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Yesterday our ice went out.  A strong easterly wind of 20 to 30 MPH pounded the ice into our shore, grinding the pack into tiny cubes that melted quickly.   The lake ice gave up the ghost without much effort this year, perhaps due to the heavy snow loads on the new ice last December.  Heavy snow falls early last winter created a lot of deep slush which then eventually froze into a rather “punky” ice.  This thick blanket of snow so effectively insulated the ice that, in spite of the record cold temps, we saw signs that the deer were pawing down to the slush for a drink throughout the winter.  The end of April is typically when the ice goes out, so it looks like we are on track for a “normal” spring, whatever that might be?!

This shoreline with a southwest exposure is always the first to melt.  Interesting contrast here with the cold, icy blue of the lake set against a landscape ”warmed” by the setting sun.

We are looking for a silver lining in our late spring snow yesterday.   That bright spot might come in the form of nitrogen.  We have heard that a late spring snow-fall was referred to a poor man’s fertilizer.  A quick internet search turned up plenty of evidence that this is in fact the case.  So, right now our gardens and lawn are getting a bit of a head start to the growing season.

Park Rapids is home to a winter flock of trumpeter swans.  These birds are huge, standing 4 foot tall with wing spans of 8 feet.  The river flowing out of Fish Hook Lake is usually ice free, and these birds seem quite content to hang out all winter.  A few people bring shelled corn, which I assume helps augment their limited food supply this time of year.  I stopped by last week to see how many where still here.   The first stop was a nice day and all the swans evidently were out feeding in the now open fields and other recently opened rivers.  I stopped again a few days later; the weather had turned cold again, with more snow, and this time there were a couple dozen swans in the river.  Here are a couple quick shots of our winter flock of swans.

Winter is still with us.  The sun poked out in the late afternoon providing this shot of cabin 18 with blowing snow and backlit ice-laden branches of birch.  We have had a taste of spring however, and the slow melt-down has been much appreciated.

Whenever I see this I am amazed that snow can be elastic.  Sometimes its elasticity is amazing.  The woods are beautiful right now, but cold.  Snowshoes are a must as snow depth is over the knees in most places.

We found these tracks in the snow on a recent snowshoe hike in the woods with my brother.  Any guesses on what happened here?  …..  I am quite sure these are grouse tracks, as we often flush these birds out of this area.  What I am not sure about is whether the grouse was taking off or landing.  Note the two wing beats and the one foot that touched down between the feather “tracks”.  The deep pocket would lead me to guess the bird was landing.  What do you think?