Tag Archives: MN North: Sax-Zim Bog

Red-Breasted Nuthatches & Black Spruce Cones

August 19, 2024Year 11MN North: Sax-Zim Bogrichardhoeg@gmail.com

I drove over to McDavitt Road at sunrise this morning. There had been scattered reports of White-Winged Crossbills. I had hoped throughout my multiple stops and walks I would find crossbills, but I could only find these Red-Breasted Nuthatches enjoying seeds for breakfast, or possibly picking bugs off the pines. Within a few hours smoke from Canadian wildfires invaded the Northland. Thus, I knew I had to be out early to enjoy a blue sky. This tool from the US Government is one of the main ways I track smoke plumes (also useful for when Northern Lights are in the offing). Zoom in and Out … allow your location: Fire and Smoke Map.

Birding Little Free Library & Boardwalks

August 11, 2024Year 11MN North: Sax-Zim Bogrichardhoeg@gmail.com

The last two mornings have seen me walking some boardwalks up at Sax-Zim Bog. It is nice to have the bugs finally taking a break from their all out attack mode, that I can even consider walking in a Boreal Forest Bog. One thing which I am now noticing is that the Fall Migration has definitely started. The bug eaters are definitely on their way south, with the numbers of warblers in the Northwoods starting to get much smaller. Remember to take a look at my past post: “Planning Your Migration Birding: BirdCast and HaikuBox” No matter where you live in North America there are good, free tools that will inform you as to the birds visiting your geo location today, and in the days to come.

I mentioned a Birding Little Free Library! If you decide to visit Sax-Zim Bog and the Winterberry Bog a few miles west of Cotton, Minnesota on Arkola Road, there is a a library right at the start of the Bob Russell Boardwalk. Just in case, you are not familiar with the concept of Little Free Libraries … browse and learn. I personally dropped off a number of books late this spring about birding in Minnesota which I was pleased were picked up quickly. Remember these libraries are community supported and free.

Yesterday morning I walked the Warren Woessner Boardwalk on Blue Spruce Road. Canada’s National Bird, which I still think of as a “Gray Jay” posed nicely for me near the boardwalk. This bird is now named a “Canada Jay”.

Anyhow, get out there and enjoy the migration. Unlike the Spring migration when birds are in a hurry, if a suitable food source is present, birds will often linger during the Fall migration for days and days at a given site.

The Young Birds of Summer! (Fledglings)

August 7, 2024Year 11MN North: Canosia Wildlife Area, MN North: Sax-Zim Bog, MN North: South Bogrichardhoeg@gmail.com

Yesterday morning I spent 30 minutes with Steam Shovel Sam and Sally’s kids. The juvenile osprey can now fly, but prefer to stay perched near the nest and beg. I watched the two youngsters screaming / begging for a long time, and when they got excited I knew food had to be in the “delivery mode”! Quite frankly I could not see a parent osprey, but if your eyesight is capable to seeing fish under water, the ospreys could obviously see their parents coming back from a fishing trip long before I was able to see anything which leads me to this comment. When birding learn the birds! Birds will let you know by their actions when there will be a change in the environment. Such was the case with the Osprey Fledglings, which then made a quick, fast flight back to the nest. Apparently feedings at this point still happen only at the nest, not out on dead snags.

The Dead Snag … two youngsters

Osprey Fledgling #1

Osprey Fledgling #2

Parent Bring Fish (youngsters are hiding in nest)

Before a bunch more “youngster / fledglings” photographs, this Cedar Waxwing did pose nicely for me on McDavitt Road in Sax-Zim Bog yesterday morning. The ground fog had just burned off, and I was listening for juvenile Great Gray Owls (none heard). As a fyi this is the time of year to get out in the woods or grasslands and look for juvenile raptors. They beg a lot and are lousy hunters.