04/28/2026
For the past 40 years, Boundary Waters Journal (BWJ) has been produced by Michele and Stu Osthoff from our log homestead just south of Ely. We have own 240 acres of woodlands to play in which is surrounded by miles more of Superior National Forest. We are just a five-minute drive from the Gabbro Lake Entry Point into the BWCAW. We call it “Living On The Edge” referring not only to our proximity to the BWCAW but our year around outdoor lifestyle. I have been asked to start up a regular Facebook post here and there is no time like the advent of spring to kick this off.
Along about March, we start tiring of winter but this March brought some thawing with regular snowfalls quickly replacing the drawdown. We feed the deer whole corn and the birds sunflower seeds right out the living room bay window. 3/25 brought the first red winged black birds and 3/26 the first robin. 3/27 dropped to zero degrees overnight- poor birdies. April 1 brought lots more snow- I guess an April Fool’s Joke but not really very funny. 4/3 another 6-inches of snow, 4/5 yet another 4”. Got some melting after that- had 17 deer come into feed the evening of 4/9- including five adult bucks that are sprouting new antlers from their pedicels. 4/15 it got up to 50 degrees with sunshine for the first time and like clockwork, the first mallards and trumpeter swans landed on our beaver pond below the house. Also on 4/15, on my daily woods walk with Sage and Jack, our two English Pointer bird dogs, Jack pointed two different grouse. That was great to see as the population nose-dived last summer with a poor hatch due to wet/cold June. Nothing says spring in our woodlands like the drumming of the ruffed grouse- see photo above. The drumming sound the males make with the approach of breeding season comes from rapidly accelerating the beating of their wings and the percussion of air rushing under them.
The historical average ice-out on our beaver pond is April 15 and we still have 80% ice coverage – temps are expected to reach 65 on 4/16 here but then drop back to overnight lows of 15 degrees on the weekend. Such is the ebb and flow of winter/spring “Living On The Edge”. I will report back on further spring time developments from the BWJ headquarters.
