Two nights ago I decided to chase the Aurora! Given the Duluth area was socked in with clouds, and the weather forecast seemed to indicate it would remain in that state all night long, at 8:15 pm I drove northwest. After a few stops at vistas which were also socked in with clouds, I arrived at my small northwoods cabin around 11:00 pm. Shortly before midnight, I took this “selfie”.
The cabin was 32F when I arrived, and by starting up a roaring fire I managed to bump the temperature up to the mid 40’s. I spent the night stretched out on the couch in front of the fireplace with an alarm set to insure I checked the Aurora conditions every 45 minutes. I feel lucky to live in northern Minnesota!
Yesterday was a great day for “watching”. Minnesota Point is really beginning to turn on in terms of birds near the Park Point Recreation Area. In fact, while I was enjoying close-up viewing of hundreds of Bohemian Waxwings, a Red Fox had obviously been watching me! When I refused to move, it finally just walked around me to reach its den area. It was really quite comical … the fox forced me out of my zone and I enjoyed taking some quick photographs as it walked by my car at a distance of ten yards.
In addition to spending time on Park Point, I took an early morning hike along the Western Waterfront Trail. My hike was rewarded with viewing some early returning migrants. Once again, similar to the fox incident, I was rewarded with a rare sight while I was observing some much more common birds (new returns … American Goldfinches and Yellow Shafted Flickers). Glancing up from the goldfinches I was trying to photograph I spied a cool looking bird at the top of a nearby tree, a Townsend Solitaire!
My day ended with another trip down to Minnesota Point. While my original goal was to hike out towards the Superior Entry and see what kind of late afternoon ducks were resting and avoiding the ever present strong winds off Lake Superior, the birds had other ideas. My old “Nemesis Bird“, the Bohemian Waxwings were back in flocks easily numbering in the hundreds. Better yet, these birds were so hungry from their migration efforts, that they let me observe their berry feeding frenzy from a distance of only a few feet.
I’ve also included both a video and photograph of a Northern Shrike. Needless to say, with all these songbirds migrating through the area, predators have also arrived! The shrike looked well fed!
At some point last night the cold 30+ mph winds out of the north switched to a gentle breeze out of the south. Even though the temperature was a bit chilly at dawn (20F), everyone including the birds knew the nice blue skies meant a warm day with good migration winds was in the offing. About two hours after sunrise, bird activity picked up and I enjoyed a super morning in the Sax-Zim Bog.
On Stone Lake Road I saw my first Great Blue Heron and Wood Ducks on the Spring. In fact on one two mile stretch of dirt road from Hwy #7 to the Stone Lake Outlet yielded all of these species:
Bald Eagles
Gray Jays
Great Blue Heron
Hooded Merganser
Mallards
Ring-Necked Ducks
Rough Legged Hawk
Wood Ducks
For a region which has been rather devoid of birds except for some winter favorites, this was delightful. Finally … do NOT get this Rough Legged Hawk mad! I think the Snow Buntings reaction will not work!
