The sun finally arrived back at the Head of the Lakes, and even though the wind was not optimal for migration, after two weeks of blaaah birds decided to migrate. While working the North Shore of Lake Superior I saw hundreds of hawks and vultures trying to catch an updraft near Silver Cliffs. Upon getting back to Two Harbors, I decided to visit the Lakeview Cemetery. This cemetery is very near the lake and tends to be visiting by a significant numbers of migrating birds. As we near completion of migration here in northeastern Minnesota, there are a number of songbird flocks that migrate through the area in large numbers. These birds are:

• Horned Larks
• Lapland Longspurs
• Slate-Colored Juncos
• Snow Buntings

These species tend to be our last migrants before the arrival of birds that will actually winter in the Northland (a few juncos and buntings will stay the winter in our area). At the cemetery this morning, Horned Larks were very much in evidence. Staying in ones car and inching forward is required. Getting near the larks on foot is impossible.

A few pics from this morning … horned larks are a favorite of mine.