Tag Archives: MN North: Hawk Ridge

Merlin Attacks Great Horned Owl!

August 26, 2016Year 3MN North: Hawk Ridgerichardhoeg@gmail.com

I don’t know about you, but I would hate to be this Great Horned Owl right about now!

This image was taken this morning up on Hawk Ridge in Duluth, Minnesota. The owl is a decoy, but the Merlin is very much real. Had fun watching the Merlin attack the decoy almost 15 times.

Consider visiting Duluth and Hawk Ridge this Fall right at sunrise. I have found that when there are fewer people around, like at sunrise, the attacks on the owl decoy are much more frequent both in terms of the numbers of hawks making the attack, and the number of attacks per bird.

While you will see more birds later in the day when the thermals start to rise off the hill, I enjoy the drama of these attacks. As more people arrive, the hawks often tend to stay farther away from the viewing platform and crowds.

Sunrise at the Lester River

June 28, 2016Year 3MN North: Hawk Ridge, MN North: Mouth of the Lester Riverrichardhoeg@gmail.com

After four days away from home, I am happily back in northern Minnesota. Sun comes up at 5:15 am, and shortly after sunrise I visited the mouth of the Lester River in search of the Common Merganser family. The early morning sun makes for fantastic photography conditions, and also if one takes some care … allows one to get much closer to birds.

It took 15 minutes, but I eventually found my young family. If I had walked the shore towards the mergansers my visit would have been very short, but instead while still over 100 yards away from Momma Merganser I sat down on the rocks. Over the course of 15 minutes, directly in her line of sight with the sun, I inched forward “on my behind” towards the birds. Taking this amount of time, and never standing allowed me to get within 15 yards of the mergansers and watch them for almost twenty minutes. These photos are the result of that session, but the key point is … get low right at sunrise (don’t walk) and come at your desired subjects from right out of the sun. If you move slowly enough, it is amazing how close one may get to some types of wildlife.

Common Merganser Family at Sunrise
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Wild Tailed Deer Fawn
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Chestnut-Sided Warbler and Cedar Waxwing … the waxwing actually has Lake Superior in the background while the warbler is set off against the sky … interesting comparison of blue on a crystal clear day!

Do You Have a Star-Trek Birding Universal Translator Device?

June 17, 2016Background, Year 3MN North: Hawk Ridgerichardhoeg@gmail.com

I speak Indigo Bunting, and Catbird … and even Wilson’s Snipe. Yes, via my Star-Trek Birding Universal Translator Device I speak many birding languages, and the birds speak back to me! Actually in my case I am using iBird Pro North America on my Android smartphone (also available for IOS). While $15 may seem like a lot of money to pay when many apps are free, the extensive database (940 bird species) which is always at your finger tips makes the cost worthwhile. In addition, to the app’s many other features which help in bird identification, the use of recorded bird songs in the field may be the difference between only hearing and seeing birds close up.

Over the past few days, I have used iBird Pro to attract Indigo Buntings, Catbirds and Wilson’s Snipes out of heavy growth to check out a singing bird they hear (i.e. me). If you hide yourself effectively, and remain motionless, good photographic opportunities often make themselves available. Actually, yesterday in the case of the Wilson’s Snipe, hearing the sounds from my app actually helped me make my initial positive ID.

Do you have your own Star-Trek Birding Universal Translator Device?! In the instance of iBird Pro I can even select a recording which is often from my own region. Thus, for the Indigo Bunting I used an Iowa song, not some bird from down south! With the Wilson’s Snipe the recording was actually of a Minnesota bird.

iBird Pro Main Menu – 940 Bird Species