The saltie Federal Hunter arrives in Duluth Friday.

With temperatures rising — and I mean ever so slightly — we are starting to feel like it really might be spring in northern Minnesota.

The best indicators are found in unusual places. The chicks have arrived at area L & M Supply stores (Every year the marquee reads “Chicks are Coming.”) And, of course, the shipping news is another practical reminder of the season. From the Duluth Seaway Port Authority:

Port of Duluth-Superior prepares for earliest arrival of 1st Saltie of the Season

Duluth, Minn. USA – The Port of Duluth-Superior is preparing to welcome its first oceangoing ship (“saltie”) of the 2013 commercial shipping season. The Hong Kong-flag Federal Hunter is expected to arrive on Friday afternoon, March 29, which will also put it first in Twin Ports’ history books as the earliest arrival for a full transit of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway (GLSLS) system. The previous record was set by the India-flag L/T Argosy on April 1, 1995.

Adding to excitement is the anticipated weekend arrival of a sister ship, the Cyprus-flag Federal Elbe, almost on Hunter’s heels.

Last week, the first ship, the coal and iron ore-bearing Mesabi Miner, left the Duluth harbor through a channel cut by an ice breaking vessel.