Category Archives: Year 6

Fog Bound Rarities: Hudsonian Godwit et al

Year 6

While the rest of Minnesota has been enjoying some very warm September weather (80 to 85F), here in Duluth on Lake Superior the word of the day has been fog. Migration seems to be stalled, and the birds that are here are staying put. Down in the end of Park Point the ball fields have turned into great food factories for shore birds. My friends from the shores of the Arctic are enjoying the feast.

One rare bird for these parts is a Hudsonian Godwit which has been around for several days. Watch the video included with this post, and you will be able to see the fog rolling by.  Our temperatures are hovering between 50F and 60F.  It is a challenge to photograph in the fog.

Hudsonian Godwit & Friends

With a Black Bellied Plover

With a Pectoral Sandpiper

Individual Portraits

Hudsonian Godwit

Black-Belled Plover (juvenile)

Pectoral Sandpiper

Movie Time … Preening in the Fog (video link)
YouTube video will be embedded later … embed code is broken right now.

Sax-Zim Bog Migration in Progress

Year 6

I spent five hours in the Bog yesterday. While none of the juvenile Great Great Owls were kind enough to show themselves when I arrived at sunrise, once the sun was over the horizon the Broad-Winged Hawks were present in force. These birds along with Northern Flickers, Blue Jays and warblers were migrating in force yesterday. The weather was perfect … little wind and nice sun after the morning ground fog burned off. Fall is one of my favorite times of year in Sax-Zim Bog … no bugs and different birds due to migration each trip.

Broad-Winged Hawk (3 different birds)

Northern Flicker

15 Miles Off the Migration Path. No Birds … Just Yooperlite!

Year 6

How much can 15 miles really mean to migrating birds? Apparently, a lot!

I just spent the last week serving as a volunteer lighthouse keeper at Crisp Point. This lighthouse is 15 miles shy of Whitefish Point and is only accessed via a 19 mile dirt road. The lighthouse is very remote, and serving as keeper is a fantastic experience. Our keeper’s residence is our tent, but back to birding …

Whitefish Point is a major bird migration route both in the Spring and Fall. Thousands and thousands of birds from the northern reaches of Canada fly past Whitefish during their twice annual migrations. However, Crisp Point is almost due west of Whitefish. During our latest mid September stay I saw almost zero birds … a few flocks of Canada Geese, a couple of crows, three common mergansers, and an actually quite rare Mew Gull (see below … data courtesy of All About Birds from Cornell University). Winds must have pushed this fellow off its planned migration. However, the birds know the way south (or north in the Spring) is to follow Lake Michigan down towards warmer weather. Thus, 15 miles is HUGE in terms of distance from a flyway.

While Molly and I did not see many birds at Crisp Point, the grand old lady came through for us! Here are a few photographs taken two days ago starting with the Blue Hour (40 minutes before sunrise) till about 30 minutes after sunrise.

Our final new experience was learning about Yooperlite! Last summer, a local rock hound discovered that some Lake Superior stones have sodalite fluorescent crystals embedded within the rock. Under a black, UV light, the crystals reflect light in a brilliant manner. As the campfire was burning down three nights back, we decided to walk the beach with a UV flashlight in search of the fabled stone. Yooperlite! (Yooperlite image taken the next morning).