With March comes the popular Soar With the Eagles program at The National Eagle Center. Each week carries a new theme. The themes remaining are “The Flyway,” “The River,” and “The Eagle.” Be sure to check out their link since each theme includes interesting speakers and presentations from throughout the country.

This weekend (March 11-13) we also have the Wabasha-Kellogg Home, Garden, and Vacation Show. This year they’re adding local color with a cake “silent auction.” That alone will be high entertainment, since my brother the mayor and his Kellogg counterpart are baking their own cakes and having a competition between the towns. If you see a tea party–some wicked-looking chocolate mini-bundts on some antique snack plates, complete with fancy teas–please bid! Nope, they’re not my brother’s!

Once again, we invite you to visit our beautiful Southeast Minnesota and enjoy our hospitality here at The River Nest!

Carol Dunn, Innkeeper
The River Nest Bed and Breakfast
20073 County Road 77
Reads Landing, MN 55968
651-560-4077
bcdunn@wabasha.net

Of course, I went out with the camera. But first, The Bird Report:

The eagles are late this year! Luckily this morning we had six in the “Pepper Tree” (a tree across the river that is often “peppered” with eagles), and several soaring toward the house then up into the bluffs. Last night’s guests came knowing there would be snow and hoping there would be eagles. We couldn’t deliver as many eagles as usual for this time of year, but we could add the pilleated woodpecker. The cardinals and blue jays are here at the back door feeders early and late as well as an assortment of chickadees, nuthatches, sparrows, and woodpeckers.

There’s an article in this month’s Birds and Blooms magazine about feeding birds from the hand. I found today that if I stood very still many more birds showed themselves, coming out of the brush near the bird feeders. Of course, I didn’t have enough patience to lure any to me–nor any feed to bait them.

Okay, let’s try to load some of today’s pictures:

Home, Sweet River Nest:

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Back yard bird feeders:

Woodpeckers and suet:

This garden is closed for the season!

Christmas and more bird feeders:

Looking out the livingroom windows:

That’s our ‘scope aimed at the Pepper Tree!

Thank you to all who are patient enough to check out our posts. Thanks, too, to all our precious guests who have enriched our lives and “grown” our business. We’re finishing up our fifth year, and it keeps getting better. Bless you!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May you enjoy good health, friendship, a measure of prosperity, an appreciation of life’s blessings, and daily laughter!

Be well.

Bill and Carol Dunn, Innkeepers
The River Nest Bed and Breakfast

Whereas most people think of this as autumn or fall, here at The River Nest Bed and Breakfast we call it Septoberfest season. Check out the link to find schedules of events throughout September and October, including contests, parades, musical events, art shows, Papa’s Barn Boutique, parish festivals, great German menus at our local restaurants, and–of course–special programs at The National Eagle Center. It’s a great month-and-a-half of family friendly celebrations!

Here at The River Nest we’re hosting four Sunday afternoon open houses on September 19 and October 3, 10, and 24. Come and see our suites, then visit over coffee and Grandma Tillie’s Apple Kuchen as you enjoy our river view.

Plenty of apple treats will be on our menus this year. Our Haralson tree went berzerk!

We’ve had to rest the overloaded branches on sawhorses.

The barge traffic is still heavy, but the eagles are beginning their return. Along with birds, we’ve had butterfly migration this month. Luckily, these butterflies waited for me to get the camera and even posed for me!

As you can see, Bill’s flowers are thriving too.

It’s time for me (Carol) to pick more apples and pull out that recipe for Apple Kuchen! We hope to see you during Septoberfest!

Life is good at The River Nest! With summer comes boat traffic: barges, the channel dredge, campers on the sand bars, fisherpeople and cruisers. Always something of interest is moving on the river.

Eagles are still around too. The blue heron have joined them as have all our summer birds. Bill is still filling the feeders for cardinals, bluejays, goldfinch, orioles, hummingbirds, red wing blackbirds, and an array of woodpeckers. The woodpecker below (Bill could tell you what kind. He’s our bird expert.) enjoys the homemade peanut butter feeder. We have a mulberry tree which drew a flock of cedar waxwings for a couple days in early July.

We have a new attraction in the area: Danzinger Vineyards. Generally we recommend our guests visit Buena Vista Park on the bluff above Alma, Wisconsin. In June they came back telling about the wonderful vineyard. So Bill and I decided to “scope it out.” It’s a beautiful facility with amazing views of the Mississippi valley. The wines are good too!

Bill and I finally went on a cruise with Dan Miller at Big River Adventures. Now we really recommend it! We toured backwaters, saw eagle nests and the chicks (Is that what they’re called?), blue heron, a mix of river birds, and some “cow” lilies. Dan promises to call us for the boom of the river flowers. It was great to see how much the river has “cleaned up” as we looked down into clear water and watched the fish swimming. The Mississippi is no longer a sewage dump!

Bill is now a full partner in the bed and breakfast business. In December he had back surgery, expecting a four-month recovery and return to his work as a large animal vet. In February we learned that the four-month recovery was for the bone graft, and Bill will never return to his vet work. Luckily, spring came early and Bill got involved in “re-landscaping” our property. It’s amazing what can be accomplished when one can spread a job over several days and take regular breaks! Our son built a rock garden and Bill filled it with perennials (I’m still learning how to insert and crop pictures. This one didn’t do what I told it to do!).

We’ve had an interesting experience helping friends get started in the bed and breakfast business. At a county zoning meeting I had the opportunity to speak in their behalf. One neighbor was concerned about heavy traffic and drunken parties. I was able to assure him that neither would happen. “In fact,” I said, “if you ever want to meet a fine string of people, open a bed and breakfast!” One of the commissioners was quick to agree with me!

Okay, I’ve definitely made up for seven months’ absence, maybe several paragraphs ago. Be sure to visit the Wabasha-Kellogg Chamber of Commerce site for details on upcoming events.

We look forward to sharing our River Nest with you!

Carol Dunn, Innkeeper
651-560-4077

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you to all our guests who made 2009 a successful year here at The River Nest Bed and Breakfast. We look forward to seeing you and meeting many new friends in 2010.

Valentine bookings are beginning to come in, but January shouldn’t be ignored. Great views, the fireplace and jacuzzi, and comfort food breakfasts all contribute to a cozy getaway here.

Upcoming events in the Reads Landing/Wabasha/Kellogg area include the Grumpy Old Men Festival and the National Eagle Center’s Soar With the Eagles month-long celebration. Be sure to check them out at the Chamber of Commerce and National Eagle Center websites.

The January Bird Report:

The eagles are here! Saturday morning we counted 47 in the trees along the river. Our neighbor likes to compare counts with us. He always sees triple what we count. I tease him that he’s counting the same one flying by every time! Right now (January 12 at 1:30 p.m.) we have several along the ice in front of the B&B. They like to sit there and fish.

The backdoor bird feeders are emptying quickly. The cardinals, bluejays, chicadees, nuthatches, finches, doves, and various woodpeckers–downy, red bellied, and hairy–have had great appetites during our winter blasts. We have two pilleated woodpeckers that have been visiting the suet basket daily.

Come and enjoy our eagles and backyard birds, our comfy suites, and our Grandma Tillie breakfasts. Give yourself a delightfully warm winter break at The River Nest Bed and Breakfast!

Bill and Carol Dunn, Innkeepers
651-560-4077
bcdunn@wabasha.net

Autumn 2008 along the Mississippi River

These are the colors I mentioned in my Septoberfest entry. This was taken October 2008.

Carol Dunn, Innkeeper
The River Nest Bed and Breakfast

When the rain ends tomorrow, the sun will shine on the most beautiful season in Southeast Minnesota. The bluffs turn to red and gold, and the river becomes a blue mirror. We invite you to enjoy this splendor at The River Nest Bed and Breakfast.

The Wabasha-Kellogg (and Reads Landing!) area is celebrating Septoberfest, our family-friendly fall gala. This celebration took shape for the first time last year, and response from our guests was phenomenal! The towns are decorated with pumpkins, flags, scarecrows, and cornstalks. Restaurants are offering German menus, as well as German beverages. Pumpkin decorating and scarecrow creating contests are underway. The Germans in the area will be parading. Every weekend brings new music and activities to the area. Most visitors like Septoberfest because it replaces the traditional drinkathon image with other outdoor (and indoor) activities.

Find all the details about Septoberfest at the Chamber of Commerce and Septoberfest Flyer links online.

It’s also apple season again! I’ve been peeling Macintosh and Heralson apples, and our guests have been sampling apple kuchen, caramel-apple muffins, apple crisp, and/or apple pie for breakfast! Last weekend’s guests still enjoyed their early-morning coffee and treats out on their deck. Mornings are getting crisper, giving hot coffee and warm baked goodies even more flavor.

Have you heard about Papa’s Barn? About a mile from Wabasha, the Meurer family has converted their barn into a treasure heaven. Twice a year they open and market unique indoor and outdoor decor provided by craftspeople from near and far. New this year will be handmade Amish furniture and quilts. And, down the road, another Meurer has The Woodshop where they market even more decor as well as beautiful handmade furniture (We’ve bought several oak tables for our suites.). As I said, both are only open twice a year, and the dates this fall are October 2 thru 11, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Again, I hope you’ll find the time to visit Southeast Minnesota during this special season. I’m hosting Sunday afternoon open houses here at The River Nest and offering apple kuchen to our visitors. Stop by and see us!

Carol Dunn, Innkeeper

First, the bird report: 

• A few eagles are nesting in our area, and we are seeing the adolescents watching for fish nearby along the water’s edge .
• The blue herons stand in our cove every day now.
• We sighted what I thought were several egrets (but are white blue herons) on our drive over to Alma, Wisconsin, last week.
• The wrens decided the tops of the new “topsy-turvy” tomato planters looked like perfect nesting spots.
• Orioles and rose-breasted grosbeaks are staying longer this year than ever before.
• A guest from Florida asked about “that beautiful bird” she saw that was “all black with just a bit of color on the wings.”  Sometimes we forget that a common red-winged blackbird has beauty!

Transitioning with “beauty,” I caught the sunset from the suite deck this evening.  Let’s see if I can upload it:

The last of tonight's sunset.

Sadly, between the time I first noticed the red sky and the time I took the photo, it took a while to locate the camera and switch the settings!

We have Riverboat Days coming up this weekend in Wabasha.  Planned activities include races, fishing contests, events “under the bridge,” and a parade.  Check it out at our Wabasha-Kellogg Chamber of Commerce link!

Of course, anytime is a great time to visit our area, and we’d love to host you at The River Nest.

Last year Dan Miller started a new business, Big River Adventures,  giving jon boat tours of the Mississippi backwaters.  From now through October those will be fantastic, both for birding and wildflowers. 

Bonnie at Troy’s Bait Bucket (651-565-4895) in Wabasha has added a pontoon boat to her canoe, kayak, and paddleboat rentals.  That fills a gap left when Great River Houseboats moved upriver.  The Pearl of the Lake is back giving paddlewheel rides on Lake Pepin.  It boards in Lake City. 

I’m new at this blogging, and today I’m going to experiment with inserting pictures taken here at The River Nest.  Let’s see how it goes:

The View from the Terrace Suite

Hey!  That was fun.  Let’s try another:

Our home. The suites are on the right, and the Mississippi is behind the photographer!

 Next I think I’ll edit our settings so that you’ll know I’m not “rivernest” but Carol Dunn, the innkeeper!

Have a great June, and plan to come and see us!