Tag Archives: MN North: Forest Hill Cemetery

Birding at the Top of the Watersheds

Year 9,

Ever heard the term “A Canary in a Coal Mine”? Supposedly years ago coal miners would bring canaries deep into the earth with them while mining. If oxygen levels fell to unsafe levels, the bird would demonstrate the effects first, pass out and thereby tell the miners to seek safety.

Earlier this week Cornell University issued their annual report on bird population health (or lack thereof). Folks, we’re killing our planet. The data is disheartening … from the report’s overview: “The United States and Canada have lost 3 billion breeding birds since 1970—a loss of 1 in 4 birds”. This is not a debate about climate change … the bird population loss is due to reduced or poisoned habitat. We all live in this habitat / land … A Canary in a Coal Mine. Think about it.

Personally I am very lucky and live on a migration highway (the North Shore of Lake Superior) and near the top of not one, but three watersheds (Mississippi River, Hudson Bay, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence). My local water is not downstream of anyone else.

Yesterday was a good example in that I tend to see birds most folks do not come across. Visiting the Forest Hill Cemetery I found a Rusty Blackbird. It was eating bugs in the middle of a small mudflat. Perhaps blackbirds do not excite you, but Rusty Blackbirds are just one small example of the problem. Cornell states: “The population has plunged an estimated 85-99 percent over the past forty years”.

Rusty Blackbird Finding Breakfast

On the Lookout for Merlins and other Raptors

Yesterday I also found a few Black-Billed Magpies up at Sax-Zim Bog.

Northern Visitors Passing Through

Year 9,

Most birds migrate south in flocks, but the Solitary Sandpiper (Cornell link) which nests in northern Canada fits its name very well. I have never seen one of the birds with another of its species. This morning was no exception. One Solitary Sandpiper was feeding at the tiny mud flats Forest Hill Cemetery creek’s inflow. What is amazing is … given this little mud flat is extremely small, it is dumbfounding how every fall this tiny spot is a migration magnet. I always see a wealth of different bird species at this location.

In addition, my local Red-Bellied Woodpeckers must have raised a second batch of youngsters this summer. Dad was busy showing junior the ropes yesterday afternoon.

Feeding Time at the Cemetery!

Year 9

Now is the time to visit your local cemetery if it has a small pond. Belted Kingfishers (and other water birds) are busy feeding their young, and given these birds are used to humans … both above and below ground, good views are often provided. These two pictures of Mom are indicative that the young are back in the nest hole, and both parents are now required to feed growing chicks. In a week or two the youngsters will make their grand appearance and demonstrate lousy fishing technique! In Duluth, my “go to” spot if Forest Hill Cemetery.

On the home front each day brings another woodpecker lesson. There are three prime drumming trees in my yard, and this juvenile male Yellow-Belled Sapsucker was being taught the finer art of drumming (a parent was about six feet above the juvie)

And a short video of Mom Kingfisher (video link for email subscribers)