Category Archives: Year 5

Transitions: Deserts to Ice Flows

Year 5,

Molly and I have arrived back in the Northland from Tucson. An attitude adjustment due to Duluth’s cold weather might seem to be required, but I actually am thrilled to be back to Lake Superior.

Sunrise is now much earlier, 6:38 am. As my credo is to get going with the sun, or earlier, my wake-up times are moving towards 5 am. This morning, I wanted to take a bicycle ride up the shore before the forecast winds reached 30 mph. Biking into that kind of a head wind aside from being cold, is real hard work. Thus, with only 15 mph winds I biked up to McQuade Harbor … 38 minutes to McQuade … 22 minutes back with the tailwind!

Although there is over two feet of snow on the ground, the early migrants are working there way along the shores of Lake Superior … Bald Eagles, Crows, Gulls, Mergansers and Ravens. These hardy birds push hard to be the first returnees to the Boreal Forest. Here are a few images taken over the past two days.

Ice Flow Gulls

First Active Bald Eagle Nest on the Duluth Waterfront

Darth Vader Bird

A Sabino So Long!

Year 5

For the past nine days Molly and I have rented a super condo from Jim, about one mile south of the United States Forest Service Sabino Canyon Recreation Area. This area allows us to easily escape into the desert wilderness, but also utilize Tuscon’s bicycle riding lanes and trails.

After I finished work upon the materials I will soon present to the Minnetonka Birding Club, I took one last bicycle birding trip over to the Canyon. Before I get to this morning’s birds, all are welcome to attend my presentation. There is no admission charge. I will speak about birding northeast Minnesota and the use of super zoom cameras in birding photography.

On to this morning’s birds … one final lifer!

Anna’s Hummingbird (lifer)

Ladder-Back Woodpceker

Phainopepla

Northern Mockingbird

Madera Canyon Reprise

Year 5

I decided another visit to Madera Canyon was required (previous post). After all, how often do you get to search for the Elegant Trogon? Well, my Minnesota roots told me to arrive by sunrise. Thus, I drove the first car into the Proctor Road parking lot just a few minutes before the sun popped above the mountain ridge to the east.

Apparently I forgot to ask the birds if like Minnesota birds, they get up with the sun. Although this boy from the frozen Northland did not consider an air temperature of 38F cold (sun and no wind), the local birds begged to differ with me. For the next 90 minutes I hiked the mountain trails and saw zippo (or almost). Finally, when the air temperature soared into the mid forties the birds became active. Alas, four hours of hiking did not yield an Elegant Trogon, but I did see and occasionally photograph a lot of neat birds. For those of you who know the canyon, I never visit the Lodge’s bird feeders. I preferred hiking in the woods. It is cool when you reach a certain elevation and the habitat suddenly changes.

My rarest find was a pair of Montezuma Quail (lifer)

The ever present clown bird … the Acorn Woodpecker

It’s bigger cousin … the Red Naped Sapsucker (lifer)

A Painted Redstart (lifer) that would never stand still, let alone show its head.