Chambers Grove Duluth White Pelicans (videos)

Year 13

The swallows return to Capistrano, and White Pelicans return each spring during their northern migration to fish the spawn just above Duluth’s Chambers Grove Park (a fantastic viewing spot). Yesterday afternoon, when the rains abated and the sky became brighter (still cloudy), much of Duluth including me decided to make the trek to watch the event.

For the next 2+ weeks there will be HUGE numbers of White Pelicans roosting on the island reefs just offshore from the park. The birds will be close! Make certain you walk a bit upriver to points that let you view the other side of the island. There will be many more active pelicans than the pelicans near the park which tend to be resting (many birds have just completed a long flight). The pelicans on the other side of the island and upstream tend to spend more time fishing.

Here are some of my photos and videos with explanations from yesterday afternoon …

Not Welcome Here! (remember … this is courting season and birds get feisty. The White Pelican walking up onto the reef was encouraged to move elsewhere!)

Some landscape views of the island and reefs (there were easily 250+ pelicans at Chambers Grove)

Fishing (the pelicans fish like wolf packs … surrounding spawning fish … one pelican catches a fish then the entire “student body” arrives … videos included in this sequence)

Fishing Videos of the Spring Fish Spawning Run on the St. Louis River

Courting and Preening (White Pelicans as they form attachments to their mates take courtship flights and even flap / splash while swimming)

Courting / Flapping / Splashing Videos

Northland Spring Birding Notes

Year 13

Mother Nature will keep the Northland quite wet over the next few days. Thus, it seemed like a good time to “kick back” while I am housebound and publish some spring birding notes. Here goes, in no particular order:

  • Ponds and lakes in the Duluth area have experienced ice out, or at least have large areas of open water. This is a great time to photograph waterfowl as they move northwards using the latest open ponds.
  • Chambers Grove Park at Duluth’s Fond du Lac neighborhood finally has hundreds of white pelicans. Best days to visit are sunny, calm mornings. The pelicans really start moving around once the sun pops up over the trees around 8 am and warms them up. The fish spawn is running a bit late on the St. Louis River, which is why the pelicans like this spot.
  • Forest Hill Cemetery’s ponds and grounds are great for bird watching during migration. You are often able to get close to many duck species. The male common merganser was photographed at Forest Hill. Use your car as a blind. Do not get out of your vehicle. In addition, let the ducks swim to you. Don’t keep moving your car.
  • North of Duluth and inland of Two Harbors, roads which were not plowed all winter are mostly snow free. However, shady “east-west” roads are much wetter than “north-south” roads given the amount of sun that reaches the roadbed. Given the amount of rain received over the past week you will find local flooding. The picture of the Spruce Grouse running across the snow was taken two days ago (April 24th) next to Stoney River Forest Road
  • Mammals are moving around towards summer habitat, but trails are real wet and messy. Yesterday I was not able to reach my goals for where I wanted to hike because of flooded areas over the trail I was hiking. However, ticks are out. I pulled five ticks off myself after a different hike yesterday.
  • If you want to drive back roads right now during this period, I advise using a vehicle with all wheel or 4 wheel drive. Major dirt roads which are plowed all winter should be fine for two wheel drive cars.

Hamden Slough (Mn) Prairie Chicken Spring Courting Dance

Year 13

Oh wow! I repeat … Oh wow!!! I had never watched the spring Prairie Chicken courting ritual, and when my buddy Jim reserved a blind at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Hamden Slough National Wildlife Refuge and asked me if I would like to make this birding excursion with him, I jumped at the opportunity! This fantastic habitat is essentially due west of Duluth, but during four hours of driving one exits the Boreal Forest of northern Minnesota and reaches the beginning of the Great Plains including Prairie Potholes.

Our blind was almost luxurious. The trailer which encompassed our blind had 8 viewing windows and even rolling padded office chairs. Thus, no matter where the Prairie Chickens decided to dance, the two of us had 360 degree viewing coverage.  The prior afternoon we had checked out the blind in full sunlight. Thus when we arrived in total darkness at 5:00 am, we knew what to expect and where to walk. After a ten minute hike in the dark across the prairie we reached our blind at 5:10 am (sunrise expected at 6:28 am).

You may wonder why we arrived so long before sunup. Well … the Prairie Chickens started arriving by 5:20 … in total darkness and long before the bright orb started peaking above the horizon. If we had arrived much later we would have risked scaring birds. We eventually learned after sunrise the birds were only 25 yards away from the blind, and our blind was perfectly between the birds and the rising sun.

It was eerie to listen to the birds clucking, chirping and booming in the darkness. The males inflate their orange air sacks and make a deep booming sound that could almost be described as someone faintly playing  timpani drums. Turn your computer’s volume up and concentrate on the sound. I took both videos within ten minutes of sunrise.

Prairie Chickens on Hamden Slough near Audubon, Minnesota

The LEK (video link for blog email subscribers)

The Fight (video link for blog email subscribers)

Preamble & Posturing (females in the background … 2nd image)

Fights!!! (trying to spike your opponent)

More Posturing & Stare Downs

And yet … more fights and displays

End of post