Tag Archives: MN North: Stony Point

Huge Waves on Lake Superior (videos)

April 25, 2016Year 3MN North: Stony Point, WI North: Superior Entryrichardhoeg@gmail.com

Lake Superior was angry this morning. Given the HUGE winds out of the northeast, and the intermittent pouring rain I made the logical decision it did not make sense to go birding! 🙂

However, it did make sense to go wave chasing. My first stop was the Superior Entry Lighthouse over in Wisconsin on the South Shore of Lake Superior. Gitchee Goomie did not disappoint, and if Hiawatha had been our on the lake this morning, the song would have been sorrowful!

My second stop of the morning was Stoney Point on the North Shore of Lake Superior. This spot is about 20 miles up the lake from the Duluth’s Canal Park, and is the site of ancient volcanic lava flows. Better yet, deep water is just off shore, which means when the waves get near shore the topography of the lake bottom makes for an excellent display (i.e. waves fall apart fast). Stoney Point is a favorite spot for Great Lakes surfing for that very reason.

Stop #1: Superior, Wisconsin Entry Lighthouse on Lake Superior

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Stop #2: Stoney Point on the North Shore of Lake Superior

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Surfing the Arctic Riviera

February 8, 2016Year 3MN North: Stony Pointrichardhoeg@gmail.com

Was fun to watch a local brave the cold Lake Superior waters and surf at Stoney Point on Lake Superior this morning via an Alberta Clipper. The name “Alberta Clipper” is a term we folks in northern Minnesota have given to a weather system which screams down out of Canada (Alberta) to Minnesota normally bringing 3 to 5 inches of snow, cold weather, and high winds. This clipper did not disappoint. The wind gusts around Duluth are about 40 mph, and 150 miles west I have heard reports of 50 to 60 mph gusts. Temperatures are rapidly falling and we will fall below zero tonight (-16C).

Surfing-The-Arctic-Riviera-at-Stoney-Point

Snow Geese: Blue and White Morphs!

October 27, 2015Year 2MN North: Stony Point, MN North: Two Harborsrichardhoeg@gmail.com

A small flock of snow geese greeted my return from Europe! I knew from reading MOU posts that the Arctic birds were migrating though northern Minnesota, and I went out birding this morning in the hope of finding some feathered friends which were a bit unusual in terms of migrating through our area. I was rewarded with finding a flock of six snow geese on the Two Harbors golf course which included three distinct color variations among the birds (see below): Blue Morphs and White Morphs, and one mixed color bird. Very cool!

My travels this morning also yielded some bald eagles feasting on road kill, but I struck out on my search for an early season snowy owl. It was a good morning.