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Friday Flora: The Spirit Tree

I was entering caption information for the botanical photographs in the Department of Botany collection. This involved matching the digital reference image on my computer screen to the physical mounted photograph on my desk, deciphering the hand-written plant identification scrawled…


Catch of the Day

– Silver bass, Lake Itasca, 1902 – Yellow Perch, Lake Itasca, August 1902 Did you “catch” something different about the first image of the Yellow Perch?…



Tuesday Tweet bonus!

Inspired by the novelty of a new digital camera – and surely by the bird images that frequent the Exploring blog – a friend shared photographs taken on a recent excursion down the Mississippi River near Lake City, Minnesota. (Thanks…


Tuesday Tweet: Eggcellent!

A comprehensive study of ornithology considers not only the bird as subject, but also attempts to understand bird behaviors and environment. This includes the nest – structure and composition, as well as the eggs – pattern, size, quantity, etc. Thomas…


Friday Flora: Hats Off!

While faculty from the Department of Botany explored the state to identify plant life in the early 1900s, department photographer C.J. Hibbard not only provided photographic documentation of their observations, but also took the opportunity to explore a bit of…


I love autumn

A reminder to appreciate the fall season in Minnesota – no more mosquitoes! – William Kilgore Jr. and Thomas Sadler Roberts wearing “head-nets” at Itasca State Park, 1920…


Wild Animal Wednesday

– Red Squirrel, Itasca State Park, 1920 – Porcupine, Itasca State Park, July 1920 – Skunk, Itasca State Park, July 1920…


Tuesday Tweet: The Gift of Audubon

In the Annals of the Museum of Natural History 1872-1939, Thomas Sadler Roberts, museum director, listed the following entry for January 20, 1928 on a detailed timeline of museum activities and milestones: An original double elephant folio edition of John…


Norsk Oasis

Last week we shared how the Minnesota Geological and Natural History Survey was first implemented by director Newton Horace Winchell, State Geologist. Winchell’s field notebooks, along with his annual reports of the survey, provide great insight in to the State…