North Mississippi Regional Park

Yesterday morning we took the the No. 22 bus from downtown to North Mississippi Regional Park.  The bus goes up Lyndale Avenue paralleling Interstate 94 along the river.  Exit the bus at 42nd Ave N. It's only 4 or 5 miles out of downtown.  Walk out onto the Camden Bridge to get this view.  The park is on the west side of the river and the water treatment facility for Minneapolis is on the right.

Underneath the bridge (no graffiti here) we heard noises that sounded like a combination of jungle birds and car alarms.  We finally noticed the speakers attached to the underside of the bridge beams.  That noise might possibly keep taggers off the bridge, but I guess it was designed to keep birds from nesting there. Someone else thought it was interesting and put up a you tube video of that racket. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXkMQJvarws

Shingle Creek empties out into the Mississippi in the park.

I picked up three bags of litter in the park.  A park attendant told us volunteers pick up trash about 4 times a year.  These branches and logs make a nice barrier for collecting trash that comes out of the creek

There is a nice view of Heron Island from the park.  No herons in sight and the island looks a little raggedy. There was a tornado that went through this area in 2011 decimating the rookery that was once here. 

http://www.twincities.com/minneapolis/ci_18132573 

I wonder if some of the herons that we have seen just downstream at Bassett Creek were from this island originally.  There are plans to restore the cottonwood trees and the herons to the island.

http://kstp.com/article/stories/s3755767.shtml

Walmart Store #1864

I saw this jacket in a litter pool back on June 4th.  It was stuck under a bunch of debris and just far enough out that I couldn't reach it.  With lower water levels I was finally able to grab it today and also get a backpack that was wrapped around some tree branches.  That's a Refrigiwear brand jacket from Walmart store #1864. That's the superstore in Brooklyn Park about 10 miles north of downtown.  Was this jacket owned by a former Walmart employee? I don't know who else would embroider the store number on their clothing. Wonder what happened to that employee. I don't think it ended well. Walmart #1864 is right next door to Shingle Creek which zigs and zags its way for about 15 miles before it gets to the Mississippi River.  I'm not familiar with this creek but it seems somewhat unlikely that it could have traveled that far before becoming tangled in something but who knows.  The power of water! By the way there was a nice large plastic bag waiting for me on the beach right before I got to this spot.  

June 4th photo of the jacket (top right) buried in the litter pool