Category Archives: Year 11

Coming Soon to a Forest Near You: The Golden Time

Year 11

I took this bog image two mornings ago, and the photograph is indicative of the “Golden Time” coming soon to the Boreal Forest. Tamarack Pines are one of the only pines trees which lose their needles every fall. In 7 to 10 days every Tamarack in the Boreal Forest will be bright gold. Venture out near sunrise or sunset, and Uff Dah … an explosion of gold!!!

On another front I was interviewed this morning on KSTP’s Minnesota Live program about birding the Northland. If you follow the link to their web site, you should be able to watch my segment for about two weeks. My wife took this picture of me during the broadcast. The interview is about five minutes in length.

It was a fun day! Now I’m up at my cabin 200 miles north of the Twin Cities with plans to bird the Pine Island State Forest near Big Falls for the next few days.

Distracted Before Dawn

Year 11

There has not been a lot happening on the migration front given strong southerly winds, with the exception of a huge number of Robins and Butter Butts (Yellow-Rumped Warblers) which have been working their way through my yard. The leading edge of fall sparrows and juncos are now using my feeders.

Throughout this week I kept telling myself it was time to go check the Greenwood Boreal Bog and my feeders. My time for leaving each morning is about 40 minutes before sunup. As is often the case I get distracted when I actually get to the car. Driving the Expressway to Two Harbors with the deep orange that comes long before sunrise is both beautiful and calming.

Two Days ago I nixed my trip to Greenwood and just did the Northshore before sunrise. Here are some results.

Burlington Bay (Two Harbors)

October Otters!

Year 11,

Molly and I are enjoying some beautiful weather up at our cabin a bit south of the Canadian border. Yesterday I spent some significant time starting at sunrise west of Big Falls in the Pine Island State Forest. Although the weather was gorgeous … crystal clear and 39F to start my expedition, the mammals and birds did not really cooperate. However, the strong southerly winds gusting to 25 mph had lowered my expectations. It is unusual on the first of October when the temperature climbs to the high 60’s. Only this Spruce Grouse strutted its stuff for me.

This morning one could really feel Autumn. I took a hike in the dreary early morning to a remote lake. Although birds were again not really present, I found a family of five River Otters which let me watch them catch breakfast. While I love to bird, watching this family of otters for over 15 minutes was a real treat, and trumped my birding efforts! (video link of one otter’s fishing efforts for email subscribers … if you listen closely towards the end of the video you will be able to hear the otter chirping and squeaking … communicating with the other four family members).

Finally, here is an image I took yesterday of a “bog stream”. Toomey Williams Forest Road reaches deep into some amazing Boreal Bog. All that water must eventually drain out of the bog, and quite often the “streams” are amazingly straight (and wildlife magnets).