Tag Archives: MN North: French River

Red, White & Blue Patriotic Birding Plus Our National Bird!

Year 12, ,

Today was a great day of birding which started with a Sea Smoke Sunrise Over Lake Superior. Yup, only 10F as I headed inland from Two Harbors 20 minutes before sunrise, and the air water temperature differential made for spectacular conditions out over the lake. Now some folks might wonder about birding on opening day of deer hunting season in Minnesota, but if you know your habitat (deer hate bogs), and stay well away from any parked vehicles next to the forest (indicative of hunters) you will be fine. However, even if I think I am in the forest w/o anyone for miles around, I ALWAYS wear blaze orange or red.

Okay … why patriotic birding? The answer was simple. I saw beautiful red, white and blue colored birds … plus our national bird, the Bald Eagle! In additional I finally put out meat suet (hope the bears are asleep, or at least woozy). I am trying some bone marrow this year to entire Boreal Chickadees. I just drilled two holes through the bone, and then hung everything up using wire and ring eye screws. My final assignment was to place a BirdNet-Pi birdsong listening device deep in the wilderness.

On to the photographs … the Pine Grossbeaks were real special. Essentially nary a Pine Grossbeak was seen last winter. Today I watched a small flock.

Red: Pine Grosbeaks

White: Snow Buntings

& Blue: Blue Jays

and our National Bird: Bald Eagle

Bohemian Bonanza (as in waxwings)

Year 11

A few days ago I had the privilege of watching well over 200 Bohemian Waxwings devour all the fruit off the two pygmy crabapple trees at church. I had driven over in the early afternoon to fill the public bird feeders I maintain, and spied the waxwings. As a reminder these feeders are just up the shore from McQuade Harbor and thus on a popular migration route (both for birds and Twin Citians escaping their large metro area for the North Shore and Gunflint Trail)

Over the past two weeks I have noticed an increased number of waxwings moving down the shore as the fruit trees further north get eaten over for the winter.

Bohemian Waxwings at French River Lutheran Church

Squirrel Appreciation Days?!?

Year 11

How could I have missed it??! National Squirrel Appreciation Day was only a few days back on January 21st. I even had a very recent taken photo of a squirrel … one of two Black Squirrels hanging out at the French River Bird Lutheran Bird Feeders. The black squirrels are somewhat rare up here in the Northland. Anyhow … somewhat belatedly … for National Squirrel Appreciation Day … here you go.

And the bird feeders I recommend to keep these pesky critters at bay (post 1 | post 2)