The other morning we biked on the Sakatah Singing Hills Bike Trail in Faribault. To our delight, we were gifted with several bird and animal sightings.
A beautiful egret.
As we drove to the bike trail, we passed an egret near a pond, standing tall and beautiful.
A regal egret.
A little later I saw a majestic eagle flying overhead. I never tire of seeing eagles.
On the trail, we noticed a pretty bluebird going into its house, several red-wing blackbirds flying by, and heard cardinals singing.
Sandhill Cranes are large birds and are usually with their mate.
We stopped to watch a lone sandhill crane look at us and then walk across a field…I wonder where his mate and friends were? (Two days later we saw a pair of Sandhill cranes in a different field.)
A pair of sandhill cranes.
We saw several bunnies darting in and out of the grasses along the bike trail. We spotted a “spotted” doe, and saw a snake slithering across the trail (not too thrilled about that!)
As we passed a farm field, I noticed Holstein cows running down an incline in the fenced in farmyard. That was an unusual sight…running cows.
All this time we’re pedaling our bikes down the paved trail, getting some exercise as nature put on a show for us, complete with music from the birds serenading.
Southeastern Minnesota is a beautiful part of our state. Recently we drove through green forested, rolling hills, along winding roads, dotted with small farms and small towns, to a cute, little camping cabin in a state park for a camping weekend.
SE Minnesota
One of the small towns we passed through was Houston, population 979. It is the trailhead for the Root River State Trail. The recreational trail (bicycles, walkers, runners) begins in Houston and has 42 miles of paved trail that leads through Lanesboro and on in to Fountain, MN. It connects with the Harmony-Preston Valley State Trail, which adds an additional 18 miles of paved trails, and makes for a great trail system.
One day we drove to Houston to begin a biking adventure, and during our brief time in Houston we discovered a few interesting things.
First, outside the trail center was a wooden bench carved in the shape of a mother owl spreading her wings over her owlets. It is a beautiful piece of art…and functional art for all to enjoy.
A beautiful carved bench outside the Houston Trail Center building.
Then, right in the back yard of the center as we started down the trail we passed two sandhill cranes in the park. On our way back the cranes were in the same area so we stopped to take photos. Sandhill cranes are big, beautiful, sleek birds and are always a delight to see.
Two sandhill cranes going this way….
…and that way.
While looking at the cranes we noticed something else in the grass…a sundial of some sort. We quickly found the sign that explained it: an Analemmatic Sundial. We had never seen a “clock” quite like this…
The explanation/instruction sign.
On the ground is a cement square plaque with roman numerals indicating different hours. There is a rectangle plaque within the square with the twelve months etched in certain places. You step on the month and notice where your shadow falls and it indicates the hour of the day….and it was accurate! How does that work?
The Analemmatic Sundial.
I had never heard of this word analemmatic. I looked it up and it means: a plot or graph of the position of the sun in the sky at a certain time of day at one locale measured throughout the year.
We enjoyed seeing these different sightings in Houston and we had a great bike ride on this end of the Root River trail.
