Birding Humor & the Orange Flambe Marshbird

Year 9

This morning I heard and then spied the rare “Orange Flambe Marshbird”! What? You’ve never heard of this bird? You’ve obviously never read The New Yorker Magazine’s: Wine for Dummies Guide to Birding (for Dummies)!

“First, describe what you see! Sure, that bird has a technical name, and probably a genus, but how much does that tell you? Instead, how does the bird make you feel? What impression is it making on you? Is it funky? Meaty? Flirty? Assertive? Aggressive? There is no wrong answer.” (quoted from the New Yorker Magazine)

When you sip a glass of cold Chardonnay, do you describe that elixir as cold effervescence that enhances any successful birding expedition  … with albeit a slight peachy aroma and taste? Thus, knowing the name of the bird that I saw this morning is totally unimportant. The key is the bird gave me a warm, happy sense of solitude!

An Orange Flambe Marshbird (seen this morning near Cloverland, Wisconsin)

Now I realize many of you live in much more urban areas than me. Thus, it is important that this blog present additional urban birding opportunities, such as going birding at Fleet Farms (homes good store like Home Depot and Menards). Everyone, including eMail subscribers, make CERTAIN you watch the video! The creator has disabled the embedding capability; thus everyone must click to view on YouTube … well worth it.

Please realize I have always realized it is important to not take birding to seriously. Here are a couple of posts I made on this blog back in 2016 while Molly and I were taking a self-supported bicycle tour around Scotland. I did not know most of the bird’s name of the feathered friends which I was seeing!

I also play the accordion, and once again never take myself or musical performances too seriously, but that is a story for another day! Seriously folks, I hope everyone watched Birding at Fleet Farms, and the New Yorker’s  Wine for Dummies Guide to Birding (for Dummies)! Cheers!

Squish, Squish, Slap Owling!

Year 9,

The Deeps Waterfall on Amity Creek, which is 200 yards from the end of my driveway, was finally slowing to Summer waterflows yesterday. However, overnight and this morning it stormed and stormed. As the ground is saturated with water across northern Minnesota, the roaring tempest is back.

I decided when the rains ended around noon, it was time to brave the forest … first the trails and then bushwhacking. Over the past nine days the hordes of mosquitoes drove me out of the thick forest. However, it had now been nine days since I last saw my owl family.

Squish, squish, slap … pause and look skyward … repeat. I was drenched by the time I returned home, and well bug bitten by the mosquitoes. The amount of standing water in the woods is amazing. Assuming you finds a deer trail to make one’s route through the woods an easier hike, every trail is now a stream with lots of puddles whenever the land flattens out a bit (remember … the Duluth topography means hills down to Lake Superior almost everywhere)

I did find the owl family as they were fending off a crow attack. I assume the owlets decided to perch in exposed locations in an attempt to dry off, which would make them easily found by the local crows. One benefit of watching the same two parent owls raise youngsters over the past four years is I know their favorite haunts.

From this morning …

Poppa Great Horned Owl (shorter and stockier than Mom)

One of the Owlets

I also found color. The flowering crabs at towards the end of Park Point are beautiful.

Two Harbors Boat & Birding

Year 9

Everyone who visits Duluth knows to visit Canal Park, however the more savvy person knows that a short trip up the shore to Two Harbors is a fantastic idea. Whether you have kids that want to throw rocks, birders who want to find feathered friends, or boat watchers that enjoy watching lakers enter the harbor, Two Harbors is a great destination. It is 26.2 miles from Canal Park (heard of Grandma’s Marathon?!). One of my own grandkids is spending the week with us. We started Grammy and Grampa camp up the shore!

  • Use the Marine Traffic App to figure out when a ship will arrive. Works anywhere in the world … river, lake, sea, ocean!
  • Park at the Two Harbors Lighthouse (free … not crowded)
  • Let the kids throw stones on the beach next to breakwater
  • Walk out the breakwater to the lighthouse
  • Hike around the rock point looking for birds (Lighthouse Point eBird Reports). Birding will be better during spring and fall migration. There are lots of mountain ash and crabapple trees to attract birds (blossoms and fruit)

Do some combination of the above!

My own pics from today …

Hiking / Birding (Whitefish Bay Laker / Eastern Kingbird)

Lupine are just beginning to bloom

From a colder visit … to show the breakwater and one of the lighthouses (there are two).