We know! We know!

Find the fish which are spawning and you will find hungry birds. At sunrise (5:30 am) there were an amazing number of loons, cormorants, mergansers and gulls at the mouth of the Lester River on Lake Superior. By 6:00 am the show was over, but I just shifted my location and hiked out to the Superior Entry. In the distance via my binoculars I had spied hundred of terns feeding. I said to my self: “Self … more smelt!”

It took a three mile hike but once out to the Superior Entry these rather “uncommon” Common Mergansers put on quite the show for me. This couple was much more concerned about catching fish than worrying about a human. Please note I advanced on the mergansers from out of the sun, and then sat down on the sand. Eventually the birds made their way over to me. One needs to have patience to get photographs like these images, and also not be standing up. Birds immediately recognize you as “a human” when you are standing tall. I was less than ten yards from the mergansers.

Common Mergansers Fishing for Smelt

Permission to Surface, Captain?

Captain Merganser

Dive, Captain, Dive!

The last few days have been quite the roller-coaster of weather here in northern Minnesota. Last night a late winter storm hit with huge winds and 6 to 10 inches of snow across the region. Here at my house it snowed hard, and by morning the ground was covered with white stuff. However one fringe benefit from the storm is the HUGE winds out of the northeast chopped up and melted the remaining ice. Here are two photographs I took two days ago at sunrise before the start of the stormy weather. I am standing out on Minnesota Point looking back towards town.

By this afternoon the weather had improved enough that I decided to go out birding. When I realized that the beach was now free on Park Point (Minnesota Point), I decided to look for shorebirds. As they say in birding, a little luck never hurts as I found two Piping Plovers (very rare / endangered) near Dune Bridge. I eBirded the discovery. Unfortunately about ten minutes into my observing of the plovers they were scared off by two unleashed dogs.

I waited a few minutes for the owner to reach my location and politely explained about Duluth’s Leash Laws, and how the dogs had scared endangered birds in a designated nesting area (referred him to the sign on Dune Bridge). Unfortunately I would not expect the Piping Plovers to stick around, both because of the foot traffic in this particular area and the fact that there is so little beach / sand between the high water wave mark and the dunes.

At least it sure feels like Lapland, and I’m seeing a lot of Lapland Longspurs. Thus, Duluth must be part of Lapland!

Somehow I think this little guy I found next to the harbor would prefer to be further south. After taking my bike ride up the North Shore of Lake Superior this afternoon, maybe I would like to be further south. Nope! While my ride was cool (23F and a chill factor of 6F), the lake was glistening blue. Eat your heart out Miami!