Category Archives: Year 9

Stony River Forest Road – Spruce Grouse

Year 9

I wanted to bird Stony River Forest Road this morning north of Two Harbors. I had not been on the road since last Fall’s Greenwood Forest Fire. While the fire never reached Stony River Forest Road, it got mighty close and most of the route was used as a fire block. Given the land cleared for the fire block, it is now rare that the forest ever gets tight on the western edge of the road. Normally there was always 100 to 125 yards of open space / land on that side.

Unlike many areas that have been recently logged, the fire block clearings were not torn up and barren. Active meadows, brush and bog were almost always present. By having all this open space next to the forest’s edge, in the years ahead this road will become an ever better wildlife magnet! There were frequent log piles.

As sunrise was at 6:55 am this morning, and I wanted light in the woods, I timed my arrival for shortly after sunrise. Thus at 7:15 am I started driving from the southern end of Stony River Forest Road where it begins at Lake Cty. 15 / Forest Rd. #11. The road was still fully shaded and the sun was not yet peaking over the trees. Stoney River Forest Road tracks slightly northeast. In total my trip on the forest road with birding stops took 1 hour and 45 minutes finishing the 41 miles at 9:00 am (20.5 miles up to Mn. Hwy #1, and 20.5 miles back).

You will NOT find Stony River Forest Road on Google Maps, but there is a wooden sign showing the road’s name where it begins at Lake Cty. #15. Thus, if you use Google Maps, ignore ALL directions for this road. At any subsequent intersection just stay straight and you will reach Mn. Hwy. #1 (as noted … distance of 20.5 miles). Google Maps links to Stony River Forest Road’s endpoints are found later in this post.

Stony River Forest Road may easily be driven by two wheel drive vehicles assuming NO snow. During my 1 hour and 45 minutes roundtrip, I saw the following:

• 7 Spruce Grouse
• 2 Whitetail Deer
• 2 Timber Wolves
• 2 Logging Trucks
• Various Hawks

Road Notes: Stony River Forest Road was easily wide enough to allow me to pull over and let the trucks pass me. I did not see any trucks on the first half of my drive. I believe loggers do not work on Sundays, but the truckers were very courteous. Given the logging operations, if you park do NOT block the road! Move well over to the side.

Here are two Google Maps links to the southern and northern ends of Stony River Forest Road:

Pictures of a few Spruce Grouse from this morning

Given some years I do not see even a single Spruce Grouse, it is rather amazing and fun to have seen ten individuals just this week via two different birding excursions!

Mooseland Visit

Year 9

Tuesday’s visit to Mooseland did not turn up any moose, but there were an amazing number of Moose tracks on Toomey Williams Forest Road. The bird of the day were the two northern Minnesota grouse species. I finally realized that while scanning the snags and trees for hawks and owls, I really needed to spend more time focusing upon the immediate road in front of me. On three separate occasions I almost ran over grouse … both Spruce and Ruffed. The birds only avoided my car by inches, and I was not driving fast.  However. grouse are not noted for intelligence. Given grouse season has already started it further showed just how remote these roads are … these birds had not been hunted recently or they would have spooked way earlier. I did stop and take some nice images of this Ruffed Grouse. I was standing about ten yards away from the bird.

The raptors were hunting even before sunrise, but I waited till a few minutes after sunup to watch this Broad-Winged Hawk hunt (thus … the yellow light of sunrise). According to Frank Nicoletti from Hawk Ridge they saw over 9,000 Broad0Winged Hawks yesterday. It is amazing what a decent NW wind will cause in terms of migration towards the end of September.

Moose Land Delay!

Year 9

It is 6 am as I write this blog post, and I have actually been up since 4:45 am. However, now that the sun rises much later, it is much to early to visit “Moose Land“. I had hoped to also visit Moose Land late yesterday afternoon and evening, but Mother Nature had other ideas. While the weather forecast was for clear skies with a zero percent chance of rain, I just barely completed a bicycle ride at my cabin before thunder storms rolled in and I lost power for 5+ hours. Given the heavy clouds, it was almost pitch dark in my cabin by 7:15. Thus, with no power and a trip to Moose Land being a stupid, rather wet idea, I was in bed by 8:15 pm. Thus, I arose this morning by 4:30 am. The skies had cleared and I visit Moose Land with an estimated time of departure of 6:30 am!

Over the past week I have often found myself birding at one of my favorite fall migration spots … the Castle Danger Sewage Treatment Ponds followed by a drive on the Two Harbors Highlands backroads. West Castle Danger Road is only 35 minutes from my house near the mouth of the Lester River. The drive up the shore is always beautiful during the pre-dawn light, and the birding normally does not disappoint.

Here is my route (also see map):

  1. Drive Mn 61 to West Castle Danger Road
  2. Turn uphill onto West Castle Danger Road
  3. Drive to Bunker Hill Road and turn onto same. The wastewater treatment ponds at the end of Bunker Hill Road are part of a much larger open area. Assuming you do not walk through the closed gate to the ponds themselves, the supervisor of the ponds has always welcomed birding visits. The pine trees near the gate to the ponds often get lots of birds. You may walk a footpath just outside the fenced in area to get a better view of the birds using the ponds.
  4. Drive back down Bunker Hill Road and turn right to continue along West Castle Danger Road
  5. Upon reaching Lake Cty #3, turn left and travel a short distance towards the big lake, turning right onto Clark Road / Lake Cty #34
  6. Stay on Lake Cty #34 till you reach Lake Cty #24 / East Alger Grade. Turn left onto Lake Cty #24
  7. Follow Lake Cty #24 back down to Two Harbors. I often check out the Lake County Fairgrounds, and the dirt road next to Lake Superior at Agate Beach.

Here are a few photographs I took over the past few days on this route … a Palm Warbler, a Broad-Winged Hawk and an American Kestrel.