Tag Archives: MN North: Canal Park

Birds and Boats! (and a Lighthouse)

Year 4, ,

I was up before sunrise and drove down to Canal Park. I noticed in my semi-wakeful state around 4 am that the heavy rains had stopped. For me that meant clear skies and good birding. As the sun poked its head over the horizon Lake Superior and Canal Park shone out in her glory.

After Canal Park, I visited the Old Stella Jones Pier (reviewed with map yesterday). During the “golden hour” I found an American Golden Plover. After some significant time with my friendly plover it was off to Park Point where I hung out on the beach with the Semipalmated Sandpipers.

Oh yes … the boat pics!

Goldeneye Time to Fly!

Year 4

The Duluth shipping season will end within the next seven days. The harbor is now ice covered, and freighters would be locked in their winter slumber if not for the ice breaking chores of tugboats! On the birding front, hundreds of ducks are hanging out in the Duluth Ship Canal at the entrance to Lake Superior. If you saw the CSL Assiniboine steaming down upon you the best decision would be to get the heck out of Dodge!

Canadian Steamship Lines Assiniboine Enters the Ship Canal

Goldeneyes Decide it’s Time to Fly!

Earlier, back in the harbor … the Tug North Carolina Breaks Ice for the Assiniboine

Video of the North Carolina Breaking Ice

Catching Up at Year’s End

Year 3,

Time to clean up photographs from the past two months as I sit here on the first day of 2017. There are two birding trips I never reported upon, and have some good images. Back in mid November I took a drive up Lake County #3 which leaves the Northshore of Lake Superior at the mouth of the Stewart River.  This is an occasional birding route of mine, and 13 miles inland I catch the logging road, East Alger Grade to connect to Lake County #2 which comes back down into Two Harbors.

The second trip was a few days prior to New Year’s when I drove down to Canal Park. In addition to hundreds of bouncing goldeneyes, there is one beautiful male long-tailed duck.

Rough-Legged Hawk on Lake County #3

Canal Park Goldeneyes and Long-Tailed Duck

Bouncing Bobbleheads!  🙂