Northern Minnesota Morning Grouse

Year 10,

It was a grousy morning … clear skies, only 25F and a heavy frost. Molly and I had travelled over to our small cabin in the first lake of the Hudson Bay Watershed yesterday afternoon. I needed to drain and water system before the season’s cold froze everything up. This meant a refreshing dip into the lake (we pump lake water), followed by crawling under the cabin to disconnect pipes to drain the system at its low points. When we arrived at the cabin yesterday evening, the temperature was in the mid 40’s … inside and out. Obviously it was necessary to fire up the wood stove (our source of heat) quickly!

However I was allowed to play in the morning before doing my chores. For me this meant a trip deep into the Pine Island State Forest near the Canadian border. Per normal once I drove west on the local roads from Big Falls, nary a car would I see for hours. It was fun to walk within a few feet of some Spruce Grouse. These birds are notoriously dumb, and if you are lucky enough to bird somewhere that the grouse don’t get hunted much, getting close is not too difficult.

Upon getting back to Northstar Lake, a Ruffed Grouse decided it wanted equal time. This bird was enjoying some sun on my driveway. It is also a bit more touchy when it comes to humans. My forest road gets hunted, and this grouse seems to have learned to spend time on my driveway (not out on the forest road). I have seen this particular bird often.

Finally, here is an image I took at sunrise this morning in the Boreal Bog. Heavy frost was evident, and standing water had iced over.

In closing, we are going out to dinner this evening  at a local bar near Marcell tonight. They have water to do dishes *rather than me lugging it up from the lake), and we may use their bathrooms before reverting to our outhouse later tonight!

25,294 Robbins and Mary Poppins Can’t Be Wrong!

Year 10

Mary Poppins tells the Banks children she will stay until the wind changes. American Robbins (and almost all birds) understand this fact, and during the southern migration pay attention to this rule. For over 7 days here in northern Minnesota we had very strong winds from southerly directions. However on Saturday the winds changes and blew with a strong velocity out of the Northwest. In a little under five hours at Stoney Point, Neil Gilbert reported 25,294 Robins on the move … migrating south along the lakeshore.

There is a buoy out on Lake Superior not too far from Stoney Point. Here are two screenshots of the conditions … first as reported Wednesday, and then on Saturday. Note how the wind which had been very strong in the face of the southward migration switched with a vengeance.

I was out hiking the forest near my home on Saturday afternoon. The number of birds, particularly Robins was amazing. If one knew where the Mountain Ash trees and their berries were located in the woods, it was easy to find hundreds of birds gorging themselves.

Pay attention to the wind direction and speed during migrations. You will have better birding experiences.

Couch Potato Birding

Year 10

6:45 am, 30 minutes prior to dawn, found this birding couch potato hard at work. My trailcam will alert me if any mammals visit the feeders in this pre-dawn hour. My HaikuBox (listens and alerts on specific bird song) will alert me if my owls visit and start hooting.

My job … stretch out on the couch in front of the fireplace reading a good novel. The window is 10 feet away should my devices indicate this couch potato needs to move!

However, don’t worry. This sluggard has to rally eventually. I have a volunteer work day scheduled up at Sax-Zim Bog. We will open in early December and need to get ready for you more energetic guests!