Minneapolis

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…


Monday Mystery: The First Minneapolis Auto Show?

Car enthusiasts are currently descending upon Minneapolis to attend the Twin Cities Auto Show which opened over the weekend. The latest and greatest in chrome and horsepower will delight automobile enthusiasts through March 16. After seeing several advertisements on local…


Wednesdays with Walter: Great Horned Owls

This Wednesday in our series chronicling the adventures of former Bell Museum preparator and director Walter J. Breckenridge, we share just how far – or high – Breckenridge went in order to study birds. In his autobiography, My Life in…


Monday at Minnehaha

The Pioneer Press recently published an article about public safety in one of Minneapolis’s oldest city parks, “Frozen Minnehaha Falls are cool, but visitors should heed warnings.” Minnehaha Park’s Minnehaha Falls are certainly a sight in the winter. The falling…



Wild Animal Wednesday: Tongue Twisters

While foraging in the secluded woods of the Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota, this Marmota monax ponders, “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” – Woodchuck, Winton, St. Louis County, May 1931. Another…


Monday Mailbag: Christmas Cards

The Bell Museum of Natural History records contain more than just the administrative paperwork of a developing natural history museum. The collection also contains the personal papers of Thomas Sadler Roberts – the man who oversaw the museum in infancy…


Let It Snow

Following the first snowfall in the Twin Cities yesterday evening, I remembered that I have encountered several snowy scenes while working with the glass plate negatives in the Bell Museum collection. Here are some selected snow scenes to help sensitize…


Tuesday Tweet: Put a bird in it!

One of my favorite shows is Portlandia, an IFC original comedy created by Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen. The show is comprised of a series of sketches that light-heartedly satirize the city of Portland, Oregon (with similarities witnessed to that…


Tuesday Tweet: The Tern takes a turn…

In June of 1917, Thomas Sadler Roberts had a close encounter with a Black Tern. The Tern, who was resting upon a nest of eggs, became the subject of a series of photographs taken by Roberts. These photographs, of which…