I arrived in Sax-Zim Bog shortly after sunrise this morning. It was a cool, clear, crisp morning (45F) with ground fog. I checked some normal haunts first on McDavitt and Admiral Roads … including a shore hike into the woods on the South Logging Road, but not many birds were present.
After a hike on the Warren Nelson boardwalk yielded a completely silent forest and no bird sightings, I decided a change of approach was necessary. I exited the Bog and visited the farm fields a bit south of the Welcome Center. Jackpot. I quickly found hawk families hunting, and the treat of the morning was when a flock of Barn Swallows paused their southward migration to have breakfast within yards of me. If a bird is hungry enough, they will ignore your presence. Such was the case and I had the unique experience of watching hundreds of Barn Swallows often from only a distance of a few yards.
This first bird did its best to imitate the stare of a Great Gray Owl. It almost fooled me!
Some of my other favorite pics … good time!
Flock on a Fence
Individual on a Fence Post
For those of you planning a trip to the Bog, remember to add my Sax-Zim Bog Google Winter Birding Map to your mobile device (no install necessary … just an easy map configuration to access)
Thanks for those barn swallow photos. Love the staredown.
Have you noticed any Nighthawks migrating yet? Usually they are the first really noticeable birds in the sky for me, and August is over and I haven’t seen any yet.
Thanks — love the time you take to keep us informed.
Jeannette
While I was at Crisp Point last week, apparently there was a very large migration of nighthawks in the Duluth area.