Monthly Archives: January 2018

American Three-Toed Woodpecker (times two!)

Year 5,

In bird speak, today’s bird was lifer. However, what is better than finding one new bird for the first time in your life? Two! Yes, after slogging through the deep snow in the Boreal Bog, stopping frequently to let my ears be my guide, I finally heard a the telltale tapping. Following the the route indicated by my ears I struck pay dirt. After watching one American Three-Toed Woodpecker for about ten minutes, I suddenly realized another bird was tapping away about 15 yards behind me. Number two!

I found these two birds about 400 yards in from Blue Spruce Road in a dead-fall area (Warren Nelson Bog) … directly in from the logged trees. I originally used the snowshoe trail but saw nada, Bushwhacking north eventually found me my goal. About 20 minutes later a local guide arrived with his group. He had followed the same snowshoe path and then a Black Backed Woodpecker into the dead-fall area. His group had 10+ people from California and Texas. I made polite conversation and commented about how warm it was outside (22F). They did not believe I was serious about its being warm outside. LOL!

My other stops yielded some nice birds. The Sharp-Tailed Grouse LEK on Racek Road was full of birds at 8:45 am. These grouse are already starting to think love in the dead of winter. Here is an image I took of a Sharpie I found feeding near-bye about an hour later.

The Sharp-Tailed Grouse was not my only “chicken like’ bird find. While exiting the bog I almost drove over this Ruffed Grouse. Dumb bird! Move off the road!

Finally, while I was not looking for Great Gray Owls, and was actually driving too fast to normally spot these owls (30 mph) as I moved between birding locations, my friendly neighborhood owls insisted I could not ignore them! Here is a photo of one of the two GGO’s found this morning.

Oh yes, yesterday afternoon I decided to go and look for Snowy Owls in Superior, Wisconsin. I only found one during nice light, but when 4 pm rolled around and the sun ducked behind some clouds, the Snowies came out. In total I saw five! I took this photo just before some crows chased this owl away.

Attack of the Vole Patrol!

Year 5

The last two days were stormy with strong winds. In short, I knew that the owls had not been able to hunt successfully. With that knowledge I headed out before sunrise to my owling grounds. I was not disappointed! The number of Great Gray Owls which were hunting after sunup was amazing. Starvation is a great motivator.

Dawn’s Early Light Over the Owling Grounds!

Attack of the Vole Patrol

Great Gray Owl and its Vole (same owl as in prior sequence)

Northern Hawk Owl gets in on the Action!

Sax-Zim Bog Barred Owl

Year 5

Yesterday I took three friends up to the Bog. The weather was weird … over 40F, no wind, and bright skies … in short not a Minnesota winter. Only five days earlier we were in the midst of a two week long cold snap where temperatures in northern Minnesota were well below 0F every night.

If you are planning a trip to Sax-Zim Bog, make certain you visit the Friends of Sax-Zim Bog web site and review the “Plan Your Visit” page. Download a map. Believe it or not there are lots of birds, including owls which do not live on McDavitt and Admiral Roads. While we did make a brief visit to the South Logging Road off McDavitt to see a Northern Hawk Owl, most of our time was spent on roads where we were the only car / people in sight. This meant we had to find our own owls, but also insured my friends experienced a more true wilderness experience. Get off the main drags!

Here are a few photographs from yesterday …

Barred Owl
I was thrilled to find a Barred Owl out hunting around 10:30 am. I consider this bird nocturnal.

Be One with the Tree, Luke SkyWalker!
When Great Gray Owls see their enemies (ravens, crows, and eagles), these birds stand up very straight to minimize their profile from above lessening the chance of an attack.

Gray Jay
Canada’s new national bird enjoys eating off a deer carcass.