Category Archives: Neighborhoods

And we have ducklings… It must be Spring!

On Friday, May 13th I got this note from Earlyne and Gene alerting me to the baby ducks spotted on the pond. We have all been waiting for the first sighting but none of us expected this.

Hi-In case you haven’t heard or seen them, there are 14 hiding in the grass just west of Myron’s(NE corner of pond). It is not a good location, with people and dogs going by on the path. Arlene was on their deck when I walked by today and pointed out that the parents had led them across the path to a bush in their yard and were hiding there. We talked softly and suddenly they were running across to the west, back to the grasses.
Very cute and tiny. Of course, I didn’t have a camera or phone with me.

So when I spotted them on Saturday, I ran for my camera but was not fast enough. I finally got a shot of them on Sunday but they move so fast… it took 3 different times for me to get them actually in focus. We have counted as many as 24 and as few as 21, so that seems to be in the ball park as to the number. With a little research, Mallards don’t usually have this many in a brood, so she must have inherited a few from another mom, poor thing. They are never in line and seem to burst on the scene when they appear. We have seen two other momma ducks, one with 3 and another with 6 ducklings.

Momma with approx 21 ducklings

Griff did a blog about them on Locally Grown.  Check it out.

Storm Water Ponds! Could this be us?

The Star and Tribune  has long article in today’s paper that some metro areas have storm-water ponds that are chemical soups of pesticides, fertilizers, pet wastes, oil, grease and other contaminants.  Driveway sealants play a big part in this contamination.  Click on the red headline to be taken to the entire article.

Metro storm-water ponds are chemical soups

By TOM MEERSMAN, Star Tribune
Last update: April 27, 2010 – 12:30 PM

White Bear Lake’s proposed ban on some driveway sealants is a first step in keeping contaminants out of storm-water ponds.  The local neighborhood pond fringed with spring green looks attractive, but its muddy bottom is loaded with contaminants.

Arbor Day Tree Giveaway of Native Tree Saplings

Arbor Day Tree Giveaway of Native Tree Saplings April 30 & May 1 @ Just Food

Friday, April 30, 3-6p.m. AND

Saturday, May 1, 10am-1pm (or until they run out of trees)

in the front of the store, 516 Water St S.

Cost: FREE

To encourage the planting of native hardwood trees in our community, the Northfield Tree Advisory Group of the Environmental Quality Commission (in collaboration with the Rice County Forestry Board, the DNR and Just Food) will distribute 1000 native tree saplings to Northfield residents who agree to plant and care for the trees on private properties in Northfield. The tree saplings will be distributed on a first come first serve basis at Just Food Co-op (516 Water Street South) on Saturday, May 1, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at Just Food.  Experienced tree handlers will be on hand with advice on tree selection, planting and ongoing care. The tree saplings are bare root stock, native tree species cultivated from Minnesota seeds by the MN Department of Natural Resources for Spring planting, and measure approximately 8- 12”. Choose from Red, White or Burr Oak, Sugar Maple, and Norway or White Pine saplings (limit four per household).

Similar trees will also be given away by another group at Just Food Co-op on Friday, April 30 from 3-6 p.m.

Another Neighborhood Blog

The Northfield Eastside Neighborhood AssociationNESA, also has a blog.  They recognized us yesterday by posting a piece about our site.  It is great to see neighborhoods organizing, sharing information and committing to causes.  Take a trip over to their site, look at what is happening on their site and see if there are some things that you would like to see added to this site.  NASNA is also watching for the returning feathered friends. 

They organized around some specific city issues affecting their neighborhood and have continued, seeing the benefits of communication and collaboration.

I have added a link in the right hand column, hoping that there will continue to be other neighborhoods we can add to this list.

Just as a side note….  we really need to change the photo that we are using at the top of our site…  does anyone have a great early spring picture of the neighborhood?