Tag Archives: MN North: Amity

InBound, OutBound and In Transit!

Year 9,

The birds are moving! For the last five days my yard on the edge of Amity Creek has been a wild place as flocks and flocks of Common Redpolls, Pine Siskins, and Goldfinches descend upon my six bird feeders. Each wave tends to be in the “hundreds of birds” … always coming from the southwest and moving off to the northeast. In addition, my yard is now filled with the songs of robins, and first of year grackles (not quite a pretty). Some of these two bird species will stay local as others move further north.

Yesterday morning I went in search of open water. Check out open water, particularly slack water in streams. These Common Mergansers yesterday were right near the boat launch at the old Interstate Bridge in the Duluth harbor. It will be a while till area lakes go ice free.

Finally the perfect evening of calm winds, clear skies and mild temperatures brought two Snowy Owls out last night in the Duluth area. These owls are a harder find right now as they are taking short trips around the region to strengthen their flight muscles for the return migration north, but there are still a few around. I suspect this bird is a young, non breeding female and not in any hurry to get north to the Arctic. The photo was taken 10 minutes before sundown, and the owl still had not moved an inch 20 minutes after sunset when I left.

Winter’s Last Gasps – Fluff Watch

Year 9,

This morning I am awaiting a new winter storm which will dominate our region for the next two days … rain, sleet, snow and ice plus 40+ mph winds. Yesterday afternoon when it was just plain windy (32 mph winds), I hiked over to visit Amy, the Great Horned Owl Mom. Each year, I start my official “fluff watch” on March 23rd. The owlets may have already hatched, but for the first seven plus days the youngsters will be under mom 100% of the time. Here are a few seconds of windblown Mom (video link for email subscribers)

I did stop and watch The Deeps waterfall on Amity Creek during my afternoon hike. It lost much of its ice cap yesterday (video link for email subscriber). The footbridge seen in the video is 225 yards from the end of my driveway.

Meanwhile about 800 yards down at the lakeshore, the blow was apparent. I was very surprised to see three trumpeter swans fighting their way north into the wind. Getting to breeding grounds first and choosing a choice territory is a powerful incentive for the male birds. In the fall, one would never see migrating birds fightings such strong winds.

Morning Owls

Year 9,

Poppa Owl took one for the team yesterday morning just before sunrise. Shortly before sunup there was a major crow attack in my local forest, and I know from experience that Dad leads the crows away from the nest. A nice morning hike through the woods yielded this pic of Mom.

Meanwhile the prior morning was spent over at Sax-Zim Bog. The weather forecast called for moderate temperatures, overcast skies, and light wind … perfect owling conditions. I arrived in the Bog shortly before sunrise, and watched one owl hunt for over an hour. Here the Great Gray Owl is nailing a landing.