St. Louis River Mudflats

I spent a lot of time this past weekend hiking into a spot where I check for late migrating ducks, and earlier arriving shorebirds. This was my first trip of the spring and I was thrilled to discover the water level was down slightly which has resulted in some nice mud flats. While I saw a reasonable number of Greater Yellowlegs, it was obvious the shorebird migration up to the Arctic with stops near Lake Superior has not started in earnest yet.

Although my primary target was shorebirds, I was thrilled when shortly after sunrise I was able to get close to two of my more favorite ducks. The first was Northern Shovelers, which although some might claim look a bit dorky, I like. The other duck was Green Winged Teal. Due to a large dirt mound, and a rising sun directly behind me, I was able to get closer than normal to these two spooky birds.

However, when on a follow up hike I tried to get close to a small flock of Bonapart Gulls, I failed miserably. In this second instance I had little cover, and the birds quickly became aware of me. Finally, it was nice to do these hikes in weather that allowed for shorts and a t-shirt. Prior to this weekend, northeasterly winds had made it difficult to get out on the low 40’s near the big lake.

Greater Yellowlegs