Back page in the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer features the Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus).
Has anyone seen this one? The article says they are year-round from Roseau to Cook and as far south as Pine and Becker.
They're pretty secretive and sparse in MN. In Janssen's "Birds in Minnesota", he mentions that 4 of the 10 most-desired birds* sought by US birders (according to some survey) breed in MN. Black-backed Woodpecker and Boreal Owl were two, but they're hard to find.
*or eight of 20 or ten of 25; It was definitely 40%.
Come now. Everyone knows that eight of 20 is more than four of 10!
Last weekend in Minny I saw 3 swans flying above 35E around White Bear Lake. I'm guessing Trumpeter, but not sure. There must be open water around there somewhere.
I had seen a flock of them near St. Cloud about a month ago. I don't know if they get around, or sit tight?
The Trumpeter Swans move around. Lots come to Monticello every day to enjoy the nuclear-energy-melted year-round open water and the people that feed them at Swan Park. (The original woman that fed them has passed on.) When Trumpeter Swans were reintroduced to Minnesota in the 1960s or 70s, they retained their instinct to migrate in late fall, but had no training as to where to migrate to, as migration paths, at least among waterfowl, are learned. (Small passerines like warblers and thrushes may have the whole ball of wax instinctual.)
Monticello was close and gave them everything they needed. So now much of Minnesota's Trumpeter Swan population migrates to
Similar patterns are arising with some introduced species: Starlings, Mute Swans, and House Finches*.
This is why reintroduced Whooping Cranes are given Sandhill surrogates that will get them to take a decent route.
*House Finches found east of the Great Basin are introduced, descendents of cagebird-intendees "Hollywood Linnets" released in New York after the passage of the Migratory Bird Act made dealing in domestic species illegal.
I've got open water at the Coon Rapids Dam all winter. There's also Palmer Lake in southern Brooklyn Park/northern Brooklyn Center that has open water all winter for reasons I forget. Mallards and Canada Geese seem to fly back and forth between both places. I'm not surprised that there are other locations of permanently open water. Despite a few cold snaps, this winter was pretty mild.
Ireland just had about 40 phases, most of which were inside the Welsh 22, then gave it away with a penalty.
Frikken frick. Both teams played well, overall it was a good rugby match. But Wales took the chances Ireland have them, while Ireland couldn't capitalize. Bollocks.
So I took the Subaru Forester in to get emissions tested earlier this week.
Dude says that because the engine light is on (has been for half a year, Subaru chaps couldn't solve that one), it was a non-starter.
This boyo takes it to PepBoyz who perform some repairs (Oxygen sensors ??), and after forking over a bevy of Franklins, I drive out of there, and the car is actually running much better, and the engine light is now off.
So back to the emissions place. After 20 minutes, dude drives out, gets out of the car, and is shaking his head.
Emissions Dude: "Keep driving!"
Me: "What does that mean, keep driving?"
He: "You need to put, like a hundred miles on it, then bring it back in."
Me: "What would change in a hundred miles. I just spent a thousand dollars to have it repaired."
He: "It will, like, clear up after you drive it a while. A hundred miles, then bring it back in."
Why do I think that in 3-4 weeks all of this will be repeated again?
I've heard/read these kinds of statements before that you need to drive for a while after a re-set before getting smogged.
I would hope they did more than just the O2 sensors for a thousand bucks.
Anyway, get yourself one of these and the torque app. You can clear that light with it if it's on before your next check. (Really glad i don't have to do those.)
My Sacred Heart cabbage soup diet is officially over today (ran out of soup last night). I think I lost 6-7 lbs, wasn't spreadsheeting this.
I'm combating this crappy New England weather with veal osso bucco cooking slow in the Dutch oven, to be served with broccoli rabe (boiled for 1 minute, then into ice-cold water, then sauteed).
I approve of the NBB Osso Bucco Diet.
R. I. P. Al Rosen, at age 91. His long career as an executive has made people forget that he was also a fine player, making four all-star teams.
Trey had a double and a walk to help the Newmark Diamondbacks go to 2-0 with a 9-3 win over the Angels. He also pitched two innings in relief with five strikeouts and one run allowed. He has 13 Ks in 5 innings this season so far.
After a year off, I got to party with meat and Dr. Chop at the NOLA St. Patrick's Day parade. I realize I should have told Magoo I would be down here while he's still close, but, alas I Battey'd it.
really, we was just tagging along. I will say that the Nola mini caucus is alive and doing well. Y'all should sto by sometime.
In celebration of the day, I have acquired a ginormous cherry pie from Costco. Mmm, cherry pie.
Speaking of which, it is 3-14-15, which means it not only is Pi Day, but it is Pi Day of the Century. (The truly anal will probably point out that Pi rounds up to 3.1416, but we can save that till next year).
The true pi(e) lovers note it at 9:26 in the morning (or evening too for the 12-hour heathens).
Ha, I was hoping someone would notice!
This is beautiful.
I wonder how long Pepper sat at her screen, waiting for the clock to click over.
twice!
Only about a minute. Maybe two minutes the first time around? I was just kind of watching the clock while doing other stuff around the house. Generally speaking, I will go to a fair amount of effort (much more than this) for a joke if it amuses me enough.
And Neil Degrasse Tyson pointed out this only works if you use the American dating system that puts the month first.
He and everyone else. More pie for us
So, do europeans celebrate July 22 as Pi Day?
[slowclap.gif]
That or 31st of April.
Poor Eurosaps.
The kids made me set the timer on the oven so we could celebrate at 9:26.
They put a lot of faith in your oven to get the job done on time.
I'm also celebrating with a Banana Pie Blizzard. Unfortunately, no deal from DQ, although I did see a sign in there that Monday is free DQ cone day.
Gophers men's hockey team dominated both games this weekend over Penn State to win its fourth consecutive regular-season conference championship for the first time in the history of a very storied program. The last two were in the smaller B1G Conference, but still impressive.
That was the first Gopher game I've ever attended. First two periods were fun.
Pepper should like today.
Especially right about now!
Happy pi day!
Back page in the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer features the Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus).
Has anyone seen this one? The article says they are year-round from Roseau to Cook and as far south as Pine and Becker.
They're pretty secretive and sparse in MN. In Janssen's "Birds in Minnesota", he mentions that 4 of the 10 most-desired birds* sought by US birders (according to some survey) breed in MN. Black-backed Woodpecker and Boreal Owl were two, but they're hard to find.
*or eight of 20 or ten of 25; It was definitely 40%.
Come now. Everyone knows that eight of 20 is more than four of 10!
Last weekend in Minny I saw 3 swans flying above 35E around White Bear Lake. I'm guessing Trumpeter, but not sure. There must be open water around there somewhere.
I had seen a flock of them near St. Cloud about a month ago. I don't know if they get around, or sit tight?
The Trumpeter Swans move around. Lots come to Monticello every day to enjoy the nuclear-energy-melted year-round open water and the people that feed them at Swan Park. (The original woman that fed them has passed on.) When Trumpeter Swans were reintroduced to Minnesota in the 1960s or 70s, they retained their instinct to migrate in late fall, but had no training as to where to migrate to, as migration paths, at least among waterfowl, are learned. (Small passerines like warblers and thrushes may have the whole ball of wax instinctual.)
Monticello was close and gave them everything they needed. So now much of Minnesota's Trumpeter Swan population migrates to
Similar patterns are arising with some introduced species: Starlings, Mute Swans, and House Finches*.
This is why reintroduced Whooping Cranes are given Sandhill surrogates that will get them to take a decent route.
*House Finches found east of the Great Basin are introduced, descendents of cagebird-intendees "Hollywood Linnets" released in New York after the passage of the Migratory Bird Act made dealing in domestic species illegal.
I've got open water at the Coon Rapids Dam all winter. There's also Palmer Lake in southern Brooklyn Park/northern Brooklyn Center that has open water all winter for reasons I forget. Mallards and Canada Geese seem to fly back and forth between both places. I'm not surprised that there are other locations of permanently open water. Despite a few cold snaps, this winter was pretty mild.
I got something in my eye.
Memes Gone Wild.
One does not simply informiert the teckniker.
Did you see the Hitler clip? Fantastisch.
Ireland just had about 40 phases, most of which were inside the Welsh 22, then gave it away with a penalty.
Frikken frick. Both teams played well, overall it was a good rugby match. But Wales took the chances Ireland have them, while Ireland couldn't capitalize. Bollocks.
So I took the Subaru Forester in to get emissions tested earlier this week.
Dude says that because the engine light is on (has been for half a year, Subaru chaps couldn't solve that one), it was a non-starter.
This boyo takes it to PepBoyz who perform some repairs (Oxygen sensors ??), and after forking over a bevy of Franklins, I drive out of there, and the car is actually running much better, and the engine light is now off.
So back to the emissions place. After 20 minutes, dude drives out, gets out of the car, and is shaking his head.
Emissions Dude: "Keep driving!"
Me: "What does that mean, keep driving?"
He: "You need to put, like a hundred miles on it, then bring it back in."
Me: "What would change in a hundred miles. I just spent a thousand dollars to have it repaired."
He: "It will, like, clear up after you drive it a while. A hundred miles, then bring it back in."
Why do I think that in 3-4 weeks all of this will be repeated again?
I've heard/read these kinds of statements before that you need to drive for a while after a re-set before getting smogged.
I would hope they did more than just the O2 sensors for a thousand bucks.
Anyway, get yourself one of these and the torque app. You can clear that light with it if it's on before your next check. (Really glad i don't have to do those.)
My Sacred Heart cabbage soup diet is officially over today (ran out of soup last night). I think I lost 6-7 lbs, wasn't spreadsheeting this.
I'm combating this crappy New England weather with veal osso bucco cooking slow in the Dutch oven, to be served with broccoli rabe (boiled for 1 minute, then into ice-cold water, then sauteed).
I approve of the NBB Osso Bucco Diet.
R. I. P. Al Rosen, at age 91. His long career as an executive has made people forget that he was also a fine player, making four all-star teams.
and famous for not putting up with Jew-baiting in baseball, in a much less PC time.
Trey had a double and a walk to help the Newmark Diamondbacks go to 2-0 with a 9-3 win over the Angels. He also pitched two innings in relief with five strikeouts and one run allowed. He has 13 Ks in 5 innings this season so far.
After a year off, I got to party with meat and Dr. Chop at the NOLA St. Patrick's Day parade. I realize I should have told Magoo I would be down here while he's still close, but, alas I Battey'd it.
really, we was just tagging along. I will say that the Nola mini caucus is alive and doing well. Y'all should sto by sometime.
In celebration of the day, I have acquired a ginormous cherry pie from Costco. Mmm, cherry pie.
Speaking of which, it is 3-14-15, which means it not only is Pi Day, but it is Pi Day of the Century. (The truly anal will probably point out that Pi rounds up to 3.1416, but we can save that till next year).
The true pi(e) lovers note it at 9:26 in the morning (or evening too for the 12-hour heathens).
Ha, I was hoping someone would notice!
This is beautiful.
I wonder how long Pepper sat at her screen, waiting for the clock to click over.
twice!
Only about a minute. Maybe two minutes the first time around? I was just kind of watching the clock while doing other stuff around the house. Generally speaking, I will go to a fair amount of effort (much more than this) for a joke if it amuses me enough.
And Neil Degrasse Tyson pointed out this only works if you use the American dating system that puts the month first.
He and everyone else. More pie for us
So, do europeans celebrate July 22 as Pi Day?
[slowclap.gif]
That or 31st of April.
Poor Eurosaps.
The kids made me set the timer on the oven so we could celebrate at 9:26.
They put a lot of faith in your oven to get the job done on time.
I'm also celebrating with a Banana Pie Blizzard. Unfortunately, no deal from DQ, although I did see a sign in there that Monday is free DQ cone day.
Gophers men's hockey team dominated both games this weekend over Penn State to win its fourth consecutive regular-season conference championship for the first time in the history of a very storied program. The last two were in the smaller B1G Conference, but still impressive.
That was the first Gopher game I've ever attended. First two periods were fun.