On this day in Ken’s Journal – October 16 through 31, 1981
Ken and Molly Hoffman were local surveyors and naturalists known for their knowledge of wild birds and plants. Ken recorded their daily observations in his journals from 1981 to 2011, quietly documenting thirty-years of naturalist history on the North Shore.
In these early journals dated October 16 through 31, 1981, Ken and Molly lived in the Poplar Lake area on the Gunflint Trail, where they often visited with neighbors Lydia Miller, Carl and Luana Brandt of Nor’Wester Lodge and other friends.
The journals are read by community members. Pictured is Ada Igoe.
From the pages of Ken Hoffman’s Journal, October 16 through 31, 1981
October 16th, 1981 Leo Lake on the Gunflint Trail
Surveying again on west line of section one. Bright and sunny—very warm in leafless woods with sun shining. Geese flying (3 or 4 flocks), first Snow Bunting by Rockwood Lodge. Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Watching baseball in the evening. A nice moon at bedtime. Mourning Cloak butterfly.
October 17th, 1981
Rain woke us during the night. Getting in our boots, rugs, etc. Rain all day—off-and-on—mostly on. Five or six Tree Sparrows in the yard, Juncos. Rough Legged Hawk near Meyers along the roadside. Rusty Blackbird by pit pond. Watching baseball in the afternoon. A visit from Steve Hey and his friend. Got Paid. Winter Wren?
October 18th, 1981 Leo Lake on the Gunflint Trail
Ken writes: One inch of wet snow—very strong northerly winds. Power went off at 6am. Fox Sparrow, Tree Sparrows (six), Winter Wren? Juncos. Put feed on the ground. A few Robins in the swamp. Clearing and cool. Power was off till 1:30. Digging in four posts for our third wood rack. Ten Juncos at Lydia’s. Grackle here in the afternoon. Winds strong all day—three big balsams down at Lydias. She saw the fox this morning. 23 degrees at 6pm, so we dumped all our rain water from the cans.
Molly adds: Brought a bowl of popcorn over to Lydia’s but as the game was cancelled, we just ate and visited. Ken cleared a deadfall from Lydia’s driveway. Clear and beautiful early in the evening. Beautiful Northern Lights display, late. No more chipmunks around.
October 19th, 1981 Leo Lake on the Gunflint Trail
Molly writes: Becoming cloudy in the morning—beautiful pink sky at sunrise. Went to town for survey information, shopping and birding. Heavy snow mid-morning nearly frightened us into starting for home. It started to clear some, and so we stayed. Large flocks of Snow Buntings everywhere, some Lapland Longspurs and Water Pipets also. Savannah Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Tree Sparrow and Juncos in the Tourist Park woods. Our prize birds: a male Black-Headed Grosbeak (missing a tail) and a Townsend Solitare were also there. Many Robins. Female Bufflehead and both male and female Scaup in Marina with Mallards and Black ducks and Herring Gulls. Yellow-rumped Warbler, American Kestrel and Junco feathers on breakwater. Surf Scoter in Harbor. White-crowned sparrow at Croftville, Rough-Leg hawk and flock of Crows over Grand Marais. Cedar Waxwings, Common Redpoll (only one male), many Starlings in the Mountain Ash. Mourning Doves near light plant. Home about 3:30pm. Very full day.
Called Jan Green about the Black-Headed Grosbeak. We are very excited as it is a rare sighting. Ken is not feeling well tonight. By the time we arrived home it was sunny and the morning snow was melting. It is cloudy now, no stars, but still fairly warm. Ken heard a moose after dark.
October 20th, 1981 Leo Lake on the Gunflint Trail
Molly writes: Cloudy and drizzle. Fox near outhouse. Grackle, Blue Jays, Juncos and many Tree Sparrows feeding in driveway. Light dusting of snow—must be from last night. No wind early. Huge flock of three, V’s of geese over Poplar Lake. Light and dark and low, hoarse honking (Blues, I think). Went to town birding just before 10am. Mourning Doves. Thought we heard a Bluebird singing. Mostly cloudy but little wind. Located Black-headed Grosbeak in same area and watched it with binoculars and a scope. Jan Green and Kim arrived a couple minutes after the Grosbeak disappeared. We searched and located it again. Jan and Kim got a good look and Jan was very pleased and concurred with our identification. We continued birding the open area. Redpolls, Longspurs, Snow Buntings, Horned Larks, Juncos, Tree Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, Savannah, Chipping, Black-backed three-toed woodpecker, Great Blue Heron, Northern Shrike, Evening Grosbeaks, also birded the Marina, saw Green-Wing Teal, female Bufflehead, Scaup (Greater?), Swan flock high overhead, so identification was by distinctive, long-necked profile. Many Red-tailed Hawks overhead and also a Sharp-shin. Usual Mallards, Black ducks and Herring Gulls. Went to the Point—weather became sunnier. Saw Pine Siskin, Yellow-rump Warbler, Song Sparrow, Surf Scoter and even flushed a Short-eared Owl, which nearly flew into Jan. Had lunch at the Blue Water and then went to Forest Service and met Jeff Larson. Saw two, White-breasted nuthatches as we left. A beautiful, frosted Weasel crossed the Gunflint Trail. It still had a ¾-dark tail. As we approached our driveway the fox darted across to Smith’s side. Went to Lydia’s to watch the World Series (Yankees vs. Dodgers), and ate strawberry shortcake.
October 21, 1981 Leo Lake on the Gunflint Trail
Molly writes: Took our time this morning. Finally got off to check on Hoppe’s pipes for Lobdell survey. Saw and heard Pine Grosbeaks. Met Fred Dell and Johnson on the road to Voyageur’s Point. Hiked to Partridge Lake—some very light snow. Many Woodpeckers—Downy, Hairy and a male Northern-three-toed Woodpecker by Birch Lake. Tree Sparrows, Fox Sparrow, Robin, Rusty Blackbird by the beaver pond. Juncos. Below-freezing all day. The big pine woods are as green and beautiful as always—many squirrels there. Saw a Goldeneye and a very dark duck on Birch Lake but could not get close to them. Beaver ponds frozen. Many fallen trees on the trail. At home—Tree Sparrows and Juncos, Gray and Blue Jays feeding on corn. Worked on Grosbeak drawing. Went to Lydia’s for 2nd World Series game and the rest of the strawberry shortcake.
October 23rd, 1981 Leo Lake on the Gunflint Trail
18 degrees with more light snow overnight—becoming mostly sunny by 10am. Snow melting off south roof. Put up sunflower feeder in front of south windows as we had last year. Two to three inches of snow on the ground. Bald Eagle over Poplar Lake. Snow flurries continuing. Robin moving briefly through yard. Visiting Beatties to return their trip narratives (her sister’s trips). They remodeled their house four years ago and have stayed up here all summer since then. Watching Series game in the evening.
October 24th, 1981
Went to town despite threatening weather to look for Black-headed Grosbeak for Regional Bird Journal. We met Paul E. and Bill P. but none of us had any luck. They said Ray G. and Bill L. had seen it Thursday. A good birding day anyway, as we checked Mountain Ash trees where Robins were feeding. Saw an Immature(?) Tennessee Warbler in Croftville at 10:15am. It was white under the tail and partway up its belly. Saw eye stripe, faint wing bar, yellow breast and sides, greenish back and warbler bill. Saw it pick a mountain ash berry as we watched for several minutes. Quite a few Pine Grosbeaks and Bohemian Waxwings around. Also, a few Cedar Waxwings. Saw two Savannah Sparrows along Highway 61 roadside, near Good Harbor Bay. Many Red-tail Hawks and a few Rough-legged Hawks. Scaup and Bufflehead, Goldeneye in Marina but nothing else except Black ducks and Mallards. Pipits, Longspurs, Horned Larks, Snow Buntings. Also, at least two Hermit Thrushes.
Started snowing just after noon and we headed home. One Evening Grosbeak at our feeder and a Black-backed-three-toed Woodpecker near outhouse. Can’t forget Yellow-rumped Warbler in Tourist Park. Snowing quite heavily by 3pm. Watching Series again. Snowing and blowing.
October 25th, 1981 Leo Lake on the Gunflint Trail
Sunny morning with 3 inches of snow on the ground. 20-plus Tree Sparrows in the yard today. A few Juncos, some Chickadees at feeder. Lone, male Evening Grosbeak. Scooped our driveway since it will stay cold. Then trying to start Lydia’s snowblower with no luck—so we scooped her driveway also.
October 26th, 1981
One degree and a clear morning. Some high cloudiness by 8am. East end of Poplar frozen although we did hear a boat breaking through ice slowly. A winter morning with Redpolls, Pine Grosbeaks, Juncos, Tree Sparrows (20+). About 50 Black Ducks flew over the house early. Still our lone, male Evening Grosbeak. A Snipe, of all things, landed briefly on a bare patch of driveway. Went to spring for 12 gallons of good drinking water. Many ducks on Hungry Jack Lake including Scaup, Bufflehead, Goldeneye, 100+ Hooded Mergansers. Also check West Bearskin but only a couple of Common Mergansers. Clear by evening with strong, southerly winds. Fox in yard. Buntings along roadsides (a few). 36 degrees in the afternoon.
October 27th, 1981 Leo Lake on the Gunflint Trail
A still, warm, clear morning (32 degrees). Went to town birding (mostly) and shopping. Walking around Tourist Park—still many Robins, Pine Grosbeaks and Bohemian Waxwings cleaning out Mountain Ash berries. Also saw Red-tailed Hawks, Rough-legged, Merlin near Marina, Horned Larks, Buntings, a few Pipits and Longspurs, a flock of 30+ migrating Crows, White-breasted Nuthatch, Northern Shrike harassing Robins, three Rusty Blackbirds by Marina, Pine Siskin, Yellow-rumped Warbler near ball park, Sparrows—Tree, adult White-crowned, Fox Sparrow and Swamp Sparrows (2). Hundreds of Herring Gulls as fishermen are cleaning many fish. In Harbor saw Lesser Scaup, Goldeneye, White-winged Scoter, Bufflehead and a pair of our first Greater Scaup seen in county. They were obviously bigger than the nearby Lessers. Male Lesser had pointed head. Greater Scaups were in scruffy plumage—more so than the Lessers. Hooded Mergansers on Hungry Jack Lake, but not as many as yesterday. Nicest day we have had in some time (40+ degrees). Clear evening. Still many Tree Sparrows at home. First Red-breasted Nuthatch at feeder.
October 30th, 1981 Leo Lake on the Gunflint Trail
Another gray day, but warm—40 degrees. Snow is mostly gone. Two Tree sparrows are still here. Evening Grosbeaks. Black ducks flew over the house early. Took a nice hike on the Border Route from Mayhew to Dunn Lake. Becoming a beautiful, warm day—51 degrees. Black Ducks by Hoat Lake, Kingfisher near Mucker Lake. Tree Sparrows (immature), Bald Eagle, Ruffed Grouse. Crossbills in cedar tree as there are no cones on spruce trees anywhere. Snow Buntings. All the large pines except near lakes were logged along our entire hike. Still many nice cedar groves. Nice chasm along outlet of Hoat Lake. Back home splitting more wood. Cloudy again by evening.
October 31, 1981 Leo Lake on the Gunflint Trail
Clearing overnight and beautiful by morning, but with stiff, westerly breeze. All ice is about gone from the lakes. Tree Sparrows still here (two). Roy and Cyril got eight Whitefish (first good day). Went to town birding. Met Bill Pieper, Don Bolduc, Dick Ruhme—went looking for Black-headed Grosbeak with no success. It was last seen on Sunday the 25th. They saw a Mockingbird and Palm Warbler. We were looking at over 1,000+ Herring Gulls and found one immature Glaucous Gull in buffy, white plumage—dark tip on the bill—slightly larger than the largest Herring Gull. Also saw White-winged Scoter, Scaup (Lesser and Greater), Goldeneyes, Horned Grebe, Red-breasted Merganser, a small, lame Canada Goose. Not many Robins. White-crowned Sparrow by the sewer plan, Snow Buntings. Back home about 2pm. Visited R & M at Lydia’s. Beautiful, clear evening with wind abating. No Halloween visitors.
Readers note: Lydia is Lydia Miller, the Hoffman’s neighbor. Cyril was their neighbor who lived across from Trail Center, at mid-Gunflint Trail.
On this Day in Ken’s Journal is supported in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
