Tag Archives: MN North: Lakewood

America the Beautiful Birding

Year 11,

I tend to “bird the sunrise”, which on June 14th is at 5 am in northern Minnesota. Because this means I am up BEFORE 5 am, by 9 pm I am often tired and in bed. However last night I went looking for owls at a new place after sunset (after 9 pm). While I did not find owls, this Osprey (photos best seen on a large screen) was gloriously setting off the sunset. Given I live at the bottom of the hill near Lake Superior, the geography of the hill means I see lots of sunrises, and very few sunsets. Boy, am I glad I went out last night. I found myself humming the melody of “America the Beautiful”!

Flaming Osprey Sunset (Canosia Wildlife Preserve)

Rescuing “Winston Churchill”, the juvenile River Otter, from the road. Look at the first picture! I hope you’ll understand my name for the otter. I did manage to convince “Winston” to leave the highway!

The explosion of color continued this morning when I still got up early, and was off to the Lakewood School and environs.

Morning Lupine

Northern Flicker

Green Heron

Birding Updates

Year 11, , ,

Some quick birding updates …

  1. The large pine blocking USFS Road #813 (Greenwood Creek Bird Feeders) has been cleared … a combination of my efforts and the forest service
  2. The trailcam at the Greenwood Creek Bog photographed some timber wolves. I have again slightly shifted the camera’s location as I better learn the preferred game trails.
  3. The Lester / Amity Owl family is doing fine. A few mornings ago I found all four owls, even Poppa (he tends to be harder to find). Some recent pics of the owl family included below.
  4. I took photos of the Lakewood Elementary School Wetlands. They are posted below, and will also be added to the post describing that birding location. See my Northeastern Minnesota Birding Locations web page.
  5. The Grassland Birds are busy trying to find mates. This is a good birding excursion, and the wildflowers are beginning to bloom (see images bellow of Bobolink and Killdeers recently seen at Sax-Zim)
  6. Believe it or not, the Red-Headed Woodpecker is still hanging out at the Park Point Recreation Area. Red focuses upon the flowering fruit trees just off the parking lot (next to road).

All images taken within the past seven days on various birding excursions …

Lakewood Elementary School Wetlands

Standing in the middle of the bridge … pics show both directions

Grassland Birds of Sax-Zim (Bobolinks and Killdeer)

Note: I obviously stumbled upon / got near a nest (broken wing display)

Red!

The Lester / Amity Owls (Momma and Owlets)

Day 65: (Momma winks, Owlet learning to hunt

Day 67: Poppa pulls the crows away

Day 69: Owlet being harassed by Robins

Day 70: Various events!

Day 71: Momma taking a break in the afternoon

Birding, It’s Elementary My Dear Watson!

Year 11

As in Lakewood Elementary (GPS Google Maps Link) … just north of Duluth in Lakewood Township. If you park behind the school, and walk down the stairs behind the playground there are delightful wetlands with a nature trail. If you can handle the bugs, you will enjoy all the birds. There trail snakes its way through the woods as it circles part of the wetlands. However, while the trail is not difficult in terms of elevation or distance, it should NOT be hiked by anyone who has balance issues. There are some unusual wooden bridges on the trail that have short, but very steep decks. Having said that these wetlands have great birding. I only wish I could have photographed even 1/10th of all the warblers, waterbirds, and songbirds I saw. Sometimes birds just won’t perch still long enough to give me a chance to press the shutter!

I waited till today to post this information, as school is now out for the summer. During the school year … spring and fall … one should only bird this location during NON SCHOOL HOURS. Given all the young children that may be present, you don’t want to alarm staff, particularly if you carry cameras with long reaches. (Google Maps Link to Lakewood Elementary)

Map: Lakewood Elementary School Region

Some pics of the wetlands …

Standing in the middle of the bridge … pics show both directions. In the final wetlands image you can observe the school in the upper left hand corner of the photograph. It shows how close these wetlands are to the school and its parking lots.

Great Crested Flycatcher

Northern Flicker