Today is sunny, but the past two days have been cold, dreary, wet and foggy. Each night saw significant rainfall in Northeastern Minnesota. Who would want to go birding in these conditions? Me!
As sometimes happens after heavy rains large puddles form in the parking lot for the Park Point Recreation Area. One area in particular has lots of potholes, gets very little automobile traffic and I have learned birds hiding from the wind blowing in off Lake Superior decide the big parking lot puddle is great habitat … think drowning bugs which make for easy meals.
While i did not see lots of birds, the puddle came through with some rare shorebirds working their way north to the Arctic (rare for Minnesota). Thus, I give you Puddle Power Birding. I was thrilled to see Short-Billed Dowitcher, a Wilson’s Phalarope, and the not so rare Great Yellowlegs.
Puddle Power Birding … the Movie (video link for blog email subscribers)
An immature bald eagle was repeatedly dive-bombed by a red-winged blackbird at the Park Point Recreation Area a few days ago. The blackbird had to have a nest near by with recently fledged young. I personally have been on the receiving end of blackbird attacks many times in my life.
As a fyi, Bald Eagles do not get their white heads and tails till almost 4 years old. This is not a Golden Eagle. However, we do get some migrating Golden Eagles coming south from their breeding grounds neat Hudson Bay in late October to early November.
Press or click upon any image to view at full size. It’s fun to see the eagle’s eye expressions.
Incoming
Close Encounters of the Blackbird Kind
And from a very wet early morning up in Sax-Zim Bog this past week … a drenched Broad-Winged Hawk.
Yesterday songbirds, but mainly migrating warblers were almost falling out of the sky … known as a bird fallout. I spent 90 minutes on a protected St. Louis Bay (Duluth Harbor) beach which had some small mud flats which screamed bugs (i.e. food) to the migrating birds. I saw hundreds and hundreds of warblers and most of the time they were within ten yards of me, if not closer (think a few feet). The warblers would move up and down the beach, and just ignore me … landing two feet in front of me, and then behind me. When birds are extremely hungry, almost starving, a big monster (i.e. me) is not a concern.
I discovered yesterday when I used the term “fallout” with birds many folks did not know what I was talking about. Here is my definition … others might describe a fallout better. The term refers to what happens when birds almost “fall out of the sky” during migration due to weather conditions and often a migration barrier (like a barrier of water … think Lake Superior). Here in Duluth warblers were running into dense fog, and fierce winds out of the NE off Lake Superior. The fog brings warblers out of the treetops towards the ground in their search for bugs, and the wind makes it almost impossible for them to continue their migration northwards. The beach where I was standing was protected from yesterday afternoon’s wind (35 mph as measured by a buoy just off shore), and the lower level of Lake Superior water this year also means there is a small mud flat against the harbor shore (St. Louis River Bay) with bugs. Food!
Here are some of the photographs I took yesterday during the fallout. Make certain to watch the videos! I also spent some time up at the Hartley Nature Center. There is a stream immediately next to the parking lot, and over the years I have discovered that during migration warblers love the large culvert right next to the parking lot. Once again, the protected stream as it flows through the culvert tends to have some of the first bug hatches in the area.
Hartley Nature Center Birds
American Redstart
Black and White Warbler
Veery
Park Point / Minnesota Point Birds
American Redstart
Blackburnian Warbler
Chestnut-Sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Northern Waterthrush
Palm Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Tennessee Warbler
And when I got home … this Scarlet Tanager was hanging out within a few feet of our living room windows … next to my feeders, on our deck’s Adirondack chairs and one of the trailcams!
