer and Fall
Bluffs overlooking Wacouta As one can see, there still is very little color showing up on the bluffs of Wacouta as of Sunday September...
Bruce Ause
Sep 28, 2016
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Migration And A New Discovery
White Pelicans On Friday September 16th, I observed the first significant flock of white pelicans at the Head of Lake Pepin. There were...
Bruce Ause
Sep 20, 2016
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