I took my favorite birding excursion this morning, west of Big Falls, Minnesota. In the middle of the Pine Island State Forest near the Canadian border there is amazing Borest forest habitat including lots of bogs (also bugs!). This route once you turn on Toomey-Williams Forest Road does not pass a single structure, let alone a cabin or home. It is true wilderness. It is not a bad idea to have a “bow saw” in the trunk of your car should you encounter a downed tree. During the two hours I spent on this bird outing, I never saw another vehicle or human. My two hours also included a one mile hike directly oppositive the intersection of Pine Island Road and Fiero Truck Trail. When I state this is my favorite spot to bird in the Minnesota Boreal Forest, that is not an overstatement.

Today’s prize find was an American Woodcock, a rarely seen bird except during after sundown mating flights in the late spring!

Here is a map along with GPS points for my birding outing

• Toomey-Williams Forest Forest Road: Start
• Toomey-Williams Forest Forest Road: End (at Pine Island Forest Road … turn right)
• Intersection of Pine Island Forest Road and Fiero Truck Trail
• Trapper Jim’s Corner on Fiero Truck Trail (3.5 miles north of  intersection)

I turn around at Trapper Jim’s Corner. The habitat is not as good past this point, and I prefer to drive back to Big Falls … either once again via Toomey-Williams or via taking Pine Island all the way to where County 30 starts (Gates Corner). Do NOT drive past Gates Corner where the paved road, County 30 starts. The road goes nowhere and deteriorates fast.

Here are some photos I took with my cell phone back in June when I also made this drive. It will show you all the snags, forest, water next to road, etc. I not only love this route because of its habitat, but also what I have seen over the years. Expect this birding drive to take two hours … round trip from Big Falls. Toomey-Williams is not plowed in the winter, and if Pine Island and Fiero Roads are plowed during winter, expect logging trucks.

• eBird Toomey-Williams Checklists

Yesterday morning I scored a Trifecta, or I should say the fruits trees of Big Falls, Minnesota in the Pine Island State Forest hit the Trifecta. I always pay attention when birding any time of the year to where there are large concentrations of mountain ash and pygmy crabapple trees because I know the “birds of winter” will eventually visit.

Such was the case yesterday when I found not one species, or two but all three species of birds which have been scarce this winter … often in the same exact tree at the same time, which led to some disagreements over who was allowed the choicest berries. Thus I bring you the birds of the northern winter … Bohemian Waxwings, Evening Grosbeaks, and Pine Grosbeaks. I spent over an hour watching the pig-out. Better yet, I also saw some birds which needed to be thrown into the Hoosegow! Yup, eating a lot of berries eventually means drunk birds as the fermentation process starts in their gizzards. Everyone was happy, including me but I would have to wait for dinner before I joined with a glass of Chardonnay.

A Disagreement between an Evening Grosbeak and Bohemian Waxwing

Evening Grosbeaks

Bohemian Waxwings

Pine Grosbeaks

Team Photo in one Tree

This post is a bit different as it shows some of my favorite “hang outs” in northern Minnesota, including the Toomey Williams Forest Road. However, the DNR has now locked the gate at the beginning of the road in the middle of the Pine Island State Forest wilderness. Our recent spell of temperatures above freezing had softened up the ground making the road very rutted. When the weather returns to “the norm” and the ground refreezes the gate will be reopened.

I spent two glorious days (Wednesday and Thursday) this past week in this remote area. I arrived on Toomey Williams long before sunrise. After all, owling requires one to get up long before sunrise. This was my view as I started owling

30 minutes later when the sun was finally making its presence know I took these pictures with my cell phone. My Subaru Outback is my trusty backwoods steed. It now has 216,000 miles on the car, and is going strong. These images also show why I love Toomey Williams … remote, with Boreal forest bog. I saw zero other cars or people during my morning.

More and more cell towers have changed the back country. Occasionally a person will actually have mobile phone coverage. Most of the time I had no signal, but after 35 miles of driving on various forest roads (all dirt … successively more remote), I arrived at Phone Box Corner. In my younger days this box would have had a satellite phone. No more!

Phone Box Corner

And yes, I did see some birds! (Pine Grosbeak, Bald Eagles, Rough-Legged Hawks, Spruce Grouse)