No fog this morning! Yea! Instead this morning dawned crystal clear and 54F, which meant it was a great morning to hike in to the Erie Pier on the Duluth Waterfront. Yesterday evening I had hiked in (about one mile) just before sunset and the number of shorebirds were phenomenal … thus the repeat visit at sunrise! The mud flats and ponds did not disappoint!
A bit of bushwhacking was required to reach my desired birding location. I took a photograph of the view at my eye level while I was working my way into position. My height is 6 feet 2 inches, and as you are able to see, the grasses at this point in the summer are even over my head!
An Eye-Level View While Bushwhacking!
Nice Find … A Semi-Palmated Plover!
Stilt Sandpiper
White Pelicans
Poor Image, but Unusual Find for Northern Minnesota … Great Egret!
Over the past several mornings, I’ve headed down to the Duluth waterfront in search of mud flats. The northeast winds over the past few days means shorebirds which breed up in the Arctic and often winter in the Caribbean or South America are migrating through this area. Quite often my only opportunity to see these rare birds (for me) is in the fall. In the Spring Lake Superior takes a long time to warm up, and it does not as often tend to be a migration stop for northbound shorebirds.
Why Shorebird Roulette? When I only see these birds once every year or two … if even that, making a positive identification can be difficult. Frequently the birds are not in their breeding plumage, and only display their much more drab winter feathers, which often are not as unique from other shorebirds. Thankfully, in addition to my own guides, there are several online virtual communities for this region where various members are very helpful in aiding with my identifications (and helping teach me).
The communities which I find most useful for northeastern Minnesota are:
Facebook Groups …
Minnesota Birding
Northeastern Minnesota Birding Group
Sax-Zim Bog
Wisconsin Birding
I would like to call out and thank three individuals who have been very helpful … Andy Forbes, Adam Roesch and Peter Nichols.
This morning found me hiking about one mile in to an abandoned pier, wading through waist high wet grasses in hopes of finding some shorebirds in the fog (dismal morning). On hikes like this morning’s, it is useful to utilize a super zoom camera. Long hikes with bigs camera lenses are not nice. Super Zoom / Bridge Cameras like my Canon SX60 allow me to scramble up banks and wade through undergrowth, etc.
Sometimes a bird poses in the perfect location, waits for you to capture a good photograph, but not very often! Today, was one of those days when a bird seemed to want its picture taken. I found some Spotted Sandpipers on the Duluth waterfront, and was amazed how long one bird held its position such that I could really optimize my camera settings on a lower light morning. In addition, this sandpiper posed on top of a rock with some yellow flowers in the background. Wish all days were like today!
For those of you who know where the abandoned pier is located directly across from the C. Reiss Coal Company. I think the sandpiper has a nest near the closed off road to the pier which is immediately to the west.
