Tag Archives: MN North: Greenwood Creek Bog

Boreal Bird Migration

Year 11,

I have spent the early hours of the last three mornings well north of Two Harbors in the Superior National Forest both on Stoney River Forest Road and the Greenwood Bog in addition to other places. The birds are returning to the northern forests, even some of the bug eaters (normally the latest migrants). I have commented about Stoney River Forest Road, but briefly the road was used for a fire block when the Greenwood Forest Fire was expanding three years ago. The west side of the road is now a meadow or bog loved by wildlife.

You will NOT find the southern end of this 19 mile long logging road on Google Maps, but this blog post of mine has GPS coordinates. Better yet when snow is not on the ground, this is a road easily driven by two wheel drive vehicles. All I know is over three mornings I saw a number of owls, a huge selections of hawks, and spruce grouse. This road about 35 minutes north of Two Harbors is worth birding. In all three excursions, I saw 2 cars on Sunday, but then nary a vehicle the next two days. Peace and serenity reigns on this road.

A few images from the past few days. The Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks have been visiting my yard in huge numbers. Everything else is up in the Superior National Forest.

Stoney River Road Spruce Grouse (video link for email subscribers)

Lake County #2 Broad-Winged Hawk

Blackbacks, Bluebirds and Bears … Oh my!!

Year 11,
  • Blackbacks, Bluebirds and Bears … Oh my!!
  • Blackbacks, Bluebirds and Bears … Oh my!!
  • Blackbacks, Bluebirds and Bears … Oh my!!

Yup, that pretty much sums up the birding over the past few days. Two days ago I hiked from my home through the Lester / Amity Woods over to the Lester Park Golf Course Ponds. Upon approaching the largest and third pond, aside from seeing Tree Swallows for the first time this Spring, I heard Bluebirds singing. Eventually I tracked the singing down to a couple of males chasing one early arriving female. She was not yet choosing a home or making a commitment to a mate. (as a fyi … I have nominated myself to the citizen committee which will help determine the future of Lester Park Golf Course)

Lester Park Ponds Bluebirds

Yesterday I knew it was time to head north of Two Harbors and refill the Greenwood Creek Bog Bird Feeders (learn more about this region) which I maintain.  There is a pair of Black-Backed Woodpeckers thinking of nesting about 500 yards down the trail / forest road #813 from the feeders!

Greenwood Creek Bog Female Black-Backed Woodpecker

And finally … the bears. Momma Bear and her three cubs returned last night after a five day absence. Their visit was obvious when I got up in the morning. Thankfully, I have been able to fix all the damage the bears cause up to this point.

Momma Bear and the Cubs Pull a Tag Team! (video link for email subscribers)

Greenwood Creek Bog Bird Feeders Update

Year 11

While the new location of the bird feeders still is not wildly active, the trend is very positive and it appears this will be their permanent home. Within 24 hours of my placing the feeders and scattering sunflower seeds, the local grouse population had discovered the offerings. As a fyi, over the past few months I have seen many, many roughed and spruce grouse very near this location, both on the trail (Forest Road #813) and out on the highway (Lake County #2).

Yesterday morning, it was a treat for me to discover two different groups of birders at the feeders. Obviously I am successfully getting the location of the feeders out to both birds and humans! Here are all the details about the feeders including GPS locations, maps, hikes and more.

I enjoyed watching some Black-Backed Woodpeckers during a hike from the feeders this past Sunday. It was crazy warm … 52F in early February in the Boreal Forest. While I enjoyed the warm sun, this kind of weather is actually dangerous for the habitat and hopefully we will quickly see returns to much colder conditions.

Here are a few of my Black-Backed Woodpecker images. The couple were about 800 yards down the trail.  Before I move on to the photos two final comments:

  • Included you will also find Lynx tracks. A family of these gorgeous cats are obviously in the area
  • Two owl boxes are on nearby trees. One box is about 300 yards down the bird feeder trail on the right (about ten yards off the trail). The other box is about one mile down the main trail (forest road #813) on the right … where the bog begins. I suspect the US Forest Service put these boxes up some years ago. Both boxes are in good condition, and appear to be focused towards either Saw-whets or Boreal Owls; however Boreals have not been known to have nested in NE Minnesota now for over ten years.

For this video of the Black-Backed, I have slowed the speed down by a factor of two (video link for email subscribers)

And finally two cell phone pics from my hike … the Greenwood Creek Bog and the Lynx tracks.