Category Archives: Year 4

The Raptors of Sax-Zim Bog!

Year 4

It was a great late afternoon at Sax-Zim Bog. I scored this trifecta! In addition there are a number of Northern Hawk Owls in the Bog this winter. The action is on Admiral and McDavitt Roads. My encounter with the Great Gray Owl was at sunset in the shade, while the other birds (Immature Bald Eagle and Rough Legged Hawk) were hunting working at obtaining their evening meal about 30 minutes before sunset.

Thanksgiving afternoon I went hiking with some friends at a classic Minnesota location on Lake Superior, Split Rock Lighthouse. It was a beautiful day.

Updated Bird Index / Videos

Year 4

We are in the doldrums in terms of birding in northern Minnesota. The Fall migration is now done, and we are still in need of a heavy deep snow cover to push more winter birds out of the deep forest to more viewable locations. These facts don’t mean I stop hiking the forests, but every day is very challenging.

On the home front given I have not had any new bloggable content, I have worked upon updating my index. While in my travels I often avoid chasing certain kinds of birds in which I have little interest (bird snob??), I still have amassed a decent number. You will now find 265 species photographed / indexed. In addition, my video and mammal indices are now getting rather large. Although this blog focuses upon still images of birds, you may enjoy these other two resources:

The Hunters! (video)

Year 4,

Before sunrise I drove over to Superior in search of Snowy Owls. While I did not find any owls, about ten minutes before sunrise I spied an early hunting Rough-Legged Hawk. I was actually surprised to see it hunting before sunup. Thus, I positioned my car as a blind and captured the hawk in the very first rays of morning sun … less than five minutes after the golden orb popped above the horizon.

This afternoon I had planned on just chilling out, but when I got wind of a Northern Hawk Owl up near Stone Lake Road in Sax-Zim Bog I quickly changed those plans. While I never found the owl, I had a blast watching this mink for over ten minutes as it fished the small creek adjacent to Stone Lake Road. Finally right at sun down I watched another Rough-Legged Hawk near the greenhouse on Hwy #7 … the second time I had seen it in that area this afternoon. I did make a few swings along McDavitt Road towards sunset but did not find any Great Gray Owls. Even with the misses, it was a great day out in the woods.

Sax-Zim Bog Mink

Rough-Legged Hawk at Sunrise