Deer hunting season ended yesterday! With the hunters out of the woods I drive north into the Pagami Creek Forest Fire Region. I had wanted to visit this wilderness area before snow made the 18 mile logging road impassable. Upon arriving at Tomahawk Road I was pleased to discover the hunters had driven the road post blizzard and packed down enough snow that my Subaru Outback could venture into the deep forest. Arriving at sunrise I was presented with a Winter Wonderland. The storm from a few days ago had plastered the pines with ice and snow. Even though it was cold this morning (5F), there was not an ounce of wind. The scene a beautiful. Thus began a few hours of exploring this remote wilderness.
On the way home as the temperature climbed into the 20’s I discovered hundreds of Pine Grosbeaks alighting on Lake County Hwy #2 to find gravel for their gizzards. Thankfully, this road receives very little traffic and I was able to take a few photographs. One of my favorite birding locations is the abandoned railroad a few miles south of Greenwood Lake. This location did not disappoint with many birds including Canada’s new nation bird, the Grey Jay … also known as the Canada Jay. It beat out the Common Loon and Canada Goose. The jay was considered the underdog, or should I say underbird.
Here are a few of the Pine Grosbeak images from this morning
A Failure to Communicate!
Gravel Getting
Airborne!
My Subaru and another view off Tomahawk Road (10 years older than me!)
Dawn Reflections
Canada’s New National Bird … the Grey Jay!
Does the GreyJay migrate? If so, where does it usually go?
Grey Jays stay up in the Northland throughout the winter, but may push a tiny bit south if conditions are too severe. The Sax-Zim Bog area which is a bit north of Duluth has Grey Jays all winter long (and in the Summer)
Love’em, thanks for sharing.
Ah, truly a winter wonderland. The grosbeaks are SO colorful!