Tag Archives: MN North: Duluth Harbor

Nine Hours in the Northland!

Year 4,

Last night I sat on the shores of Lake Superior between 3:30 and 4:30 in the morning waiting for the Northern Lights to dance, but Lady Aurora never performed. However, it was a beautiful rare warm night and I enjoyed sitting under the stars. Twas truly peaceful.

At 7:00 am I went birding with my friend Greg. We decided to focus on finding some Arctic shorebirds which are now starting to migrate through the area. While we did not find numbers, we enjoyed “quality”.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Buff-Breasted Sandpiper

Buff-Breasted Sandpiper and Semipalmated Sandpiper

Semipalmated Sandpiper

After doing some yard work after my birding expedition it was time for a bicycle ride up the North Shore of Lake Superior. Two miles shy of the Sucker River “I heard that whistle blowing” and I then redoubled my efforts and biked hard to the railroad trestle arriving a few minutes before the North Shore Scenic Railroad steam engine. The time was now high noon … yes, it was  a good nine hours in the Northland. It is good to be home with my camera.

My Pond! Not Yours!

Year 4, ,

Had a super time hiking this morning on the dikes of the MacQuarrie Wetlands near Wrenshall, Minnesota. My good friends, Mike Furtman, had keyed me in to this amazing habitat just outside of Duluth. Quite frankly, I was amazed to find these wetlands in the Namadji River watershed, only a couple miles off one of my bike routes (Military Road). If you know the Nemadji area, you understand rolling hills.

Although the Trumpeter Swans in the first photo may look peaceful and graceful, the situation is 100% different. I watched the lead swan get chased away by “many couples” from various wetland ponds shortly after sunrise this morning. The cob (male swan) was trying to “swipe someone else’s woman”, and in each case the bonds formed by the couples were strong and they jointly chased away the interloper ... trumpeting the entire time. It was noisy beautiful!

The ponds had only gone ice free a few days before, and the “early migrants” were not about to give up their prime nesting spots to late arrivals … let alone break up a perfectly good relationship.

Chasing the Interloper … Trumpeter Swans

A Porcupine Surveying the Scene this Morning

Young Love at my own feeders … Pileated Power

Duck, Duck, Duck, Goose! (the higher in the air of the two immature bald eagles had just swept in a “goosed” the other eagle … and perhaps even stole some breakfast).

Below Zero Birding

Year 4, ,

The last few days have been cold in the Northland, with temperatures plunging to around -25F or worse. Does this mean one stops birding? No! I just make certain I have extra warm clothes and blankets in the car in case I get stuck somewhere. In addition to the cold weather, the past week has seen about one foot of new snow which came in multiple bursts. This extra snow seems to be making it a bit easier to find birds as they are concentrating on known food sources, as opposed to being deep in the forest and even foraging through the snow on the forest floor. Here are some images I took over the past three days …

Superior Rough-Legged Hawk on Connors Point (Duluth Harbor) … snowies also being seen at dusk on Connors Point, the Superior Middle School and the Richard Bong Airport

Riley Road Pine Grosbeaks … if you bird Riley Road, get out of the car. I found a large flock of pine grosbeaks, but they were 10 to 50 yards off the road.

Sax-Zim Bog Pine Grosbeak “Gritting Up”