Oct. 12, 2014 - North Shore - Part 2

Diana and I stay at Fenstad’s Resort when we take our annual fall trip to the North Shore, Minnesota’s shoreline on Lake Superior. These colorful rocks, with golden lichens growing on them, are located near the boat landing at the resort.

ColorfulRocksFenstad'sResortLittleMarais20140923

This Snowshoe Hare was eating grass on the lawn at the resort. Its coat is brown during the summer but pretty soon it will start growing its all-white winter coat. Snowshoe Hares don’t hibernate so the white coat provides great camouflage during the snowy months.

HareSnowshoeFenstad'sResortLittleMarais20140923

Fall season is a great time to see mushrooms. This Fly Amanita mushroom was growing right along the driveway at Fenstad’s. I took this photo with a small spot of sunlight shining through the trees and focusing right on the mushroom. When these mushrooms first pop out of the ground, they are small and white like the one in the upper left. This one probably won’t get any bigger but as it gets older, the edges will turn up and it will eventually be shaped like a bowl. This is a poisonous mushroom; you wouldn’t want to eat it.

MushroomAmanitaFlyFenstad'sResortLittleMarais20140924

I like to travel the back roads looking for birds and one of my favorite roads near the North Shore is the East General Grade Road. This Yellow-rumped Warbler was one of the birds I saw there. It posed nicely on a Tamarack branch.

WarblerYellowrumpedEastGeneralGradeRoadLakeCounty20140925

This Hermit Thrush was also along the East General Grade Road in a spruce bog. These birds are not calling at this time of year but we do hear them at our lake home during the summer. They have a beautiful, flute-like call.

ThrushHermitEastGeneralGradeRoadLakeCounty20140925

One morning we had a spectacular sunrise at the resort. I took this photo right in front of the cabin where we were staying. The conditions were just right for a colorful sunrise. Clouds covered the sky except for a thin strip of clear sky right at the horizon. With those conditions, the sun shines right through the open area as it rises and lights up the underside of the clouds.

SunriseFenstad'sResortLittleMarais20140924