4/18/17 – The uniquely Minnesotan season known as Sprinter has taken hold here at Sawbill. Not quite willing to relinquish its hold to Spring, Winter is having a (hopefully) last hurrah. In the last two days we’ve had day time temps in the low 40s, with overnight lows around 27 and a mixture of hail, freezing rain, and even a dusting of snow. Sawbill Lake is still ice covered, although it has detached from shore and floated up. A few hardy merganser ducks have found their way to the small area of open water by the Sawbill creek outflow.

A chilly Sprinter morning at Sawbill.

This star nosed mole fell victim to the icy water between the landing and the ice. We found him right at the canoe launch a few days ago. His interesting nose and huge feet were fun to inspect up close! -Clare