Sherburne Wildlife Refuge

I went out for a drive early a couple days ago and saw one of the first signs of the coming Spring – a pair of Bald Eagles were sitting high in the trees, not too far from the Old School House.

Very Cool!

The National Wildlife Refuges around the country are hosting “National Public Lands Day” on September 26, 2009.

Our local Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge is looking for volunteers to help remove European Buckthorne from the refuge. Contact Nancy Haugen at the refuge for more information.

Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge will hold the annual Fall Bird Tour on Saturday, September 5, 2008 from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.  Anyone who wished to participate should meet at the Old School House. The group will then go to the Wildlife Drive.   Expert bird watchers will be present to point out the many bird species on the refuge. There is no charge to attend the program. Be sure to bring your binoculars!

Dave and I were privileged to meet the family of Lloyd Podtburg yesterday at the refuge. Mr. Podtburg passed away in December 2007. While he was alive, he and his wife Olga enjoyed visits at the refuge, so in his honor, his family donated a bench that has been placed near the near Eagle’s Nest exhibit.

The Podtburg family members met with Nancy Haugen, the refuge’s Visitor Services Manager, and Lee Johnson, President of the Friends of Sherburne NWR group. We enjoyed the opportunity to get to know this wonderful family. Olga was there, along with three of her four children, and three grandchildren. One family was here all the way from Boston, Massachusetts.

Here are some photos–click on the picture to see a larger version.

Dave and I went to the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge on the evening of July 8, 2009. I brought my good video camera to see if there was anything worth filming. We saw several things, but this great blue heron catching his evening fish meal was by far the best!I love how he dances to the music after he’s caught the fish. Let me know what you think.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLVR4ZNCCjk[/youtube]

Dave and I went to the Sherburne County Fair for the first time this year. We went on Thursday evening, so attendance was a bit lighter than I expect it will be for the weekend. It’s not as fun without the children, but we still enjoyed ourselves. We will be back on Saturday to volunteer at the Sheriff Department storage building for the Emergency Services display. Stop by and see us!

Here are some pictures:

(Click on each picture for a larger view)

(Click on each picture for a larger view)

If you are planning to enter a photo in the 2009 Refuge Photography Contest, you’d better get hopping because tomorrow is the deadline!

For more information, see the contest website at:

http://www.refugenet.org/contest/2009ContestHome.html

A Wildflower Tour of prairie openings in the oak savanna will be held at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday, June 13 beginning at 10:00 a.m.  Dazzling spring flowers such as wild lupine, hoary puccoon, columbine, wild geranium and large-flowered beardtongue are expected to be seen.  Participants will also learn to recognize plants that flower later in the season.

This tour celebrates National Pollinator Week.  The future of wildflowers relies on pollinators such a bees, moths, butterflies, and other insects plus birds and wind.  Tour leaders will be Marv Ziner and Robin DeLong, volunteer naturalists experienced with wildflowers.  The tour will begin at the Old School House and from there car-pool to the Wildlife Drive.  This program is free and open to the public.

To register, call Nancy Haugen, Visitor Services Manager, at 763-389-3323 ext. 13.  The Old School House is located on Sherburne County Road 9, 5.5 miles west of Highway 169.

Yeaaa! Dave and I finished our three shadowing sessions with Denise, Robin and Penny, and Gary over the past two weeks.  They were all very knowledgeable. Denise is very well versed in the birds and especially ducks. Robin and Penny are the resident flower experts. They also head up the seed collecting activities at the refuge. Gary is awesome at recognizing bird calls. We learned a lot about the refuge, identified new birds, and had a great time.

So, we are now official roving wildlife interpreters at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. We met with Nancy Haugen, the volunteer coordinator, and received our hats and shirts. We have a lot to learn, but we are excited to get started!

We went on our first solo roving trip today. We had a nice day, although it was rather breezy. Our three hours went pretty quickly. Here are some pictures:

Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge sponsored Migratory Bird Day and a plant sale along with the Friends of Sherburne NWR.

I didn’t make it in time for the birding tour at 7:00 am. The next group at 8:30 am started out with a meeting at the Old School House on County Road 9, led by Nancy Haugen. Groups then went out to drive through the refuge looking for birds. The day was windy and chilly, but the turnout was pretty good. A Cub Scout Pack from Big Lake even joined in on the fun!

The Friends had a plant sale at 10 am. Members of the group donate plants from their property to help raise money for the organization. I missed getting the rhubarb and dogwood plants, but I purchased some columbine, a few herbs, and some dahlia and onion bulbs.