All posts by richardhoeg@gmail.com

Blue Bonanza!

Year 7,

September is one of my favorite time to go birding. While I never know what birds I will see, I rarely am disappointed in terms of seeing great variety. Yesterday afternoon, I hiked over to find Hoot (unsuccessfully), but found well over 30 American Restarts flitting around the pine grove where my owns often hang out. In addition, there were good numbers of other migrating warblers. My key takeaway … get out there and enjoy the migration.

One of my rules during migration is generally not to look for specific kinds of birds, but to pick known good birding habitat and enjoy the hit parade. This morning in my own yard it was non stop Blue Jays. At times I could see well over 20 jays at once … my feeders were a big hit.

Two days ago I drove over to Sax-Zim Bog at sunrise. The numbers of American Kestrels was amazing, and I had an extremely rare sighting … a Red Headed Woodpecker. The other staff / naturalists for the Friends of Sax-Zim Bog only knew of one other Red Head ever being seen in the Bog area. We are north of their preferred habitat.

I don’t normally take videos of my own feeders, but this morning’s blue demanded an exception! (video link for email subscribers)

Fall Arrives!

Year 7

The temperature this morning on Northstar Lake was 39F. There is a freeze warning for tonight. It was very obvious when the winds switched from the West to the North yesterday afternoon, and the temperatures started to drop. Migration is now in full swing, and we have entered the “no snowy owl period” in North America. Basically this means there are now zero eBird reports of Snowies on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, and these beautiful birds are now working there way south … generally in tandem with huge flocks of snow geese that provide easier food. The owls are south of the Arctic Ocean, but have not reached any small population centers in northern Manitoba or Saskatchewan when birders will file reports or their GPS tracking devices check in with Project Snowstorm. Sometime within the next few weeks the Snowies will check in. The earliest I have seen a Snowy along the North Shore is the end of October. However, some buddies of mine who hunt ducks and geese in North Dakota see them much earlier.

I found this Bald Eagle shortly after sunrise this morning. I think it was angry I had stopped near some roadkill, and was expressing its displeasure at me. I took a few photos and moved on quickly. If you maximize the first image, enjoy the eagle’s tongue!

The Magic of Northstar Lake

Year 7

Wilderness lakes up in the Northland have a certain magic. However, rather than take my word for this fact, trust the princesses! This Labor Day Weekend there have been three princesses (my granddaughters) running around with their magic wands. We feel very safe and special! However, if their magic is not strong enough … our local Ninja can protect us. (we did see a timber wolf near the cabin yesterday)

The birds are always special on Northstar Lake. This Bald Eagle juvenile was screaming “feed me”. I never saw Mom or Dad.

After visiting the eagle, I said hello to a couple of our Common Loons. These birds are in the process of either losing their breeding plumage (the adults), or testing our their flight wings (the juveniles)

Adult Common Loon

Juvenile Common Loon