Northern MN Birding: Thursday January 5th 2017

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After driving through the night, with small naps along the way, we arrived with an extra half an hour before first light! We grabbed a sandwich and filled the van with gas in Cloquet in preparation for all day in Sax-Zim bog on Thursday.

We drove back and forth a couple miles on either side of the Highway 133/ Highway 7 intersection looking for a Great Gray Owl at first light. This Owl was the main target bird for the day. As Jennifer described it, the owl was her biscuit and all other species were the gravy.  Without the Owl it would be tough to have an amazing day.  

The first birds of the day were Ruffed Grouse perched in the top of trees eating the buds. With almost no leaves on the trees these birds were really silhouetted. The Ruffed Grouse was the first lifer of the trip for both Jennifer and Micky, a term that birders use that refers to the first time they observe a particular species.

 

I poached photos from their Facebook pages to include in the blog posts.  These are Micky's photos of Ruffed Grouse.

A flock of birds flying over 133 caught our attention and we stopped to hear Red Crossbills, our third species for the trip after seeing a few flyover American Crows. We were unsuccessful with our morning search for the Great Gray Owl and shortly after sunrise I decided to focus on our search for our second target bird of the day, the Sharp-Tailed Grouse. We turned north along County Road 229 headed towards the visitor center checked out the lek, but were unable to find any. While the excitement of birding the first day still remained, internally I was a bit concerned that we were unable to see either of the two morning target species.

Before reaching the visitor center we had a few more birds fly over the road. They were the first of many Pine Grosbeaks that we would see on this trip. As we were looking at these birds White-Winged Crossbill flew over! The visitor center had our first Common Redpoll of the trip. A handful of other birds were on the feeders as well, include a Pine Siskin and Red-breasted Nuthatch. The Red Squirrels were a source of beauty and frustration, as I stopped many times hoping to find a bird but instead saw them sitting in the trees. 

We stopped at the Admiral Road feeder station to put out peanut butter with hopes of getting a boreal chickadee. Alas we heard no wheezy chickadee sounds but satisfied the swarm of Black-Capped Chickadees. At Mary Lou's feeders we had a flock of Evening Grosbeaks. This location is one of the most reliable locations in the Midwest, yet if you follow the Sax-Zim FB page you are aware of the stress that outsiders put on locals. It is an amazing testament to the work the Friends group and others have done to have such a wonderful relationship, that the homeowner allows visitors on the property to see these birds. We left a donation and went on our way. If you visit the area please be as respectful to everyone as possible, especially when on the roads as to not block access to any drive-ways nor the road itself.

 

A male and female Evening Grosbeak.

We checked out McDavitt Road with an outside chance of finding a mid-day Great Gray Owl. Gray Jays and White-winged Crossbills crossed the road as we went back to the visitor center for lunch. The warmth of the heater allowed us an easier chance to get out of the car and walk around while watching the feeders. Checking the grouse lek in the afternoon yielded a hen Ring-necked Pheasant, but it was likely a released/escaped bird and was not the desired Galliformes species

Mid-afternoon we start our afternoon strategy of driving Admiral and McDavitt roads with hopes of finally finding a Great Gray Owl. On our second time around a local UPS driver give us a suggestion to try Kelsey Whiteface Road. After sunset and with last light quickly approaching we were unsuccessful there as well. I had conceded that we were going to miss Great Gray Owl and Sharp-tailed Grouse, my two target birds for the day.

After 5 o'clock we turned back onto 133 off of 7 to head back to Duluth. This was the same area we had searched at first light for almost an hour. As a major shock to all of us we saw a large bird perched on the top of a dead snag offering just a shape against the dark sky. We were very fortunate to see our main target bird! As we turned around the owl hopped down into the ditch to grab a meal. The bird looked at us in the headlights and offered us the only detailed view we would have. The Owl flew back to the closest perch and ate. We took a couple of pictures but quickly decided to keep going as total darkness had come over the land.

Yes, yes it was that dark when we saw the bird.

I loved reading Jennifer's post about the day. "The one bird that was the icing on the cake alluded us all day., Great Grey Owl. We continued to have large flocks of White Winged Crossbills and Common Redpolls. We had Red Crossbills and still no Great Grey Owls. We were unable to find the Sharp Tailed Grouse and hope to try for them again. Friday takes us up north to search for Spruce Grouse, Three Toed Woodpecker, Black Backed Woodpecker, Boreal Chickadee and Bohemian Waxwings. We have hopes of finding all of these, but they are extremely difficult to find. Oh and they Great Gray? We left the bog without seeing one until just as the last bit of light was fading, a silouhette in a tree as we were leaving.....Great Grey Owl! Lifer! We watched him fly down and catch his dinner in the snow and then fly to a nearby tree. As the darkness took over, we watched him fly away. My cake for the day was complete. This was the bird I had wanted to see for many years. As I sit in the hotel room in Duluth and revel in the day of six lifers, I once again I had a fabulous day with some of my favorite people to spend the day with and it doesn't matter that I have now been up for 36 hours. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. Oh by the way when we got to the Bog it was -20 and that did not include the wind chill. It warmed to a balmy -2 in the afternoon."

Here are the "lifers" from our first day! 

Trip to MN: Just the two of us

During my three week visit to MN I shared many good times with family and friends, experience two great fishing trips, spend time outside taking pictures, played a round of golf with uncles, and went birding often. Birding and warblers will be the topic of a future blog post. Of all the activities, the highlight of my trip was taking a trip to the North Shore with Christine. Since the girls were born Christine and I have spent time limited time alone. This  jaunt to Lake Superior was memorable and therapeutic.

We left Friday morning for the North Shore with no destination, itinerary, or schedule. We hoped to sleep when we needed to sleep, stop for food when we were hungry, hike/walk whenever we could, and watch a movie if everything else fell through. Sunny weather on the drive taunted us to slow down and spend more time outside, as the forecast for Saturday was rain. Along the way we found a locked gate on what appeared to be through road in the MN Gazetteer. The backtrack took longer than desired and we chose to skip Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge all together. We mixed a few short birding stops throughout the four hour trip and stopped for supper at the Duluth Buffalo Wild Wings. Many mosquitoes greeted us as we set tent at Eckbeck Campground at dusk.

Alas the weatherman was correct and rain came in the middle of the night. With no kids, no agenda, and crappy weather outside we rolled over and went back to sleep a couple of times. Sometime late morning we finally got rolling in the drizzle and faced our first and perhaps most important decision of the day. Turn south on 61 towards Duluth and go watch a matinee or turn north on 61 with no goal or specific location in mind. I'm not sure if Christine shared her decision by the time I turned north, but the risk worked out.

The gondola ride at Lutsen Mountain sounded like fun but with precipitation the views were limited so we chose to continue north. When we reached Grand Marais we walked the break wall and trails at Artist Point. Ducks, mergansers, loons, warblers, a yellow-bellied flycatcher, and many cedar waxwings joined us as we explored the trails but we did not bring cameras with in the rain.

The cool wet air gave us the chills along the break wall.

To warm up we explored town by foot, finding a Bike Shop along the path to Subway. During an hour lunch the rain subsided and we decided to grab the cameras. We returned to Artist Point in search of Cedar Waxwing photos, below are some photos from the hour long excursion.

This view north across the bay from Artist Point is now our new blog background.

Christine frames a Cedar Waxwing in the camera while 13 of them looking on in the background.

This portrait of a Cedar Waxwing is my favorite from Christine's many sharp photos.

Even though Waxwings repeated the above task often, getting a good picture proved challenging.

This eastern chipmunk had no problem being within a few feet of me.

We made bookend stops at the self proclaimed World's Best Donut Store, which we can attest is worth the stop on any visit to Grand Marais, while walking through the classic car show and a few shops in town. With the sun attempting to poke through the clouds we left with high hopes from the above photo shoot and drove south along 61. The few stops searching for waterfowl did not yield much but the lake fog was cool to see. We then hiked Oberg Mountain. With the morning rain gone, we spent the better part of three hours listening, observing, and taking photos of nature.

Black-throated Blue Warblers are not one we often see.

An American Red Squirrel came close to check out Christine.

Honeysuckle, aka Red Columbine, were one of many wildflowers.

We liked the view away from Lake Superior  the best, with Oberg lake just peeking out here.

Blessings can come in many different forms and may even be unique across individuals. The time spent on top of Oberg Mountain was a true blessing for me. Taking photos in nice weather is often fun. Having warblers calling all around usually makes me happy. But the proverbial straw that tipped the scale was seeing Christine experience pure joy and peace that only happens once in a blue moon when everything clicks. I'm not sure if it was the sun, the animals, the Cedar Waxwing photo excursion, the wildflowers, having good donuts in our belly, the birds, or my Black-throated Blue Warbler happy dance but Christine was carefree and happy.  With no time to think, put a smile on her face or turn around, or remember our burdens or worries I sneaked this first photo by calling her name. It is possible that I'm the only one that sees a difference in Christine's smile between the first and second photos below, but when you see pure joy in someone you love it warms the heart. This one experience by itself was a true blessing, trumping all else that had  preceded it during the three week visit.

Seconds after seeing a Black-throated Blue Warbler. Lake Superior is under the fog bank on the right.

The picturesque view of Oberg Lake.

I woke up frozen Sunday morning and gave Christine my sleeping bag before going outside early to listen to the various dawn chorus bird songs of the campground. We stopped for a quick hike at Tettegouche State Park and with warmer temperatures we took a longer hike at Split Rock State Park. Taking photos of birds was our goal, but I'll save those photos for  later.

The weekend away was great, allowed us to connect, and left us with many photos. One the drive back we heard how Michaela, Danielle, and Grandpa and Grandma Gold liked Shrek the Musical. That call reminded me of how blessed I am by my daughters and supportive parents, and at least for this weekend jaunt I was able to experience just the two of us.

Split Rock Lighthouse.