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Other stories in "Fall"

• This weekend
  See elves, artists and Irish dancers.
• Next weekend
  Elves, artists and Irish dancers are hard at work during holidays.
• Remember the wrecks
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• Welcome, Southwest
  Finally, low-cost air fares to Chicago have returned.
• All quiet up north
  Like the leaves, room rates have dropped.
• Big birds
  Eagles are flocking to a stretch of river best known for tundra swans.
• Join the fun
  With an outdoors club, make friends, see new places and save money.
• Homes for the holidays
  On tours, see where the rich and famous celebrated Christmas.
• Culture in the bluffs
  Follow musicians to four unusual venues near the Mississippi.
• Ghouls ahoy
  On Great Lakes, two haunted ships are spoiling for a fright.
• Bash on a bike trail
  Kick up your wheels at small-town fall festivals.
• Scenery in the studios
  On autumn art tours, treasure hunters strike gold (and orange and red).
• Closing the deal
  Believe it or not, it's time to reserve hot dates for 2009.
• Ely's blue over hues
  Act now to keep town's future bright.
• Eyes on the skies
  On bluffs and ridges, it's time to watch the hawk migration.
• Price check/A northwoods weekend
  Two Minnesota B&Bs offer a Boundary Waters adventure — is it a deal?
• On the ropes in Lanesboro
  Try walking a high wire on Halloween.
• In Iowa, a singular inn reopens
  Through December, snag a $99 room at the Hotel Pattee.
• Hunters on the North Shore
  A special deer season this weekend may put guns close to hikers.
• Geocaching for beginners
  Try a fall treasure hunt.
• Hot tip/A different North Shore
  Didn't reserve for fall-color season? Thunder Bay has rooms.
• On the road/A fall drive along the St. Croix
  A stretch of river valley is packed with attractions.
• 10 great trails to ride in fall
  Here's where to get your fill of flora, fauna and fall colors.
• Go on a trail-clearing trip
  If you enjoy a hike, help make it possible for others.
• In river towns, favorites debut anew
  On the Red Cedar and in Red Wing, three inns and restaurants finally reopen.
• Home of horsepower
  In Wisconsin, see where race cars, snowmobiles, outboards and motorcycles were born.

Go swan watching

It's been a beautiful fall, for everyone except swan-watchers.

If this were a normal year, 20,000 to 30,000 tundra swans now would be feasting on arrowhead tubers and wild celery on the section of the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish Refuge between Wabasha, Minn., and Prairie du Chien, Wis.

About 1,000 of them would be at Rieck's Lake in Alma, Wis., a traditional stopover on the swans' annual migration from the Arctic Circle to the marshes of Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. But mild temperatures have given them no reason to leave pit stops farther north, in Saskatchewan and North Dakota.

As of Thursday, only 1,000 swans had arrived in their traditional Upper Mississippi refueling marshes, and of those, about 50 had come to the area around Rieck's Lake, a slough of the Buffalo River. However, few could be seen from the viewing deck, from which visitors usually can watch the birds up close.

Last week's winds and colder temperatures, however, finally may be pushing them southward. For updates, call 1-608-248-3499, www.almaswanwatch.org.

During peak swan season, volunteers staff the Rieck's Lake deck, just north of Alma, every day between 10 a.m. and dusk, until the slough starts to ice over and the birds leave, usually around Thanksgiving. The most swan activity is early in the morning and in late afternoon, when the sun is setting behind the deck, producing beautiful lighting for photographers. Dress as warmly as possible.

Alma is about two hours south of the Twin Cities. Ten miles upriver from Alma, in Wabasha, the eagle-watching season has begun on the town's riverside observation platform, which volunteers with spotting scopes staff every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Main Street, the National Eagle Center, which has three bald eagles in residence, is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, 1-877-332-4537, www.nationaleaglecenter.org.

Last updated on November 26, 2007