Category Archives: Year 2

Arctic Shore Birds Invade Duluth! (year 2, month 5)

Year 2

Sometimes the fog rolls out and one gets lucky. Shortly after 5:45 am this morning I went out birding, and after a quick check of the mouth of Lester River, I drove down to Park Point. The murky conditions improved when I reached Sky Harbor Airport, and after a short hike across the dunes on the boardwalk, I stopped behind the taped off area for piping plovers.

While I did see or hear any piping plovers, a huge number of migrating shorebirds which were having breakfast worked their way along the shoreline towards me . A few birds actually walked right up to within 10 feet of me! The combination of this closeness and my Canon 65x optical zoom yielded some neat photos.

My new lifers were:

  • Dunlin
  • Red Knot
  • Ruddy Turnstone
  • Sanderling
  • Semipalmated Sandpiper!

Here are my photos from this morning … a very neat experience:

Ruddy Turnstone & Dunlin
Y2-M05-29-Ruddy-Turnstone-and-Dunlin-2

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Sanderlings & Semipalmated Sandpiper (The Semipalmated Sandpiper is the little bird right in the center of the photo.)
Y2-M05-29-Day-at-the-Beach-3-Sanderling-and-

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Red Knot and Ruddy Turnstone (The Red Knot is the bird right at the far left of the photo.)
Y2-M05-29-Day-at-the-Beach-1-Red-Knott-and-Ruddy-Turnstone

Sanderling
Y2-M05-29-Sanderling-1 Y2-M05-29-Sanderling-2

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Dunlin
Y2-M05-29-Dunlin

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Student Body!
Y2-M05-29-Day-at-the-Beach-2

Breakfast at the Duck Pond! (Year 2, Month 5)

Year 2

When birding in the Duluth area, most folks will visit the normal spots:

  • Sax-Zim Bog in hopes of seeing a Great Grey Owl
  • Western Waterfront Trail for shorebirds and waterfowl
  • Scenic 61 for ducks
    (see my blog page on Northern Minnesota Birding Locations)

However, one would be remiss if a trip to the “duck pond” was not included. Locals know this site and visit early in the morning, or a bit before sundown. The pond (actually two) is at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Duluth. It has a resident population of domestic geese, and a constant wild population of mallards and Canada geese. In the old adage, birds attract birds, other birds will often stop at the pond for a day or two … sometimes longer.

This morning I had the pleasure of watching a hooded merganser and a spotted sandpiper. The road right next to the pond allows one to “sneak up” of the birds while using the car as a photographer’s blind. Thus, here are my breakfast birds!

Hooded Merganser
Y2-M05-Hooded-Merganser-1a Y2-M05-Hooded-Merganser-2a

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Spotted Sandpiper
Y2-M05-Spotted-Sandpiper-1a

Long-Tailed Ducks!

Year 2

Yesterday morning I went out biking in the drizzle / fog. It made for a nice cool ride, but not great photographic conditions. Near McQuade Harbor I noticed some ducks that looked unusual out on Lake Superior. Getting off my bicycle for a closer inspection, I realized the birds were Long-Tailed Ducks (Cornell Ornithology Link)! Normally these ducks should be up in the northern reaches of Hudson Bay, but today this flock was 200 yards off shore on Lake Superior!

Y2-M05-Long-Tailed-Ducks-2