What an ending to March.  Mike and Kate were allowed to state in the home of two advisors - Beth and Bill Blank the last full week of March.  It was significant for many reasons, but one was the fact that Mike had just retired after 38+ years at the Audubon Center.

During the week some hikes that were intended to help with the planning of the trip logistics were not taken because there was significant snow in the woods and Sunday and Monday had an amazing ice storm with Gale Force winds.  This was a wonderful opportunity to watch ice crash against the shores and then rebuild in the night time as winds abated and temperatures dropped.  The ice was beautiful, but also quite damaging to the trees, especially with the wind.

Hoary Redpolls were in abundance and mixed with common redpolls who scavenged for seeds each day in accompaniment with a white winged crossbill female.

Jon Horn came up and joined Mike and Kate for some excellent hikes at the end of the week and we were able to cover in detail the section from Grand marais to Lutsen.