Migration Madness!

Year 12, ,

The birds are migrating! The birds are migrating!

A few days ago I had a most excellent time in the rain at Forest Hill Cemetery. During migration damp and foggy conditions will often bring warblers down to the ground (rather than high up in the trees). Such was the case in the drizzle, but with calm winds. The warblers still congregated at the north end of the first pond at the cemetery. This area was the most protected, and for over a half hour I had Yellow-Rumped and Palm Warblers within just a few feet of me. It was fun.

A few birds from that fun time in the rain …

Palm Warblers

Brown Creeper

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Once the weather cleared over the past three days I have seen an amazing number of Broad-Winged Hawks. These smaller hawks set up on the side of the roads and hunt for both songbirds and small mammals. This morning it seemed like these raptors were wherever I looked on Lake County Two between Two Harbors and my Greenwood Feeders.

Broad-Winged Hawks a Hunting!

Finally I apologize for the falloff in terms of post frequency. Some of you know that I am re-battling Prostate Cancer. Tomorrow will be my 20th radiation treatment (out of 40 planned). Thankfully the prognosis is excellent, but the treatments and medication tires me out. Essentia Health was very cooperative in terms of scheduling my appointments in the early afternoon. They understand part of the treatment/healing process is to continue doing the things a person loves … for me birding. Thus, a typical days sees me head out for the boreal forest around 6:45 am, and get back late morning …  then on to my daily radiation treatment. Unfortunately I have experienced some radiation side effects which my medical team has helped me battle through. However, by later in the afternoon I tend to be tired and thus blogging frequency has suffered. Sorry.

Is Spring Coming in the Northwoods??

Year 12

Yesterday I was able to drive my car to my summer parking spot on Forest Road #813 for the first time this spring. This allowed me to take new hikes and shift my trailcams to locations deep in the wilderness. During yesterday morning’s hike for the first time there were a reasonable number of migrants present (not a lot). It was fun to see kingfishers, wilson’s snipe and of course robins. At the bird feeders out by Lake County #2, purple finches rule and are getting to settle in for their breeding season.

My hike’s excitement was flushing a Northern Goshawk at almost the identical moment I heard a nearby Ruffed Grouse drumming. This coincidence led me down a rabbit hole when I got home … do Northern Goshawks with their prey preference for grouse respond and hunt based upon drumming heard. The answer is definitely yes! I found a University of Minnesota study which determined based upon their research in northern Minnesota that upon examining kills of banded grouse, 75% if these grouse were killed extremely close to their drumming logs during courtship displays. In other words, looking for a good female is dangerous!

Today’s photo of the day is of a recently returned Red-Bellied Woodpeckers. While some years a few will stay over in the Northland, this past winter these woodpeckers seemed to have all migrated south. One can tell this is a male because the red plumage reaches completely from the base of its back neck to its bill (not true for the female)

Invasion of the Bug Snatchers (leading edge)

Year 12,

Even though there are almost zero bugs in the woods, and I am still able to find tiny bits of snow on the ground 40 miles inland from Two Harbors (and ice on the lakes), some bug snatchers have arrived in Duluth! While visiting Chambers Grove yesterday, a birding friend reminded me to NOT have a one track mind (as in While Pelicans on the river). Make certain you visit the small pond that immediately abuts the parking area. The little pond yesterday had an amazing number of early arriving warblers. In fact I even heard some grogs croaking which was amazing for Duluth on April 27th. I suspect this small body of water will be a warbler magnate over the next few weeks for many reasons including …

  • It is extremely protected from inclement winds and weather
  • The shallow waters will warm much more quickly than any other nearby waters
  • Warmer waters and wind protection will mean early season bugs
  • Chambers Grove is on a preferred migration path

Chambers Grove Bug Snatchers!

Yellow-Rumped Warblers

Eastern Phoebe

Song Sparrow

Meanwhile Friday evening this Great Gray Owl was hunting not too far away within the City of Duluth. Actually, most of the time it slept and given sunset was over 3 hours away, I left it to enjoy some ZZZzzz’s. However at one point it looked down, then up. I assume the owl thought it heard a vole. and an eagle, which I could not see, must have flown overhead.

Finally, about 12 of us had a super time hiking in to the Canosia Wildlife Management Area’s Great Blue Heron Rookery. We had super weather … sunny, 40F and dead calm winds. Stay tuned, I may some other walks, but like this one the announcement will come via my blog based upon current birding conditions / sightings and the weather forecast.