Tag Archives: MN North: Cloverland

Fish for Dinner! (and other fine stories)

Year 6, ,

I love the northward migration. Each day brings new sights and sounds … and bike rides along the North Shore of Lake Superior. Over the past few days the male Ospreys have returned to the Northland. Often two different males sit in the nests waiting for the females to return. Two afternoon’s ago I found one returnee enjoying a fish supper. Hope folks are not squeamish!

Osprey … Fish for Dinner!

Dinner … The Movie

It’s important not to ignore my own back yard. Sometimes as a photographer I focus too much upon known birding areas, but forget to take photos at home. Here across from Amity Creek in Duluth (where I live)

Red-Breasted Nuthatch

White-Breasted Nuthatch

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

Preening … the Movie!

However, I still like to get in the car and drive to my favorite birding locations. Early in the spring that means I head to NW Wisconsin and the Johnson Mitigation Wetlands near Cloverland. This morning’s trip yield many new returns, and some lingering Arctic birds.

Killdeer

Courting Wilson’s Snipe

The Movie … Wilsons’ in Love

I definitely am not forgetting the ponds at my local cemetery. With area lakes ice bound, Forest Hill Cemetery yields some good duck watching.

Ring-Necked Ducks (Two’s Company … Three’s a Crowd)

Finally, here is one leftover movie from the southwest. I never post this flick of a Cooper’s Hawk I watched my final afternoon. Cool bird.

Yellow-Shafted Sock It To Me Time!

Year 6, ,

During migration not only do I see lots of birds, but the results mean I debate in my own mind all the possible great blog post titles! For instance today’s post could have been:

  • Fighting Flickers
    or
  • Migration Madness

However, being a child of the 60’s I could not resist of throwback to Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In … It’s Sock It To Me Time! (YouTube short compilation) The reason this title works is due to the battling Northern Flickers living in my yard. Since last Thursday, one male has claimed our yard as his territory. Yesterday a female flicker showed up on the scene, but so did another male. The battle has been ongoing … the female sits quietly or feeds while the men posture or scream (sing) at each other and the lady.

Amity Creek Fighting Flickers

The Men (Sock-It To Me Time)

The Lady

The Fight

In addition over the past few days I have visited all of my favorite wetlands. It is worth learning how weather affects you own local area. In northwestern Wisconsin the wetlands have been ice free for over a week. In northeastern Minnesota most ponds are still ice bound. All the lakes in my northeastern Minnesota boreal forest have a thick coat of ice. The primary reason between the two different habitats in terms of when they “turn on” for birding is Lake Superior. In northwestern Wisconsin most winds do not blow across frigid Lake Superior. See yesterday’s post showing ice flows if you do not understand why. These open ponds also mean waterfowl stage in large numbers in this water. My two favorite wetlands are the Johnson Mitigation and MacQuarrie Wetlands. See my birding location page to learn more, including maps / directions. I understand most of my readers do not live in northern Minnesota, use this “real time” migration map from eBird to learn if the migration is “hot” in your local region.

In another sign of spring, I am home this morning for our “prairie grass” burn. Our yard is part forest, part grass. The grassland portion needs to be burned every few years to keep it healthy. My role is actually just to observe the burn, as professionals carry out this task.

Rough Legged Hawks (2 unique birds were hunting … heading north to the Arctic)

Trumpeting Swans (issuing a challenge to a pair on a nearby pond)

Hooded Merganser Love (two’s company … three is a crowd)

Staging Ducks in Flight

Red-Winged Blackbird

Bohemian Birds!

Year 6

As in waxwings … the latest in my sub-Arctic birds seem to be arriving in the Duluth area. Given Lake Superior is 100% iced over in our neck of the woods, my friends should feel right at home. Yesterday morning I watched a flock of over 200 Bohemian Waxwings undulate through the sky, occasionally stopping in some preferred tree to eat.

These are the best photographs I could get. It was early morning with thin clouds, not the best for photography/ However, the best time to find any bird is to get out early when my fine feathered friends will want to feed. Given the cold temperature (about 7F), the waxwings were all puffed up against the cold. I tired to refind them this afternoon when the sun finally popped out, but nada.

Actually, my primary activity these days is shoveling (two 6+ inch dumps in the past four days, with another due to arrive after midnight) and cross-country skiing. The snow depths in the woods are amazing.

Bohemian Waxwings