Tag Archives: MN North: Canal Park

Arctic Riviera Birding – Part 2 (Snowys and Goldeneyes)

At 2:30 pm yesterday afternoon the mercury rose to -4F (-19F chill factor). Thus, once again it was time for Arctic Riviera. I took the same approach as for Part 1, and focused upon true “snow birds”. As a write this blog post the following morning, it is now -25F (air temperature). Thus, a good time for writing, not birding.

My first stop was a search for Snowy Owls in Superior. I wondered if the cold weather would mean these owls, which are known for hunting during daylight hours, would in fact be out searching for a bite to eat. For whatever reasons, I found two Snowy Owls, and given their territorial winter hangouts, different birds from yesterday. Here is the immature male I found enjoying some sunshine in a true winter environment.

However, my goal yesterday afternoon was to enjoy some Goldeneyes. Now that the harbor, and much of Lake Superior is iced over, I felt the Duluth Ship Canal (Canal Park) would be one a the few nearby locations with open water due to its faster currents. I was not disappointed, but even with a few more days of this cold, the canal will freeze.

Actually I just pulled up the “live feed” from the Duluth Harbor Cam, and in fact the Canal is in fact now frozen. Thus, my birding opportunity from yesterday afternoon (Goldeneyes) is now kaput.

I arrived at Canal Park in the late afternoon. I knew the sun would be pointed down the Canal on any birds I might find. In addition, the low angle of the sun might allow me to get closer to the Goldeneyes which tend to spook very easily. I suspect the “eyes” were eating zebra mussels which grown on the sides of the canal. I hope you enjoy my images of the Goldeneyes. I consider them one of the more beautiful ducks in this world. Now I need to find some wintering Long Tailed Ducks!

Night Departure at Canal Park (video)

Over the past week I’ve become aware that many of my readers who are sheltering at home due to the Pandemic not only enjoy reading my blog, but also use the various harbor cameras in the Duluth / Superior region to “get out and travel” on a daily basis. Clicking upon any of “the cameras” on the Duluth Ship Tracking web site allows one to travel in this manner … with real time video.

While the harbor cams are great, these devices have limitations such as no audio. Thus, I decided to provide a Canal Park experience. Last night at 8:00 pm I videotaped the Arthur Anderson leaving Duluth downbound for the steel mills in Gary, Indiana with a load of iron ore.

This ship is a beautiful classic ore boat, and was out on Lake Superior in the same storm, and very near to the Edmund Fitzgerald in November of 1975 when a viscous winter storm sent the Fitz to the bottom of Lake Superior with all hands perishing. Many of you, like me may love in a sad way Gordon Lightfoot’s song … The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. (video link for email subscribers)


Regardless, it was a beautiful night. I am not an experienced night time video photographer, but I hope you enjoy the Arthur Anderson leaving the Duluth Harbor. Some notes:

  • Sorry about the background wind noise.
  • From 10 to 30 seconds the video is sped up by a factor of 10x (audio muted)
  • From 30 to 2:25 the video is in “real time”. Enjoy the Anderson salutes and the bridge’s answers. The Anderson eventually gives a rare double salute!
  • From 2:25 to the end the video is sped up by a factor of 10x (audio muted)

Aerial Bridge as seen just prior to the Anderson’s arrival last night (video follows)


Arthur Anderson departs the Duluth Harbor (video link for email subscribers)