It’s only 8:40 pm, and the temperature has already fallen to 40F. I suspect it will be in the 20’s by morning. Molly and I are up at our small cabin on Northstar Lake. The weather is telling us it is time to pull the water system out of the lake and get our 3 season cabin ready for winter. While the weather has been mild in the Northland, I was dumbfounded to find myself birding in snow squalls north of Two Harbors this morning, with snow sticking to the ground.

Thus, it is somehow poetic that the Hudson Bay birds are now starting to arrive and pass through the Northland. Yesterday Hawk Ridge saw their first Golden Eagle. Based upon years of tracking and banding it is known that the Golden Eagles that fly through Duluth each fall are from the Hudson Bay region, and they often winter in extreme southeastern Minnesota near the Mississippi River.

Today also saw good flights of American Pipits and Lapland Longspurs. Both of these bird species breed in the northern reaches of Hudson Bay, but now are visiting us on their way south. One of my favorite spots for finding / watching these two species is Lakeview Cemetery in Two Harbors. Both species are not comfortable in Boreal Forest, and the open spaces of the cemetery is one of the first non forested areas they find while migrating south.

American Pipits

Lapland Longspur (it looks grumpy)