We had a leisurely morning before I spiffed up into my best suit for an interview with the bishop (about which more to come, I promise), then later we spent the afternoon exploring historic New Ulm, having lunch at the Kaiserhof, taking in the Herman monument and the Glockenspiel show, and generally having a wonderful day out. We decided to stay a second night, so after a windy night's sleep I popped up at 4.45am, bundled the sleepy boys into their car seats, broke down camp like a madman, and zipped back up to the Cities, just making it to work on time. A grand outing, all around.
It is tough to do any hardcore birding with little ones, but I found real joy in being able to spot and point out various birds to wife and son as we went about our camping activities. I can officially report the following list, just to show that we had our eyes open:
- Red-headed Woodpecker (my first in several years)
- American Goldfinch
- Eastern Bluebird
- Least Flycatcher (by ear only)
- Cardinal
- American Robin
- Chipping Sparrow
- Yellowthroat
- Hermit Thrush
- Wild Turkey
- Ring-Necked Pheasant
- American Crow (this is turning into a rather patriotic bird list)
- Northern Flicker
- Blue Jay
- Canada Goose
We also found a baby Painted Turtle crushed and dead on the gravel road to the camp ground. His little shell was about the size of a fifty-cent piece (remember those?) and we carried him back to our campsite, where four-year-old Primus studied him intently for many hours.
