Sherburne Northern Saw-Whet Owlet!

Year 13

I had a medical appointment in the Twin Cities yesterday (all fine), but I had heard there was a Northern Saw-Whet owl family hanging out in a dead tree at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. While the refuge is definitely not on the direct route south from Duluth to Minneapolis, neither is it horribly out of the way. Thus, I made certain I was on the road shortly after 5 am for my planned detour.

Thankfully, one of the owlets made an appearance after I had waited patiently for one hour. While I understand that “the owlet” is the attraction, these three images demonstrate things to consider for photography:

  1. While everyone “wants the close-up”. I actually think the close-up image is the most boring photograph. Habitat makes a photograph much more interesting.
  2. Given the Northern Saw-whet’s plumage and the tree’s bark (light grays and browns), I chose to underexpose my images by “one stop”. At a fyi, I underexpose most photographs for birds with lighter plumage in direct sunlight to avoid washouts
  3. The final two photographs include habitat, and are much preferred by me.

Violet Green Swallow in Duluth! Mud Lake

Year 13

Apparently seeing a Violet Green Swallow in Minnesota is SUPER RARE. According to this article from Naturalist, Al Batt, this bird has only been seen twice statewide in Minnesota throughout recorded history (1942 and 1990) … until this morning and my sighting.  Yup, this morning while birding Mud Lake, I saw a Violet Green Swallow. First … my images (eBird report has been submitted), then more commentary.

I had planned on birding Morgan Park’s Slag Point, but the strong NE winds blowing in off Lake Superior made me realize that effort would be useless. Instead I hiked the Western Waterfront Trail and the old Railroad tracks till I reached Mud Lake. I knew where the tracks burst free from the forest and the tracks led out onto the causeway, the area would be protected from the fierce winds. I was not mistaken, and the number of swallows, including this extremely rare Violet Green Swallow were amazing. See my prior post about the swallows. Here is Cornell’s article about this beautiful bird.

Finally, here is the normal range for a Violet Green Swallow … and now three times in Minnesota. It was a good morning of birding!!!

Mud Lake Fighting Tree Swallows

Year 13

Weather conditions were unexpected this morning, but drove me to make a 2.5 mile hike to Mud Lake (St. Louis River Backwater). While the forecast was for sunny and calmer winds, as usual Lake Superior thought otherwise. I arrived at Morgan Park’s Slag Point to discover finding birds given the wind would be very  tough. However if one walks to the end of the trail and then along some old railroad tracks next to the river, one reaches a protected area named Mud Lake. I was hoping migrating birds would home in on the protected area.

While the number of species was underwhelming,  Common Tree Swallows put on amazing courtship / fighting displays. Along the railroad tracks out over the water there are very few trees, and the many swallows enjoyed the one dead birch … as did I! Given the aforementioned wind, the swallows stayed in a small area which had bugs. The metallic blue of the males was very much in evidence. Not as many females were back on the scene.

Mud Lake Courtship Flights and Fights!