Birding the Cook Bog

Year 11

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday and the day before I went birding in the Cook, Minnesota Bog. This Boreal Forest Bog has many things going for it that I like. Unlike Sax-Zim Bog which is much more popular, and may have more birds, the Cook Bog has zero people. I enjoy the private birding experiences, but means that birding requires using your own skills. Sometimes you see birds; sometimes you do not. Over the course of two days I never saw another birder, and only a few cars from locals.

Two days ago it was cloudy, dismal and dark as evidenced by this Northern Hawk Owl photograph.

However, yesterday the sun shone bright for the first time in over a week. Thankfully after searching for over an hour, I spied he Northern Hawk Owl, and eventually the bird came close to my access point.

It was also fun to watch a pair of Gray Jays / Canada Jays. These jays, like the owls nest before the winter is over. I was actually surprised the Gray Jays did not mind the owl being within two hundreds yards. I have seen instances of Northern Hawk Owls attacking these jays in the past.

Trifecta Tree … Winter Fruit Birds

Year 11

Yesterday morning I scored a Trifecta, or I should say the fruits trees of Big Falls, Minnesota in the Pine Island State Forest hit the Trifecta. I always pay attention when birding any time of the year to where there are large concentrations of mountain ash and pygmy crabapple trees because I know the “birds of winter” will eventually visit.

Such was the case yesterday when I found not one species, or two but all three species of birds which have been scarce this winter … often in the same exact tree at the same time, which led to some disagreements over who was allowed the choicest berries. Thus I bring you the birds of the northern winter … Bohemian Waxwings, Evening Grosbeaks, and Pine Grosbeaks. I spent over an hour watching the pig-out. Better yet, I also saw some birds which needed to be thrown into the Hoosegow! Yup, eating a lot of berries eventually means drunk birds as the fermentation process starts in their gizzards. Everyone was happy, including me but I would have to wait for dinner before I joined with a glass of Chardonnay.

A Disagreement between an Evening Grosbeak and Bohemian Waxwing

Evening Grosbeaks

Bohemian Waxwings

Pine Grosbeaks

Team Photo in one Tree

Great Horned Owl on Nest in January

Year 11

The title of this post says it all … in January. Granted I am south down in the Plymouth, Minnesota area visiting my daughter’s family, but this is the UnWinter. There is zero snow on the ground but finding a Great Horned Owl already incubating eggs on January 28th is exceedingly weird. Our winter up north in Duluth is also extremely mild, but at least there is a few inches of snow on the ground. I had already started taking local “owl hikes” at night as I am convinced if the weather continues with this warm pattern, owls will nest much earlier this year. Last year my own local owls were not on the nest till early April.

Actually, with my tunnel vision focused on the owl, it took several minutes for me to realize this wild turkey was standing only 15 yards away from me. The image shows the total lack of snow.