Category Archives: Year 5

Amity Creek Birding

Year 5,

I live across the road from Amity Creek. The local birding habitat is mixed pine and deciduous forest. Our home is about 1/2 mile above Lake Superior and the end result is the migration often stops off in our yard both due to excellent habitat (my cleared yard is tall grasses and perennials) the proximity to the big lake … a migration route northward, and my six bird feeders which I keep filled all year round. While black bears are a problem (they knocked down three feeders within the past week), it is worth my becoming an expert bird feeder repairman.

Over the past few days, I have been experiencing a HUGE sparrow migration. The ground is often covered with over a 100 sparrows at once … many working their way north to their tundra breeding grounds.

White-Crowned and American Tree Sparrows

In addition, these locals have arrived back and are found in my yard. White-Necked Sparrows, Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers, and Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks. The woodpecker starts drumming each morning shortly after 5 am … looking for love!

Finally, the smelt are entering the Lester River. A few Common Loons are always having breakfast each morning at sunrise. The mouth of the river is an easy walk from my house. It is nice to have all the birds back in the Northland. The warbler and shore bird migration is just beginning.

Tree Swallow Attack!!!

Year 5
To the uninitiated and those of us who do NOT think like tree swallows, this may look like a wood duck house, but NO! This is obviously a tree swallow house.
 
Tree Swallow #1 (lower bird) does not know this fact, but it is about to get attacked by Tree Swallow #2 (upper bird). The fight was over this bird house, AND a nearby female. These are the first tree swallows I have seen this spring near Duluth.
 
Attack! … image taken of the same two birds a moment or two later.
It is interesting to note that there were three other wood duck houses (unoccupied) near by, but the swallows only showed interest in this house, and contested it fiercely. Two more pics from this morning. Apparently whomever controls the door, controls the bird house.

Great Horned Owl Chicks

Year 5

While understanding bird habitat is a must, having good scouts is really nice when a birder. My son and daughter-in-law are both marathon runners. At least once per Spring while on their long evening runs they discover the locations of owls and let me know where to find the birds! Such was the case this past weekend, and I spent an hour both at dawn and dusk with the Great Horned Owls chicks. These birds are almost ready to fledge. Owls have their chicks early in the season in that it allows them plenty of time to learn how to hunt during the summer. Young owls are clumsy hunters at first.

One other item worth noting. It is supremely important to be quiet in the woods. During the hour I watched the chicks at sunrise, they mostly snoozed, but when some animal stepped upon a branch and I heard a resounding crack of breaking wood, the owls were instantly awake.  The birds knew this was not normal noise and went on alert. If you make much of a racket while hiking in the woods, you will give yourself away and all the animals and birds will easily avoid you. This means you will not see much wildlife.

Dawn Photographs

Dusk Photographs