Tag Archives: MN North: Amity

Hiding from the Wind!

Year 7,

Merry Christmas from the Northwoods. There are a few hours between all the gleeful madness on this special day. Thankfully during this ugly Pandemic, my daughter’s family was kind enough to self-isolate earlier such that they might safely visit us for Christmas. The morning started early with four grandchildren trying to insure the household was up at 6:00 am! Thankfully everyone was awake, and even with our Christmas Blizzard, Santa find his way to Duluth following Rudolph’s red nose.

During our blizzard winds topped out at 70 mph on the open waters of Lake Superior. The temperatures dropped to make for nasty weather … wind chills of minus 25 to 30F degrees. Believe it or not, once the snow stopped I went birding on Christmas Eve (plowed roads only in the countryside). I knew that birds would be hiding from the wind while trying to experience the warmth of the sun. My major surprise was finding this female ring-necked pheasant … far out of range in northern Minnesota. The pheasant was standing on the side of a road in a location where the wind was blocked with lots of sun.

Earlier in the day we saw “Hector” who was visiting out yard. Hector is a male Pileated Woodpecker … named thusly by my eight year old granddaughter. She knows the difference between male and female Pileated Woodpeckers. Do you?! (hint: moustache and crest next to beak)

Wishing everyone the merriest and safest of Christmas.

Snowy Owl Moonrise

Year 7

While driving home this evening after unsuccessfully looking for snow owls, the moon rose and the skies cleared for a brief period of time. I jumped out of the car and took this photo of moonrise over the Lester River Bridge (no time to set up a tripod … only a monopod). Within 3 minutes the moon hid behind a cloud bank. Fun time.

Snow Squall Birds

Year 7
Enjoying “red” on a day with Snow Squalls. In addition to this Cardinal, we have had regular visits from Pileated and Red-Bellied Woodpeckers … and even a Redpoll. If you maximize the image you should be able to see the streaks of snow coming down.
Two years ago, my house was pretty much the northern range limit for Cardinals, but I now know some “reds” are being seen up the shore as far as the Sucker River (12 miles distant).
Mourning Doves … they stay the winter each year … normally not found in the Boreal Forest during the “white” time of the year. They appear to like my feeders.