Barn swallows on a fence
– Barn swallows on a fence, Heron Lake, June 12, 1899 (From the negatives in the Bell Museum of Natural History records)…
April 2014
Tuesday Tweet: What’s your bird personality?
The Golden Gate Parks Conservancy has written a quiz, “What Bird Personality Fits Your Bill?” to help you determine what kind of bird you would be based on “distinct avian phenotypes.” I got Wrentit. What’s your bird personality?…
Itasca State Park Week: Back to Beavers
When we started our Itasca themed week, we shared the story of how beavers were introduced to Minnesota’s first state park. It is only fitting then that we close our week-long celebration of the establishment of Itasca State Park with…
Itasca State Park Week: McMullen, murdered?
Though a dozen or so homesteads were established near Lake Itasca in the 1880s, to include the first by Peter Turnbull in 1883, only William McMullen, who first came to Itasca in 1889, was residing in the area when Itasca…
Itasca State Park Week: Forestry School
In 1907, the state legislature passed a bill that designated Itasca State Park as a State Forest and assigned Park management to the state Forestry Board. The legislature also granted the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota permission…
Itasca State Park Week: Heinzelman’s
Welcome to day three of Itasca State Park Week, the week that Exploring Minnesota’s Natural History celebrates the 123rd anniversary of Minnesota’s first state park by sharing early images of the park found within the natural history collections at the…
Itasca State Park Week: Douglas Lodge
On April 20, 1891, the Minnesota state legislature adopted an act to establish the first public park for the state of Minnesota on land that surrounded the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca. “An act to establish and…
Remembering Itasca State Park
While I don’t claim to have a photographic memory, my work over the past several months on the Exploring Minnesota’s Natural History project has fine-tuned my ability to remember images. Having viewed over 12,000 images from negatives, lantern slides, and…
Here comes Peter Cottontail…
But he’s not exactly hoppin’ down the bunny trail… – Cottontail rabbit in group at Colorado Museum, Denver, mounted by Jenness Richardson, undated. These Cottontail rabbits are mounted specimens, prepared for a habitat group exhibit at the Colorado Museum of…
Eggs anyone?
In theme with an upcoming holiday, here is an array of eggs: – Red-eyed Vireo nest and eggs, July 1902, Itasca State Park – Junco nest and eggs, June 1902, Itasca State Park – Ruffed Grouse nest and eggs, May…