Yesterday and today the Arctic arrived in northern Minnesota! I saw Lapland Longspurs, Horned Larks and my first Rough-Legged Hawk of the season. The birds were split between Two Harbors (the songbirds) and Sax-Zim Bog (the hawk). The numbers are not yet huge, but they’ve flown quite a distance!
This map is from Cornell’s All About Birds. All 3 species could use the same range map (some horned larks also breed further south)
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. 
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.