Tag Archives: MN North: Hartley Nature Center

Sing Out for Summer … Part 4 (American Redstart)

June 10, 2016Year 3MN North: Hartley Nature Centerrichardhoeg@gmail.com

Another day, another warbler! Today I spent some time over at Hartley Nature Center. The small stream that is below the dam is a favorite for warblers (the thicket of trees immediately below the dam, and continuing for about 100 yards). Found this female Redstart and her mate, but only catch the female on my camera. At one point the male landed 10 inches from my head, and hung on the branch for about 5 seconds!

I also enjoyed this male Common Yellowthroat. These birds are often so deep in the heavy grass surrounding streams and swamps one never gets to see them, but you also “hear” them!

American Redstart (female) Sing Out for Summer!

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Common Yellowthroat (male)

Fledged in Northern Minnesota (yr 2, mth 7)

July 26, 2015Year 2MN North: Hartley Nature Center, MN North: NorthStar Lake Regionrichardhoeg@gmail.com

I hear many folks talk about how July is a horrible month for birding opportunities. Not true. While the unexpected jackpot finds during the spring and fall migrations are not possible, and the leaves block the view of birds you hear but can not see … July is a great month for birding. Think young! In other words, find the nests and the fledglings and you will be treated to neat views. Young birds have often not learned to be scared of us humans, and their parents are often so busy feeding their offspring who are almost their own size, that the adult birds sometimes lose a bit of their wariness.

The images below were taken over the course of the past week of fledglings. In short, get out there and enjoy the July heat!

View this project’s Flickr photo stream. (click upon images to view at full size)

Eastern Phoebe Family

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Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker Kid

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Rescued Crow on an Early Morning Kayak

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Belted Kingfisher

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Common Yellowthroat

Birds, Wildflowers & the Cornell Merlin ID

July 18, 2015Background, Year 2Birding Know How, MN North: Hartley Nature Centerrichardhoeg@gmail.com

My favorite wildflower patch is really starting to produce. The milkweed will soon be in full bloom, and color is already bursting out everywhere. In short, in northern Minnesota take a trip to the Hartley Nature Center. Stand in the wildflower garden and hide amongst the taller flowers (read over six feet tall!). If you are motionless, the birds will not be recognized as a dreaded human! Here are a few birds I saw and photographed during a 20 minute window of nice sun around 7:30 am.

One bird I gave me some identification difficulty. Enter the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology. Even though I am a Dartmouth Alum, and during my college days I would do everything possible to defeat Cornell in athletics, their bird web services including their new Merlin ID App are fantastic. The word app is actually a bit misleading. Although they have Android and Apple apps, it is the windows PC based Merlin ID app which really takes the cake. I used the Merlin ID App to identify this Nashville Warbler. See the screenshots found at the end of this post document how Merlin functions.

Nashville Warbler