Tag Archives: MN North: Chambers Grove

Bad Birding … Great Colors!

Year 10, ,

The last week has been horrible for birding. Almost all our locals have departed south, and the Arctic and Tundra arrivals are staying north (think southerly headwinds). Add almost nonstop dreary skies and frequent rain showers and a person could almost decide to move to the desert southwest (almost … but not quite). When the sun did pop out on a few occasions and I was poised with my camera. It was beautiful.

Last Monday Molly suggested at the last moment we enjoy some unexpected sun and eat out at the top of Mont du Lac. This is the hill where we both learned to ski back in our youth, and over the past few years a new owner has invested lots of money in what was a tired ski resort. This image was taken at sunset from the restaurant at the top of the hill overlooking the St. Louis River.

Tuesday afternoon found me escaping the “blah” conditions next to Lake Superior and driving over to Sax-Zim Bog. The Tamaracks are golden, and the late afternoon sun made for brilliant birding, but someone forgot to tell the birds! I walked for three miles and saw only three of our feathered friends … a chickadee, crow and blue jay.

Here is a photo of Admiral Road from that afternoon.

Finally yesterday afternoon I heard there were some local Arctic celebrities at the Forest Hill ponds. I enjoyed the four Ross’s Geese and the one Blue Morph Snow Goose.

This Monday morning … more rain … I am NOT out birding.

Bookending Duluth: Owls and Pelicans

Year 9,

I bookended Duluth today … watching my Great Horned Owl family near my house at sunrise, and then I drove clear across town to Chambers Grove at Fond du Lac. The birds performed!

As a fyi, posts may be more infrequent in the near future due to computer problems. The good news is all my software and data is 100% backup up. I religiously run a backup every night at 3:00 am.

Great Horned Owl Family at 6:20 am. Dad is guarding the family from those pesky crows.

White Pelicans at Chambers Grove

A River Reclaimed!

Year 8

When I was a child in the 1960’s, nary a person set foot (or even a toe) in the St. Louis River. This river was essentially dead, and had an amazing amount of industrial waste from Duluth, Superior and Cloquet. Enter the environmental movement of the 1960’s, and the WLSSD (Western Lake Superior Sanitary District). Sixty years later the river is now clean. Sturgeon even spawn once again (a fish that demands fresh, clean water). It was an act of faith for the DNR to restock sturgeon (they had been wiped out by pollution). It often takes 20 years before sturgeon are mature and spawn for the first time. How would like to take an action, and then wait two decades to learn if your efforts have been successful?

Just like the swallows return to Capistrano, the White Pelicans now return to Chambers Grove in Fond du Lac (Duluth neighborhood) every spring. The pelicans time their arrival to the spring spawn. The fish push up stream till they reach the Jay Cooke Park rapids. It’s gravy train for the hungry birds. Enjoy!