Tag Archives: MN North: Canal Park

Lake Superior Lighthouse Sea Smoke Sunrise at -12F!

It was cold this morning!  I drove down to Canal Park and took this video and photographs 20 minutes before sunrise. While the water temperature at Duluth’s end of Lake Superior’s was a balmy 36F, the air temperature was -12F which made for a delta between the air and water of 48 degrees … sea smoke!

While the water does not experience the effect of a chill factor like exposed flesh, my face did. Uff dah! When the wind gusted to 35 mph, the chart from the US Weather Service said the chill factor before sunrise was -45F (-42.7C). All I know it was cold for the ten minutes I was out of the car. Where I parked, there was security policeman sitting in an idling truck. I figured my car was pretty safe, and I left it running. Who in their right mind at -12F would try to steal a car right next to the Security Police! It was super nice to get back to a warm car.

Images taken five minutes apart as the sunrise moves from having reds to orange. I was not actually at Canal Park. Using my photography app I had determined last night I needed to be about 800 yards distant in order to get the sun which was below the horizon in line with the lighthouse.

It was extra special to see Lake Superior in her glory (video link of Sea Smoke Sunrise for email subscribers). We got back from Mayo Clinic late yesterday after a five day visit … me in a motel … Molly in the hospital. Our new journey will be fighting Stage 3 Ovarian Cancer. This cancer was unexpected, and I am actually grateful the previously planned surgery that led to the more extensive cancer’s discovery.

Thankfully Canal Park is only 20 minutes from our house. Thus a quick trip was okay.

Goldeneyes Use Duluth’s Biggest Bird Feeder!

Right now I am a “caged tiger”. Birding / Hiking is not possible due to the cold (-10 and strong winds). If I were at home I could drive remote back roads with lots of wind cover, but my present locale is a Twin Cities suburb. There are not many remote dirt roads in a major metropolitan area,  and the winds mean it would be really dumb to drive NW of the Twin Cities to open farmland to look for Snowy Owls and Hawks.  On the very positive side, I may watch four young grandchildren get increasingly excited as Christmas approaches, but I am still that tiger!

A few afternoons ago I visited Duluth’s largest bird feeder, Canal Park. Now that the harbor is frozen, but the canal is still open due to current and the passage of freighters, huge flocks of Goldeneyes. The ducks know that the canal walls are lined with zebra mussels, which means food! Around 3pm in the afternoon on any sunny day the sun streams down the canal giving excellent photography conditions. However, dress warmly. The chill factor when I took these images was -25F. Thankfully in the direction I was facing the wind was behind me, but I then had a long walk back into the wind to return to my car.

Goldeneyes at Canal Park

From a few days yet earlier, I watched this dark morph Rough-Legged Hawk hunt on Hwy #133 just west of the RR Tracks. Unlike most Roughies, this bird does not easily spook the moment I park my car. The hawk actually landed closer to me after I took this photo. It was just time to change hunting perches.

Flocks of Goldeneyes

Two afternoons ago I visited Canal Park in Duluth a bit before sundown. The Goldeneyes were using the only ice free water for miles around to feed. It suddenly dawned on me why this particular afternoon the birds did not spook (often they fly quickly away from me). Remember these birds are “sight feeders” under water. In the winter in northern Minnesota the sun is rather low in the sky, particularly in the afternoon. There is a period of about one hour where the setting sun shines right down the canal, and underwater … setting up good conditions for the Goldeneyes to see underwater. My side of the canal was bathed in sunlight, while the South Pier was not. I now understand why the ducks put up with my presence. Food on a cold day is a good motivator.

Goldeneyes at Canal Park (total flock exceeded 300 birds)

The changed the photo parameters to better capture the number of ducks