Big Bucks

Found a three of these big bucks last Saturday morning (out on Pike Island) but could only get two of them in the same photo.  These two are getting ready to cross an open area, following a couple of does and the other buck.

Flood aftermath

Doug and I decided to have a picnic at the park.  We went over by shelter B to a picnic table we had been at last year.  There was something different about the site.  Doug and I felt a little taller!  We grew so much in the last year,  the grill was waist high last year.

Albino Squirrel at FSSP

Albino squirrel eating a nut, right along the entrance road opposite side from the boat launch.  The red eyes are kind of creepy!  Photo taken Tues 8/19 around 5pm at Fort Snelling State Park.

Google says:  Not all white squirrel's are albinos.  You can tell by looking at the eyes - red, blue, pink usually means albino.  Only a few white squirrels are albinos as each parent must the gene.  Albino squirrels have vision problems and are at a disadvantage in the wild.  Most white squirrels in North America are genetic color variants of the gray squirrel.

Quarry Island Hike

     This Sunday, August 17th at 9:00 a.m. the camera club will be meeting at the overlook on the Eagan side of the Minnesota River.  The overlook is located just west of Hwy 13 and Mendota Heights Road.
    At the overlook I'll give a brief description of the area and share some of the interesting historic landmarks.  I have lived in the Eagan and Mendota area for most of my adult life and have always felt lucky to live so close to this park and all it has to offer.
     The first thing I would like to do before we hike out to Quarry Island is take a short ride down into Mendota and take a look at some of the historic building and introduce you to a trail that will take you all the way from the town of Mendota to the Cedar Avenue Bridge.  This we can do at a later date.
     From there we will drive to a parking lot that is located under the 494 overpass just off of Hwy 13.  This is where we will begin our hike.  It is an easy 20 minute walk out to Quarry Island.  There are some trails on the island, but the flood waters did mess them up some and the weeds are tall.  This is why I recommend wearing light long pants.  Once at the island we will be able to split up and explore the area.
     Once we get back to the cars I'll get an idea of how people are doing and see if we have time for one more site.  This would require us to carpool once again to the Gravel Pit Lakes area, which is also part of Fort Snelling State Park.  This is about 2 miles from the overplook parking lot.

Hope to see you Sunday!
John Plut  
651-456-9007