Tag Archives: MN North: Mouth of the Lester River

Lester River Birding Report

I took a sunrise bike ride up the shore of Lake Superior this morning from Duluth as far as French River. With the gale force winds there were not many birds out on the big lake itself, but I found huge numbers of birds at Lester River upon returning to Duluth and turning up the hill at 61st Avenue East. Unfortunately the sun had now disappeared behind the clouds which made for difficult photography. However, work all the overlooks from the river mouth up to the Lakewalk Bridge over the river. At 6:45 am this morning I saw:

  • A Family of Kingfishers
  • A Huge flock of Cedar Waxwings (berry supply is plentiful on the trees)
  • A new brood of Common Merganser Chicks and their mom.

I don’t expect any of these birds to move far today. The winds will keep the mergansers off Lake Superior. The chicks are only a few days old, and much to small to handle the big waves. The Kingfisher parents have been in this area for over a month and I would be extremely surprised if the newly fledged Kingfisher kids move out of the area soon. Finally the berry supply for the cedar waxwings should last a few days.

Cedar Waxwings
Y2-M07-Lester-River-Cedar-Waxwings-2

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Belted Kingfisher
Y2-M07-Lester-River-Kingfisher-2 Y2-M07-Lester-River-Kingfisher-1

New Life … A Precious Gift!

Monday my third grandchild was born, Isabel!

It appears the animal kingdom also celebrated Isabel’s birth. Today while stretched out on the couch, a fawn looked in the living room window at me. Slowly getting out of the chair, I discovered triplets!

Amazingly enough just one hour before the deer family visit, I had photographers the common merganser family while on a bike along the North Shore of Lake Superior. Life is good … and in three’s (three grandchildren, three fawns, and nine merganser chicks or 3×3!)

Thankfully Isabel was born at the hospital, unlike her sister Mya (born at home). Must be something about Hoeg women. When our second child was born, my wife, Molly, went to the doctor’s office for a regularly scheduled appointment. The nursing staff asked my wife: “Don’t you realize you are in labor?” My wife’s answer: “No”. Carl Hoeg was born shortly thereafter. This exact scenario was repeated on Monday with my daughter Karen, and now her new daughter, Isabel. New life is precious!

Isabel!
Isabel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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The Deer Triplets and Merganser Chicks x9!
Y2-M07-Deer-Triplets-1 Y2-M07-Common-Merganser-Brood