Happily, the hummingbirds completed another successful migration and have taken up summer residence outside the windows at Woodland Trails B&B!

The trip they just completed is almost unbelievable.  Most of our species, the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird,  spend the winter in southern Mexico or Panama.  They start their northward migration in January.  The longest and most dangerous leg of the trip is across the Gulf of Mexico, from the from the Yucatan Peninsula to the coast of Texas or Louisiana.   Hummingbirds,  along with about 50 other species of birds, sit in trees along the shore waiting up to two weeks for the right wind conditions at sunset.  When the conditions are right, off they go.

The flight across the Gulf takes Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds up to 18 hours as they lose up to half their body weight.  Once on shore they spend several days rebuilding their strength for the trip north.  On their travel from the Gulf to Minnesota, they normally cover about 20 miles a day.

We hope you plan a stay with us this summer to enjoy the hummingbirds, gold finches and other birds outside your window!

Fred the Bear (bears are less frightening if they have a name!) made his first appearance outside Woodland Trails B&B on April 22nd, the earliest we’ve ever seen him.   In most years we see him regularly, sometimes during the day and sometimes at night, through the end of August.  After September 1st, he must find a better deal somewhere, such as field corn in the milk stage, and he disappears.

Thankfully, Fred has never caused serious problems.  He is content to eat corn or sunflower seeds under one of the feeders and leave the B&B and other buildings alone.

We have named him Fred, although we are probably seeing a different bear each year.  If we think it might be a female, she is Freda.  If she has cubs, they are Fanny, Francis and Freddy Jr.  On one memorable occasion several years ago, we saw the whole family at one time.

Other wildlife that guests enjoy seeing out the B&B windows include whitetail deer, an occasional fox, and lots of birds such as wood ducks on the pond and goldfinches at the feeders.