We have our own Lake of the Isle—Powderhorn Lake

Our Birdman has been housesitting in St. Paul—where he has spotted a few deer.

BY JOHN KARRIGAN

As I usually write in my March column, there are not many birds in the park or yard in February. In fact, the only birds I have seen in the park (on fewer than the normal number of walks) have been Crows and Hairy Woodpeckers. And in the yard, Cardinals, Juncos, Pigeons, English Sparrows, Chickadees, House Finches and Goldfinches (which are starting to get back some of their “gold”—really bright yellow—colors for spring. The (or a) flying squirrel has been back at least once, at 12:40 a.m. on Feb. 4. I have learned that one of the Crow gathering areas for this winter is 11th Avenue near I-94 on the No. 14 bus route between Powderhorn and downtown.

Lake of the Isles vs. Lake of the Isle
(An aside: I stole the “Lake of the Isle” name for Powderhorn Lake from a longtime resident and birder, who has now become a biker “chick”—a bird word!—and joined the hard-core biker lifestyle.)

There was a story in the “big local newspaper” on Feb. 9 about restoration of the two islands on Lake of the Isles. The story reported that, “Large dead trees that are standing will be left, as they provide wildlife habitat. The majority of downed trees along the island shoreline also will be left because of their habitat value for fish and shorebirds.” Neither of these things were or are done by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board at Powderhorn Park, even though various people have encouraged this, including myself and a Powderhorn resident (another good guy) who was a longtime park board employee until he left for a private sector job a few years ago.

There are probably various reasons for the much smaller numbers of shore birds, water birds and other birds at Powderhorn the last few years (I have no idea if fish numbers are down), but lack of standing and downed dead trees is certainly one of them. This also affects reptile and amphibian populations. This is something to talk to elected or non-elected Park Board people about whenever you get the chance.

On another tree issue, most of the neighborhood’s infected Elm trees (which are supposed to be removed) that were marked last summer were removed in January.

That is most of my ranting for this month, unless I start on the flag issue again (the long-standing problem of getting the Powderhorn Park American flag lowered to half-staff while other government entities are lowering theirs when funerals are held for Minnesotans who have been lost in our terribly misguided war effort.)

As I was last year at this time, I am spending much of my time these days house- and animal-sitting on Fairview Avenue in St. Paul, and like last year there are deer coming to the back yard fairly often. One night recently there were at least five deer in the yard, four at one time eating from a small (about 8” x 12”) bird feeder. Powderhorn is a great neighborhood but I don’t think that will ever happen in the yard here. And as much as I hate to admit it, star and eclipse watching (the lunar eclipse was beautiful) is better over there because it is farther from downtown lights and is in a large block with no alley, therefore no alley lights, with a much darker sky for observing on crisp, very cold nights.

Other non-Powderhorn, but related events
On Feb. 20, another very cold and windy day, I went downtown to the Stone Arch Bridge for a tour (conducted by the Friends of the Mississippi River organization) of the Mississippi River after the Corps of Engineers lowered the water level 13 feet for maintenance of a tunnel. There was all kinds of historical information presented about the river, milling, lumbering, transportation, etc., but my reason for writing about it is the birds and a Powderhorn person I saw. There were Mallards and Canada Geese, not too unusual in that open water area, plus one Common Merganser duck and a flock of Robins checking out the newly exposed river bottom for good things to eat. The Powderhorn person is a regular dog walker and park observer but we didn’t recognize each other until a warm-up break at the Mill City Museum when people unwrapped enough layers to see some human features.

Another museum mention, probably the first two in my bird column history: I recently went to the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul to see the “Right on Lake Street” exhibit. The exhibit runs through March 9 and contains many features that would be familiar to Powderhorn residents such as In the Heart of the Beast Theater, Mercado Central, Ingebretsen’s, Midtown Exchange (formerly Sears), Roberts Shoes and lots of other history and background from the street’s beginnings to the present. And of course I ran into another longtime Powderhorn person, a resident and local business owner.

Comments and observations are always welcome. Send them to me, in care of the Southside Pride. Thank you.