Monthly Archives: August 2015

North Shore Migration Starting Now!

The migration of birds along the North Shore of Lake Superior is starting to perk up. The last few days have seen strong westerly wings and thunderstorms which have pushed birds against the big lake. Most of our feathered friends do not like to fly across the large expanse of open water, and therefore work their way along the shore (or just inland) after having the prevailing winds push them against the lake.

Apparently yesterday evening large numbers of nighthawks were migrating along Brighton Beach. Although I missed that sight, I worked areas inland from Lake Superior from Little Marais south to Duluth including the Beaver Bay Sewage Treatment Ponds. The septic treatment ponds were full of late migrating shorebirds, swallows, and mallards. The hawk migration is now starting and time spent looking out over pastures yielded the sight of many hawks hunting in the late afternoon. Over the weeks ahead, this trek south should get better and better!

An American Kestrel (photo taken from a great distance)
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Night  Time Thunderstorm at Canal Park
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Wind Blown Tree Swallows at Beaver River
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Stilt Sandpipers at Beaver River
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Two Different Broad Winged Hawks
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Park Point / Minnesota Point Playing Fields

The rains returned to northeast Minnesota, and with the drenching rain the puddles / ponds reappeared on the playing fields at the end of Park Point. This combination plus the NE winds insured that at this time of year migrating shorebirds made an appearance to feed. Here are a few photos I took during yesterday morning’s blustery and foggy conditions.

I’ve also added two owl photos I took just prior to the start of this project / web site. Both owl photos were taken late winter 2013 within 800 yards of my home on Amity Creek.

Post Update on August 22nd: I’ve updated this entry to correctly identify one of the birds as a Lesser Yellows. Please see the comments for this blog post, as Adam and Dan helped with the ID and provided useful information.

Great Yellowlegs
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Lesser & Great Yellowlegs on the hunt!
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Barred Owl (archive photo)
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Boreal Owl (archive photo)
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Birding & Celebrating an Iowa Wedding!

For the past six days I have been on the road. Carl and Chelsea were married this past Saturday at Wartburg College, with a reception on the family farm in Maynard, Iowa. As is often the case with out of town weddings, one often finds available time early in the morning. For me this meant exploring the back roads by both bicycle and car.

A simple review of Google Maps indicated a nearby “green area” which turned out to be the Volga River State Recreation Area. Most people think Iowa means endless flat miles of corn and soy bean fields. While farming is Iowa’s forte, there are lots of beautiful, and often quite hilly areas. This was exactly the case with the Volga River State Recreation Area. Between the river, native prairie, and woods … the land was beautiful and the birding was excellent. The area made me wish I could experience the prairie areas during migration and mating.

I hope you enjoy my “birding” photo, and some wedding pics. It was a great time in NE Iowa.

A Barn Swallow Announcing: Carl and Chelsea are getting married!
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An Iowa Wedding Limousine! (14 antique tractors decorated the reception)
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The Wedding Venue
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The Wedding Party
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