Tuesday, 7:30 AM. 58 degrees, wind WSW, light and picking up considerably., The channel is glassy but rapidly becoming wrinkled. The sky is clear and the barometer predicts sunny weather. We got one-half inch of rain from a quick thunderstorm last night. It feels like a windy high is coming in.The roadside wildflowers (not all native) are magnificent now in many places. Hwy 2 between Ashland and Superior has wide, long sweeps of white daisies and yellow St. John’s wort, and Hwy J in Bayfield’s orchard country is glorious, with Coreopsis, St. John’s wort, and beach pea(all native), mixed with snap dragons, mullein, daisies, and even Verbena peruviana (non-native escapes from old flower farms) in glorious perfusion. Many purists will scoff at such mixed native and non-native displays, but such roadside landscapes are there for all to see and appreciate. The mix will become more diverse as the summer goes on.
We were treated to the sight of a large sandhill crane in a field on J yesterday evening. I stalked it for a while trying to get a decent photo. They stand 5’ tall and can walk as fast as I can without effort, but I did get pretty close before it flew, all the while uttering a very loud CRAAAK, CRAAAK alarm call. Later we saw two deer, one a buck in velvet, and a raccoon the size of a young bear cub. It was all a fine welcome home to the Northland.
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