Tag Archives: MN North: Sax-Zim Bog

Bog Birding! (Great Gray Owl and more …)

Year 1, ,

What a great way to start a fantastic day! I watched by myself this Great Gray Owl hunt right at sunrise yesterday morning. Our fun ended about twenty minutes later when a Bald Eagle arrived on the scene … scaring the owl into the deep woods. My day only got better and better.

My next stop was the Welcome Center for some training and birding. I needed a refresher on procedures and the locations of all our materials at the Center. My first attempt at volunteering was snowed out about one week ago. I then proceeded to hike Gray Jay Way. While I did not find my desired Boreal Chickadees, I saw Evening Grosbeaks, Gray Jays (of course), Redpolls, and this female Pine Grosbeak (and even more bird species). The weather was glorious. The temperature hovered around freezing, and nary a breath of wind stirred in the woods as the bright sun shone down of the beautiful white snowscape.

I took one more hike at the South Logging Trail hoping I might find a Northern Hawk Owl back away from McDavitt Road, but no luck. On my way out of the Bog I stopped at Winterberry Bog to do some volunteering and check to see if the Ermine was enjoying the deer carcass (not yesterday afternoon).

Rather than going directly home, given the temperature was approaching 40F (crazy warm), and there still was not an ounce of wind, I drove straight to Superior. My hope was the non existent wind and warm weather would result in my finding a Snowy Owl out long before sunset … enjoying the nice conditions. I was not disappointed!

When you have an itch on top of your head!

The claw!

Just hanging out … being weird … or a normal Snowy Owl! 

Finally, if you are still with me, and you are worried about rising food prices … particularly the cost of your holiday Turkey. I know where you may find a wild bird!

Some commentary … while it is true that you may run into crowds at some of the more popular locations (Hwy 7, Admiral Road, etc) while trying to find the Gray Ghost of the Forest (Great Gray Owl), Sax-Zim Bog is huge. I rarely saw other people yesterday except at the Welcome Center and Winterberry Bog. My private time with the owl resulted because I invested the time and effort to find a bird in the less popular locations. One may easily enjoy peace and solitude in the Bog.

Wind Conditions and Birding (plus a Barred Owl!)

Year 8,

Strong winds and birding is not a recipe for success. For years I have checked my local weather forecasts … for expected temperatures, clouds, and wind. While most weather apps and services do a decent job with forecasted precipitation, temps and clouds, I have never been really satisfied with the wind forecasts. Recently I found a great service which although focused towards windsurfers, sailors and other folks who spend lots of time on or near the water, Windfinder works great for the birder. Here is the same service but not bookmarked for Northeastern Minnesota: Windfinder NE Mn.

Here are six screenshots which I annotated and works one through the basic service. Please note this service is NOT an app, but just bookmark it on your personal computer or mobile device.

Here we see the default Windfinder screen, but focused upon my own region. The starred pins are weather stations which I saved as favorites. One may see the direction of the wind (arrows / vectors). In real time the arrows are moving across your screen. One may zoom in and out / move the map to focus upon specific areas. As many birds including owls hate stronger winds, this forecast and directional vectors are very useful.

I have now selected the details for the weather station nearest my home, French River. One may view additional details for either the forecast or current conditions (measurements)

Here was the current forecast when I took and annotated these screenshots. Both this image and the next down are from the same web page.

Further down the page as previously noted … I tend to pay close attention to expected wind gusts.

I now went back to the map and selected current measurements / actuals. Obviously weather actuals don’t always track forecasts. Once again both this image and the next down are from the same web page.  I pay close attention to wind gusts, but now also trends.

Further down the page as previously noted …

Windfinder will help increase your birding success. There is no doubt that truly calm conditions (constant wind plus gusts) mean more birds. If you know when this type of weather will occur, particularly after storms, you can count upon hungry birds.

And now for a few photographs. I found this Barred Owl while hiking the Elm Creek Nature Center Trails this morning  (NW suburbs of the Twin Cities). Unlike at home where I live in the Boreal Forest, pines and spruce trees are somewhat rare. Thus, this Barred Owl was using the one lone spruce amongst all the oak and ash trees for a winter perch. Manual focus was required given how deeply the owl was buried within the branches.

Finally two more pics from my Northern Hawk Owl experience up in Sax-Zim Bog a few days ago. It takes time to get through all my images, and as you may notice on my blog’s header, Northern Hawk Owls are one of my favorite birds. The second image is in low light around sunrise with lots of frost on the tree.

Northern Hawk Owl!!!

Year 8
The first Northern Hawk Owl arrived in Sax-Zim Bog yesterday just north of Duluth! This pic is from this morning. Other than one brief sighting in the Duluth area, this is the only NHO that is being seen to my knowledge.
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This owl is one of rarest “owl finds” each winter in the Lower 48. In rather small numbers it migrates down from Canada to the Minnesota Boreal Forest. A few years ago I knew of only two birds across the USA (other than Alaska). Conversely the Snowy Owls seem to have gone further south than northern Minnesota, with a sighting even down in Kansas. Have no fear, the Duluth area will get some Snowys that will stay the winter. It’s early yet.

Northern Hawk Owl on the Hunt

A “Snow Shower” in the Sun!

Frost at Sunrise