The Duluth Legacy Endowment Fund is issuing more grants this year. The endowment has already donated almost $34,000 over the years. Go to the website for information and application information. Deadline to apply is Feb. 1.
The DLEF supports valued Duluth community programs. Anyone from a group involved in these areas should consider applying:
We have no idea if Julian Holenstein is really walking from Thunder Bay to Duluth via frozen Lake Superior or if the title of his video is a joke, but either way he’s worth a few awesomeness points.
Here’s an adorable video of the elusive snowshoe hare by photographer Michael Furtman. With no audio, the silence is a bit deafening, so we’ll encourage you to provide your own soundtrack. Press play on the video above, then press play on one of the selections below.
If you’ve followed Perfect Duluth Day closely for more than a year, you might know that my wife and I are the world’s laziest and lousiest birders. We have cheap binoculars and cameras, and basically just try to keep an eye out while we are engaged in an activity like cross-country skiing. Last year, during an owl irruption in the Duluth area, we saw zero owls. The only snowy owls we had seen in our lives, before today, were in captivity at the Lake Superior Zoo and the World Bird Sanctuary in Missouri.
We had a few failed missions last year, seeking the elusive snowy at Rice’s Point and the Bong Airport. After hearing reports of sightings near Duluth Business University and Wade Stadium this year, we decided to give it another try. We saw a bald eagle at Grassy Point within minutes, and figured that was a good sign. We knew from reading Sparky Stensaas’ blog post about Superior Snowy Owls that it’s generally easier to find them in a stupid place, like on a football scoreboard (in his case) or a piece of industrial equipment (in our case) than in a beautiful wilderness environment, so we were only moderately surprised to find our gal at Erie Pier in West Duluth, perched on a bulldozer.
A late-summer camping adventure — with scenes from Duluth to Grand Portage — shot by Shun Matsuhashi. The song is “Swansea” by Bombay Bicycle Club.
The third installment of valuable cross-country skiing tips from Coach Cork, brought to you by Ski Hut.
See also:
Coach Cork dispenses more tips and advice for cross-country skiers in lesson #2.
Thanks to Ski Hut for sponsoring Coach Cork. See also, Coach Cork: Lesson #1
The hyperbolic headline “The Town Cycling Saved,” is a tad unfortunate, but the interview with Duluth Mayor Don Ness in this month’s issue of Bicycling magazine is now online. In the print edition, the headline is “Transformer Man,” which is maybe only a little better. Other than that, however, it’s a fun and quick read. The mayor clarified on his Facebook page today that the recent improvements to bike trails is just one part of Duluth’s turnaround, saying “it’s because of Duluth’s revitalization and the new energy around town that groups like COGGS have taken on ambitious goals and have inspired hundreds of volunteers to take ownership of these trails.”
Nothing earth-shattering here, just a – nearly invisible! – close encounter with a curious aquatic bird this summer. Must be viewed in HD (ideally fullscreen) to discern anything, but it is there. I was unaware of this until reviewing the footage months later, but for a split second, behind me and to the left, some form of diving waterfowl peeks at me. This inconclusive footage is slowed down 16X to be able to get a glimpse of this ephemeral moment. It doesn’t even stick its head all the way out of the water but I believe a bill may be discerned, a white spot on the head, and possibly a crest off the back of the head although that may simply be a reflection in the water. Anyway, getting decent underwater footage of a curious loon or merganser is something of a holy grail of mine – these birds are often seen diving in the area and I know they sometimes approach human divers. So although thrilled to know I came close to one – within 10 feet by the looks of it – I am also frustrated to have missed the shot.
A question from PDD’s e-mail inbox:
I just moved here from Southern California. Do we have non-motorized events in Duluth? I mean joggers, walkers, bikers, skaters will gather and ride together. Example is CicLAvia in Los Angeles, where they closed downtown the city for motor vehicles.
One of our holiday traditions the past few years has been to watch Punkin’ Chunkin’ on the Discovery Channel. I just read that it was cancelled for this year, which is sad and means we’ll have to find some other boob tube diversion that night.
Got me thinking, though: does anyone do this in the area?
