Tag Archives: MN North: Minnesota Point

Amity Creek Floods at The Deeps (videos)

Year 10,

Back in 2012 we had a similar flood, and I lost ten yards at the end of my driveway. Thankfully my house is way elevated above my garage and driveway. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the rains have come to the Duluth area. This morning I walked over to The Deeps (location of today’s images) which is only 200 yards from my yard. This basic location is also where my owls, including FuzzBall, chose to live last winter. Hiking the trail on my side of the creek is now becoming a dangerous experience.

Videos: Amity Creek at the Deeps … Waaay out of its Banks

(still images below videos … see bottom of post for instructions on getting your free PDF copy of my children’s picture book about the Amity Owls: Do You Hoot?)

And a perspective from the Gazebo side of Amity Creek

Images of The Amity Creek Flood

I did NOT walk across this foot bridge. I used 7 Bridges Road to walk well upstream to use another bridge that was still 1 to 2 feet above the creek … crossed Amity … and then hiked down next to the stream.

Did I mention I was crazy enough to go out yesterday during the heavy rains to go birding? The Park Point Recreation Area was full of birds. The strong NE winds off the lake were pushing the bird migration, and the Park Point being at the western end of Lake Superior experienced a fallout of pushed birds … including this Peregrine Falcon which was hunting song birds.

Finally all the storms coming in off the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico had pushed this “pink visitor” to the Duluth Harbor!

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Bird Migration! (or … Wrong turn at St. Louis?)

Year 10

Yesterday winter broke! There may still be 2+ feet of snow on the ground near Duluth, and much more on the Lake Superior Ridge, but winter’s back was broken. The winds blew from the south and the temperature soared to 60F. Today is similar. If folks have the opportunity, check out the North Shore of Lake Superior waterfalls this week which are already dumbfounding in terms of power. For the birds, the better question might be … “Did we take a wrong turn at St. Louis on the Mississippi River Flyway?”

Spring is a figment in the migrating birds imagination. All the snow and ice makes Northeastern Minnesota not bird friendly for returning migrants. I found this Tree Swallow at the end of Park Point this morning. I have no idea where it expects to find bugs.

With respect to ducks, there was an open water lead in the harbor ice right next to shore, which brought the birds close to where I was sitting. Ducks are courting.

Blue-Winged Teal (one female)

Blue and Green-Winged Teal

Goldeneyes a Courting!

Squish, Squish, Slap Owling!

Year 9,

The Deeps Waterfall on Amity Creek, which is 200 yards from the end of my driveway, was finally slowing to Summer waterflows yesterday. However, overnight and this morning it stormed and stormed. As the ground is saturated with water across northern Minnesota, the roaring tempest is back.

I decided when the rains ended around noon, it was time to brave the forest … first the trails and then bushwhacking. Over the past nine days the hordes of mosquitoes drove me out of the thick forest. However, it had now been nine days since I last saw my owl family.

Squish, squish, slap … pause and look skyward … repeat. I was drenched by the time I returned home, and well bug bitten by the mosquitoes. The amount of standing water in the woods is amazing. Assuming you finds a deer trail to make one’s route through the woods an easier hike, every trail is now a stream with lots of puddles whenever the land flattens out a bit (remember … the Duluth topography means hills down to Lake Superior almost everywhere)

I did find the owl family as they were fending off a crow attack. I assume the owlets decided to perch in exposed locations in an attempt to dry off, which would make them easily found by the local crows. One benefit of watching the same two parent owls raise youngsters over the past four years is I know their favorite haunts.

From this morning …

Poppa Great Horned Owl (shorter and stockier than Mom)

One of the Owlets

I also found color. The flowering crabs at towards the end of Park Point are beautiful.