Category Archives: Year 9

Minnesota Boreal Forest Birding (Facebook Group)

Background, Year 9,

Earlier this morning I created a new Facebook Group, Minnesota Boreal Forest Birding. The image accompanying this post defines the area. Although the group is private, a Facebook account is required to join / participate. The group’s description and basic rules are listed beneath the map.

This group covers birding in the Boreal Forest Region of northern Minnesota, including The Big Bog, Sax-Zim Bog, the BWCA, and the North Shore of Lake Superior including Hawk Ridge.  Here is Facebook direct link:

Minnesota Boreal Forest Birding Rules:
  1. Our region is defined by the map accompanying this post
  2. Images MUST be posted within the group (not linked). Only one image is allowed for your primary post, but additional images may be posted in subsequent comments. Images should be your own, or clearly identify the owner.
  3. Posts of birding photographs should be recent, and note the basic date and location. For sensitive species using a general location is acceptable. Please add text describing your birding experience.
  4. No advertising or links to commercial websites without prior administrative approval. If your web site is “non commercial” and “not trying to sell something”, and has a clear relationship to birding in our area, links ARE allowed and most welcome.
  5. Discussion of ALL birding topics relevant to our region ARE allowed, but ONLY using polite civil language (no personal attacks or bullying).
  6. Our region is not 100% Boreal Forest. Feel free to post about birds seen in other habitat found throughout our area.

Boreal Owl … Zzzzzzz

Year 9

What can I say. As always it was cold yesterday. The morning started out at my house at -13F. However, conditions like these insure that owls like to find some sun in the daytime. Assuming a perch is protected from the wind, roosting in the sun is a most desired activity.

Boreal Owl! You can tell that I kept my distance, and only used my zoom lens. The Boreal was happily asleep in the sun. It’s front was warmed by the golden rays of the sun, and it was also protected from the wind. This image is important to show. Even though a Boreal Owl is one of the rarest owl finds in North America, and obviously I would have preferred to photograph the bird with open eyes and showing some personality, no image is worth pushing a bird. This owl needed sleep, and I respected that fact.

At sundown, as shadows stretched across the ground, this Snowy Owl moved high for the same reasons. It wanted to feel the waning rays of the sun. It would not hunt till after sundown.

Today I could not find either owl. I tried! It was overcast and there was no reason to sit out in the open. Perhaps tomorrow when the sun shines again I will get lucky.

The Big Bog / Upper Red Lake Boreal Forest Birding

Year 9

This blog post completes my information about birding The Big Bog and nearby areas. It is worth reading my other posts to help with your research. Unlike Sax-Zim Bog which is near Duluth and may have large crowds, you will be alone as you bird this region. In fact, on many back roads you will NEVER see another car. As there are zero services, or often buildings / homes of any sort, you must be prepared. This is truly a wilderness area. Do not expect to utilize eBird or other social media services as you bird the Upper Red Lake Boreal Forest. You will be 100% on your own, which is actually quite enjoyable!

Other Posts in this Series:

  1. Big Bog and the Great Plains
  2. Minus 32F Birding Success
  3. SuperB Owl Sunday

My final bird which I very much enjoyed was found just before the land switched over from grasslands to the Boreal Forest on Fourtown Road NW, was a Sharp-Tailed Grouse. See my maps and explanations starting beneath the grouse images.

And now the maps. Understand these Google Maps screenshots do not cover the “Lost River State Forest / Lake Bottoms” or “Shoreline Drive NE” areas discussed in the “Minus 32F Birding Success” post. The true area of The Big Bog makes Sax-Zim Book look puny.

Map #1: A dirt road that runs basically due north 47 miles to Warroad. Think of Admiral or McDavitt Road in Sax-Zim Bog (Boreal Forest) but that goes on and on and on. Zero services.

Map #2: Zoomed out to both show other birding areas, and provide road names for Map #1. Download Google Maps for Offline Usage (see my post). Much of the time you will NOT have cell coverage. The Grasslands area would be good birding in the summer.

Map #3: Region-wide satellite mode perspective. Click / Press upon any image to view at full size.