Tag Archives: MN North: Two Harbors Highlands

Reach Out and Grab Some Color!

Year 4, ,

Man has it been dreary recently in northern Minnesota. The skies are forever cloudy, and most of the birds that I’ve seen have been black and white (or brown). Arrgh! I needed a color fix which thankfully a local cardinal provided when I got home this morning!

Seriously, I should probably work the North Shore of Lake Superior harder, but I’m not interested in making the drive up to Grand Marais and back. Jim Lind and John Richardson are reporting some cool ducks at various river mouths and harbors between Two Harbors and Grand Marais. I suggest watching for their names via eBird (Lake and Cook Counties)

Color! Red: Cardinal in my yard next to Amity Creek

Black & White Bird #1: Goldeneye at McQuade Harbor

Black & White Bird #2: Bald Eagle “grabbing some color” inland from Two Harbors

Catching Up at Year’s End

Year 3,

Time to clean up photographs from the past two months as I sit here on the first day of 2017. There are two birding trips I never reported upon, and have some good images. Back in mid November I took a drive up Lake County #3 which leaves the Northshore of Lake Superior at the mouth of the Stewart River.  This is an occasional birding route of mine, and 13 miles inland I catch the logging road, East Alger Grade to connect to Lake County #2 which comes back down into Two Harbors.

The second trip was a few days prior to New Year’s when I drove down to Canal Park. In addition to hundreds of bouncing goldeneyes, there is one beautiful male long-tailed duck.

Rough-Legged Hawk on Lake County #3

Canal Park Goldeneyes and Long-Tailed Duck

Bouncing Bobbleheads!  🙂

Townsend Solitaire and Other Stuff!

Year 3, ,

I went looking for Bohemian Waxwings today. A few flocks of these northern birds had been reported in the local fruit trees. Instead, I found something much more unusual for northern Minnesota, a Townsend Solitaire. This grey bird was enjoying an afternoon feed in some fruit trees with temperatures that were 50 degrees warmer than Sunday morning (from -21F to +35F). Welcome to winter in the Arrowhead. I never did find the Bohemians, but they tend to be my nemesis bird!

Townsend Solitaire Eating Frozen Berries!

After some fun with the local rarity it was out to Old Vermilion Trail where I needed to refill my public bird feeders. While the northern finches have not appeared in the feeders, I do not have a hen pheasant enjoying sloppy seconds from all the local chickadees. Pheasant are rather usual in the northern Boreal Forest. Just the normal visitors out on Old Vermilion Trail!

Finally, here is a video I forgot to post of the pine grosbeaks from a few days ago!