Tag Archives: MN North: Minnesota Point

Migration Surprises

Year 8,

Don’t like the weather in northeast Minnesota, just wait a few hours and Lake Superior will throw something different at you. In the past three days we have had 1. cold (38F at sunrise), wet foggy conditions 2. hot warm (85F) and sunny with 25 mph winds out of the southwest 3. finally this morning a strong NW wind and temperatures at 46F. All this weather actually makes for neat bird migration activity if you understand the weather’s implications. The fog and NE winds yielded a warbler fallout. The strong winds out of the SW pushed migrants against Lake Superior as the birds tried to ride the wind north.

Yesterday I had fun viewing two bird species which normally do not grace our area, even during migration … an Orchard Oriole and an American Avocet. Here are a few of my pics:

American Avocet

Orchard Oriole (immature male)

Arctic Migration in Progress

Year 8

While most people would consider Duluth on Lake Superior the frigid Northland, the birds would disagree with this opinion. Right now Arctic birds are migrating through the area on their way up to the tundra. Ice way up north should be melting soon. While I have yet to spy a Red-Throated Loon which is one of my favorites, this morning on the beaches of Minnesota Point I found three different kinds of shorebirds. These birds are fearless, and if one sits down on the sand they will walk within 4 to 5 feet of your location (which they did!).

Ruddy Turnstones and Sanderlings

Ruddy Turnstones

Dunlins

Here is a short video of bathtime! (video link for email subscribers)

The other good news to me is after two days of searching, I refound my Great Horned Owl family. This is the third location they have used including the nest in my local forest. Today I got some nice images of both Mom and Dad. Notice that Mom is much bigger / sleeker than Dad, while he has a “pot belly”!

Mom (with a crow right behind her)

Dad

One of the Owlets

Unbearably Good Birding: Black-Breasted Yogi

Year 1, ,

Birdcast says the bird migration is now great in northern Minnesota (see my post about how to use Birdcast), and it is! While eating lunch today, I thought … boy, that is a noisy squirrel! I checked the feeders and voila! It was the rare Black-Breasted Yogi. After a great lunch at “Chez Hoeg’s Bar and Grill” which has had fine dining for bears since 2011, I managed to get this photo of Yogi relaxing near my house after its meal.

In addition to Yogi, birding has been very good today. Some of the birds I’ve seen and photographed since sunrise when I started the day down at the Park Point Recreation Area.

Common Tern (just migrated in from points way down south Mexico or South America way)

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

Pied-Billed Grebe

Blue-Winged Teal