Tag Archives: MN North: Lester Park

Climate Change Birding in Northern Minnesota

Year 7

Birding up here in the Boreal Forest of northern Minnesota has changed since I was a young boy. Back in the mid 1960’s I loved watching huge flocks of Evening Grosbeaks and Red Crossbills visit our family bird feeders. Both birds are now almost unheard of within the city limits of Duluth, and are even hard to find up at Sax-Zim Bog. Here is an excellent article about Evening Grosbeaks from BirdSource.Org.

While some of the birds I loved to watch are now a difficult find, this morning I found Bluebirds within Duluth city proper for the second time this spring … an unheard of experience and a first for me. While leaving Hartley Nature Center after a birding hike this morning, I heard Bluebird song, and I found not one, but two males singing next to the nature center. The other bird which has now become almost common here at the Head of the Lakes are cardinals. The cardinals which visit my own feeders now brave our fierce winters. Neither bird was even seen back in the 60’s. Both of these species have extended their territories northward. (read Audubon Article on climate change)

Blue Bill Birding Photobomb!

Year 7, ,

Here I am … a hard working photographer out at sunrise, and some “reject” insists on photo bombing my work!

Greater Scaup / Blue Bill … with some unknown joker in the foreground.

This was actually my third birding stop of the morning. I left the house at 5:40 am for the short hike to my “owling grounds”. Sunrise here in Northeastern Minnesota was 5:37 am this morning. If a person wants to see other than sleeping owls, you need to be out with the sun. By the time I arrived at the nesting area (5:50 am), the sun was just starting the kiss the tops of the taller white pines. Today I will feature Ma and Pa Great Horned Owl. For the next twenty minutes after I arrived this duo put on a great display for me. Actually, they actively attacked and defended their owlets against the sunrise crow attack. However, by 6:20 everything had settled down … the crows had departed and owls were starting to snooze.

Given how deep the parents perch within white pines, I can only surmise that the youngsters don’t have the same “warming effect” yet from their feathers. At sunrsie the triplets (yes … in fact all three owl chicks survived!) are always out in the open to catch the warming rays of the sun. It was 39F at sunrise this morning. The owlets don’t tend to perch in deeper cover till much later in the morning. Obviously this makes them easy targets for crows which is why the parents are always on the lookout.

Ma Great Horned Owl (truly the first golden light of the morning)

Pa Great Horned Owl

Ma and Pa in a White Pine (click upon to view full sized … both parent owls are present … this pair is very difficult to find once they embed themselves in deep cover … move one foot in either direction and the parents disappear from view)

One of the Owlets (much later in the morning)

Finally I hiked the five ponds at the Lester Golf Course. I keep hoping to see some warblers, but new arriving migrants were few and far between … just the tree swallows pairing up to raise some new families.

A Trip to the Beaver Pond!

Year 7,

Ever want to find a bird and animal hot spot? Find a nice pond without a manicured lawn around it. Here in northern Minnesota I know of quite a few beaver ponds, and sunrise this morning found me hiking into said pond via a snowmobile trail. Now realizing most of you may not have wilderness like me at your beck and call, then search out a golf course or cemetery with a pond. These small bodies of water generate lots of food which means nature on display. Here’s a few photographs from this morning’s excursion …

Green-Winged Teal (one of my favorite ducks … beautiful color)

Beaver! (what else would you expect at a beaver pond)

Osprey (with a Great Blue Heron flying in the background)

Porcupine (seen along my hike in … not at the pond)

And from a golf course pond yesterday afternoon …

Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers “a fighting”

Tree Swallows (love the metallic blue)

Finally … another owl image. I took this photograph yesterday morning. One key item to point out with wildlife photography, often less is more! While I could have zoomed in quite a bit more for a close-up of the siblings, it makes for a much more interesting and artistic image to have the full, rather unique tree bough in the photograph.