Category Archives: Year 12

Broad-Winged Hawk Sibling Rivalry on Northstar Lake

Year 12

Labor Day Weekend is gorgeous so far up near Minnesota’s border with Canada. Molly and I have owned our small northwoods cabin for 35 years. We lease the land from the Chippewa National Forest, but own the cabin. Our landlord, the forest service controls the land and rules that cabins may not be larger than 600 square feet, and NOT year round structures (we pump water our of the lake). We love these rules. Northstar Lake is the southernmost lake of the Hudson Bay Watershed. It’s 1,100 acres, and over 90 feet deep in places with 12+ miles of shoreline. The Forest Service owns most of the lakeshore. The end result is our lake is not very developed. I recharge my personal batteries up here!

Shortly after sunrise this morning I found these two juvenile Broad-Winged Hawks having a sibling disagreement. I actually saw quite a few other hawks right after dawn. The first year youngsters are increasingly having to do their own hunting. Thus sightings are easier. Within 2 to 3 weeks Broad-Wings will start their southern migration, with thousands kettling on warm afternoons at Hawk Ridge’s thermals. I actually live at the base of Hawk Ridge in Duluth (105 miles distant from my cabin).

Immediately following are the Broad-Winged Hawk photos from this morning, and after the raptor images you will find some drone pics I took over the past few days at my cabin on Northstar Lake.

Broad-Winged Hawk Disagreement!

Drone Photos of Northstar Lake Taken from my Cabin

  1. My cabin’s dock … on the left
  2. Looking up the point (access to multiple bays and the other main section)
  3. Looking down the narrows (access to the lower lake bays)

Looking across the lake from my cabin

  • United States Forest Service Campground
  • My cabin’s roof in foreground
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The Zen Zone of Birding

Year 12

Do you experience the Zen Zone of Birding? While some folks claim they are able to multi task, I think not for me. When I head out birding, the radio is silent and Spotify is not playing a favorite song list. Instead my eyes scan the surrounding forest, often without my even knowing my brain is analyzing the input. It is not unusual for me to spot birds that I did not even think were in my direct field of view. If competing sounds like the radio, or even conversation in the car compete for my brain’s attention, I know I miss sightings … and the Zen Zone.

The longer each day I am away from home on a birding excursion, the more into the Zen Zone I enter. During my mid 40’s, each spring before fising season would open, I took solo canoe trips into the BWCA. These three day journeys were marked by the fact that at the beginning of each trip it took 5 to 6 hours for my brain to calm down, and not think about the complexities of modern life. I needed to just immerse myself in nature with an almost blank mind. It was important to me to take these trips in early May when the BWCA was mine alone. I would sometimes even talk aloud to nearby loons, but I don’t believe I was loony!

This morning as I drove north from my cabin to bird Pine Island State Forest via Toomey Williams Forest Road, I could tell I was entering the Zen Zone. The birding was not good, but it did not matter.

A sunrise pic from a prior Toomey Williams sunrise … the Zen Zone.

Portable Pi! (BirdNET-Pi listening in a remote northern Minnesota Bog)

Year 12

BirdNET-Pi bird listening devices are fantastic. Based on and installed upon a Raspberry Pi Linux computer, these small inexpensive boxes are game changing. Unlike BirdWeather PUC or Haikubox, these kits perform wonders for a small amount of money. Read my full review of BirdNET-Pi which include DYI instructions, links for project sites, and hardware requirements including costs.

Thus, I built a second BirdNET-Pi, or in this case … Portable Pi! As BirdNET-Pi need not be connected to a network, I wondered if it would run reliably w/o being hooked up to the electrical gird. With that thought in mind I bought “Amazon Choice’s” 60,000 miliamp portable power bank for $30 (Amazon power bank link … not sponsored). In addition I bought a small weather proof box to keep my electronics out of the rain / snow. The outdoor electrical box was $20 upon writing this post, and has dimensions of 10.5 x 5.5 x 4.0 inches (Amazon product link).

My results were FANTASTIC. The BirdNET-Pi ran for 33 hours and the power bank still had 12% power left when I picked it up yesterday evening. The environment during my test was stable weather but cool. I dropped of my Portable Pi two mornings ago at 8:00 am when the temperature was 38F. Both operational days had highs just under 70F with an overnight low between the two days of 35F. Thus, while my test did not have to handle Minnesota’s extreme cold of winter, the overnight temperature was brisk.

Okay … the obvious question … did my Portable Pi, BirdNET-Pi, operate fine via a power bank? Yes! Here are screenshots of my birdsong ID results from the past two days:

Location of Portable Pi (Greenwood Bog which is about 1 mile from Lake County 2. Note how I have clipped the microphone to a cedar branch. Everything fit in the weatherproof box {10.5 x 5.5 x 4.0 inches} without any difficulties.)

Screenshots of the Bird Identifications (click/press upon to maximize)

August 25 (13 species of birds)

Please note I suspect the ID times are slightly off because BirdNET-Pi grabs the date and time from the network, which there is none in the Greenwood Bog. Thus, I suspect it started counting time from the last entry in my database.

August 26 (18 species of birds)

In closing I am SUPER pleased with BirdNET-Pi … whether connected to the network or running remotely. 33 hours of run time out in the forest with a cold night is great. Ultimately I will be running one BirdNET-Pi at my house except when I leave it somewhere in the northern forest, one BirdNET-Pi at my cabin near the Canadian border, and finally my original Haikubox (also running at home and doing a good job!).

I will post the public links to these bird listening stations once I finish some final configurations up at my cabin over Labor Day Weekend. Finally, I am considering running a “free class” to help folks build their own BirdNET-Pi (perhaps at the Duluth Folk School). As I have noted, one need not be an engineer, and I think with my guidance folks could build and deploy their own birdsong listening devices. I WOULD REQUIRE anyone who is interested in such a class to:

  • Purchase the parts required IN ADVANCE (see my review … about $118 financial outlay for parts … any maybe another $96 … no subscription fee)
  • Class participants would be required to equally share in the cost of the Duluth Folk School rental costs. My time as previously noted, would be donated. I think a one day class would work fine … on a Saturday … allowing non Duluth folks to attend … class might start at 9:00 am.
  • Contact me via email if interested (not a commitment). My email may be found on the About Rich page of this web site.