Category Archives: Year 10

Amity Food Birding Bazaar

Year 10

There is lots of food in the forest next to Amity Creek, and my local birds are happy. Here are just a few of the yummy treats awaiting birds in the area. In addition to lots of insects, here are just a few of the bazaar’s offerings:

  • Mountain Maple Seeds (small helicopter seed)
  • My Bird Feeders (corn, sunflowers and suet)
  • Nectar from Perennials
  • Raspberries
  • Thimbleberries

However, food may carry a price. My local Great Horned Owls are hunting the fruit patches for birds and small mammals, while a couple of different species of hawks cruise the neighborhood including my bird feeders and pick off the unwary bird. At the end of this post I will document and show what bird feeders I use (and why) in the eternal battle vs. the pesky gray squirrel.

The Owls above the Berry Patch (I snack on berries during owl hikes)

Mountain Maple Seeds (female Rose-Breasted Grosbeak)

Nectar (Chardonnay not shown!)

Seeds and Insects (Red-Headed Woodpecker Family!! Ten years ago I needed to drive 175 miles south to see Red-Headed Woodpeckers. 5 years ago I had to drive 45 miles. The past 3 years I needed to drive 5+ miles, and today I hiked under 1/2 mile from my home!!!)

Bird Feeders

I keep my feeders up year round. This does cause problems in the spring and fall when my local black bear population decides to visit, but throughout the rest of the year my BIG problem are gray squirrels. These pesty mammals chew through everything. My problems included:

  • Squirrels gnaw through wood or composite suet feeders within 2 weeks.
  • Squirrels manage to eat suet cakes in the basic cage … or almost any other suet feeder. My locals gnaw the edges where they can reach suet cakes, and either eat directly or consume what falls upon the ground.

I never thought I would spend almost $100 on a suet feeder, but this feeder from Brome which is made of metal works perfectly. The metal cage slides down and protects the suet if a squirrel visits. A small tray catches any spilled suet from birds. Amazingly, this has led to many different species using the suet feeder. They are able to land on the feeder and eat the leftovers found in the small tray. Finally, I have save so much money because I purchase much less suet, and have less spillage that the $100 is a bargain.

For Sunflower seeds I use the SquirelSolution200. Similar to the Brome Suet Feeder, if a squirrel visits a metal cage slides down to protect the feeding holes. My children had bought me the Yankee Flipper which spins a squirrel off using centrifugal force, but keeping a feeder’s battery charged in Minnesota’s winters was very problematic. However, it was great fun to see the squirrels become astronauts!

All of Brome’s feeders are available via Amazon, but a Google Search found me outdoor stores in this region with better prices.

My feeders are very active year around. During the summer all the parent birds stop by with their kids and teach them the basics of Feeders 101. It’s kind of funny to watch larger birds like Blue Jays and Crows stand in my platform feeder next to a parent, and beg for food. Eventually after a few days they learn that they can eat the seeds or corn directly!

Northern Harrier Nest!

Year 10
There are epic days while out birding, and seven days ago I had just such a day/find. I left home at 5:30 am and had actually not seen much, till my last stop of the morning when I found a Northern Harrier nest!!!!
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Actually, I know where the nest was located (young now fledged), but could not actually see the nest. Northern Harriers nest on the ground on small raised mounds of land in the middle of bogs. It is impossible to see their nests unless you are a glutton for punishment. One would need to wade through the swamp / bog braving all the horse flies, mosquitoes, other bugs to get anywhere near the actual nest. I stayed on dry land!
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A few days prior to my find I had noticed a male and female Northern Harrier on the wing at this location. The female dove down into the Bog, and disappeared. Seeing two harriers together made me wonder if a nest was in the vicinity and when I returned to that location … jackpot!  I now saw four harriers together … Mom and her three juveniles. In the intervening two days the young had fledged and often sat in a nearby dead Tamarack Pine. I proceeded to watch the juvenile Northern Harriers for hours. Their acrobatics as the young hawks learned to fly told me where the nest was located. The juvenile harriers would dive to the ground out of sight … at the same exact spot.
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Here are some images I have taken over the past seven days of the Northern Harriers.
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All Three Juvenile Northern Harriers

Learning to Fly

One Juvenile Landed on a Remote Road

More Images ...

I took all of my Harrier photographs from quite a distance while seated in my car. My tool for camera stabilization is a “bean bag mount”. I love the medium sized bag from Grizzly. They are inexpensive mounts and a person may place it directly on the window frame of a car. I have also placed mine on rocks, tree stumps, etc. to get a stable camera platform. It is easier to carry in a small backpack than a tripod. One does need to fill the bag with your favorite “stuffing. I am using dried peas! Link to the Grizzly company. I bought mine via Amazon … minimal cost.

The Purple Cows of Birding!

Year 10

Do you stop for Purple Cows in life? This term grew out of a bike tour and the “purple cow” I saw while on a nine day self-supported bike tour around 1/2 of Lake Superior (The Trans Superior Tour). I stopped to inspect the Purple Cow and was introduced to the “Woodcarver of Washburn” (read more about Purple Cows and our travels … Molly and I were interviewed for the local paper about our bike touring).

Earlier this Summer I found a new Purple Cow while out birding … a Seussical Cow! Yes, the esteemed doctor would be thrilled to see this roadside children’s bus shack. Here in the Northland where temperatures get dangerously cold in the winter, out in rural areas many families build small buildings where their children may await the school bus. Here is today’s Purple Cow. I waited to take a picture when I had the first light of the morning plus wildflowers.

Not just when birding, but also when travelling across America Molly and I almost always take longer routes that get us off the interstate highway system. Purple Cows are rarely if ever seen from super highways. Here is the original Purple Cow!

This day’s birding was (a few days ago) was unusual in itself. After all, how often does one see a Black Pheasant? In my case, never before this outing. The bird led me to do some research. While the pheasant might be an escapee as pheasant are rare in northern Minnesota … black pheasants which indicates a bird is melanistic are even more rare. Regardless, here is the Black Pheasant which definitely was trying to hide from me.