Category Archives: Year 5

Chasing the CP Holiday Train to Frostbite Falls!

Year 5,

When I was a student at Dartmouth College years ago, a friend and classmate, Mark, always gave me grief that I lived in Frostbite Falls … home to Rocky and Bullwinkle J. Moose.

Well after all of these years I am finally admitting Mark was right. In fact, yesterday morning I hiked in to Frostbite Falls at sunrise … occasionally known at High Falls on the Pigeon River …. the international border between the USA and Canada in northern Minnesota.

My reason for being on the border was that I was returning to Duluth having chased the CP Holiday Train from Schreiber to Thunder Bay via Nipigon. Imagine two trains all decked out for the holidays which chug across Canada and the northern United States stopping in small towns to raise money for the local food banks. At each town people bring food donations, and get to watch a nationally known act perform. Yup … the side of a boxcar folds down and a concert stage is revealed! This years primary act on the Canadian version of the train is country singer Kelly Prescott. Pretty darn cool, and the true holiday spirit comes through in these small town. Last year we watched the Holiday Train concert in a the small prairie town of Plummer, Minnesota. (see schedule for the USA and Canada)

In summation, I love that I live in Frostbite Falls!

Photographs on this page are copyrighted and may not be used without my permission.

Frostbite Falls! (High Falls on the Pigeon River)

CP Holiday Train – Nipigon, Ontario

CP Holiday Train – Schreiber, Ontario

CP Holiday Train – Lake Superior near Rossport, Ontario

CP Holiday Train – Concert in Plummer, Minnesota

Video of Frostbite Falls

Owl Song!

Year 5

Very cool! Last night when I arrived home from watching this Snowy Owl, and while loading photographs onto my computer, I heard owl song outside. Yup, Mr. and Mrs. Great Horned Owl while hunting the Amity Creek Ravine right across from my yard decided to serenade each other. I put on my winter parka and went outside and listened to the duet for about five minutes!

It was an owly night in the Northland! I need to get an audio recording app for my smartphone. I have heard all kinds of owls sing, and can identify the following owls by sound: Barred Owls, Great Gray Owls, Great Horned Owl, Northern Hawk Owls and Snowy Owls (more of a clicking and screeching).

Main takeaway from these photos … if you are a vole, you are in BIG trouble!

And a short video of the owl hunting

Sax-Zim Bog Early Winter Birding Report

Year 5

The Friends of Sax-Zim Bog staff and volunteers had our annual training day yesterday. Many of us birded the Bog starting at sunrise and then arrived at the Welcome Center mid morning. All the feeders are now filled at the Center, and the deer carcasses are out. There are a good number of Pine Grosbeaks (including the one pictured), and lots of Gray Jays at the Welcome Center. However, the Redpolls count is very low.

One Great Gray Owl was seen by a volunteer while birding, but the numbers and frequency of sightings right now are not high. I am convinced the Great Gray Owls being seen at this point are local birds (no migrants).

Over the last 24 hours of the first Northern Hawk Owls have been seen in northern Minnesota. One of the sightings was in the Bog on McDavitt, but the bird could not be re-found. I looked hard 30 minutes after the reported sighting including a few hikes.

The Welcome Center will open at 10:00 am on Saturday, December 8th, but as noted the feeders are now filled. Remember, in addition to stopping by the Welcome Center during your trip to the Bog, use my Google Map overlay.

Two Rough-Legged Hawks having a Disagreement over a prime hunting spot