Tag Archives: MN North: North Shore of Lake Superior

Birding Migration Gems of the North Shore of Lake Superior

Year 12,

The last few days have been fun. Around the first of November, winds out of the North and Northwest bring unexpected pleasures to the North Shore region of Lake Superior. In short, migrating birds get pushed by strong winds against the big lake, and are feathered friends exclaim: “No way I’m heading out over that HUGE body of water!”. Instead birds meander in a southwesterly direction along the shore down towards Duluth. During this time of year, I still head inland to Sax-Zim Bog and Greenwood, but the largest number of my sightings are always within a few miles of Lake Superior.

Sunday started with the sighting I enjoyed the most … a Dark Morph Rough-Legged Hawk just after sunrise. Better yet, this species normally spooks and flushes very easily. Perhaps because I would soon be heading to church that morning, the hawk let me watch it hunt … often from distances as close as 50 yards away. However, I suspect the real reason it never flushed is the hawk was very, very hungry, and the need to feed drives all actions.

Dark Morph Rough-Legged Hawk

The next surprise was finding a Cattle Egret on a farm near the intersection of Ryan and Lismore Roads. This bird is still hanging out in this area, and my thanks to Peder Svingen for his initial sighting reports. Take a look at the range map for this bird (copyright to Cornell). The winds of migration must have blown this bird almost due west!

Western Cattle Egret

My finally sighting was a dark morph Snow Goose at the Lakeview Cemetery in Two Harbors. I had been checking the gold course, and cemetery for over one week hoping to find some snow geese. While thousands and thousands of these birds migrate south along the Red River on Minnesota’s border with the Dakotas, they are rare in NE Minnesota.

Dark Morph Snow Goose

I hope you are also enjoying the late season bird migration. The leading edge of the Arctic birds are just starting to arrive.

Canadian Air Force Snowbirds!

Year 11

Some different birds were in the Duluth area last Wednesday! Our neighbors to the north sent the Canadian Airforce Snowbirds down to Duluth and gave a great show.  Hats off to our northern neighbors! A thunder storm rolled into the area and the show had to be shortened for everyone’s safety … from the pilots to the spectators.

eBike Birding

Year 9,

As many long time readers of my blog will know, I love to take long bicycle rides while birding. A few weeks ago I added a new bicycle to my quiver of arrows … a Trek Verve+ eBike. Even though I have recovered nicely from my open heart surgery 18 months which replaced a genetically misshapen heart valve, I still have occasional anxiety attacks while exercising. My wife and kids had advocated for me to purchase an eBike, and three weeks ago I pulled the trigger. I purchased a Trek Verve+ 2 eBike. While I still use my regular bike 50% of the time, this post explains the benefits of eBikes and birding by eBike.

First … how much did I spend? The answer is $2850 (+tax). I purchased a Trek bike because I wanted a bicycle from a reliable “name” brand. Everyone and their best friend now seems to be manufacturing eBikes. While I am able to perform most of my own bicycle’s mechanical repairs, by purchasing a name brand bike I insured that servicing the electrical side of the equation is available from my local bike shop.

My eBike is a “Class 1 eBike”. This means the electronic assist stops if I exceed 20 mph, and if I do not pedal … the bike does not move. Class 1 eBikes do not have throttles.  “Class 2 eBikes” have both pedal assist, but also a throttle which the cyclist may use and thereby cruise without pedaling. Thus, Class 1 eBikes are much more like a traditional bike. The third class of eBikes are “Class 3”. Class 3 do not have throttles but provide for pedal assist up to 28 mph. Thus, give some thought as to how you might like to use an eBike. In general Class 1 eBikes are the lightest and most like a traditional bike. Both Class 2 and Class 3 will need bigger motors and batteries, which thus adds weight.

My bike from Trek uses one of the top electronic motors and management systems … Bosch Motors and their Bosch Purion control system. This is the assist I receive during any of my four bicycling modes. Please note I often turn off the eBike motor if I have a tailing wind, or the bike route is extremely flat.

  • Eco: 40% assist
  • Touring: 100% assist
  • Sport: 150% assist
  • Turbo: 225% assist

Thus, whatever effort I exert, the bike helps me out to the tune of those percentages. From a practical vantage point I am in “Eco” the HUGE majority of the time, except when climbing the big hill from the Lake Superior shoreline 650 feet up to Jean Duluth Road. From a practical standpoint this means me (a 190 pound male in good physical condition) has an eBike range from 50 to 65 miles (varies due to wind conditions and hills). When the battery is used up (never has happened) I may still bicycle on my own. It is worth noting my Trek eBike weighs about 50 pounds, whereas my Specialized Touring Bike (not as light as a road bike, but a nice non eBike) at about 27 pounds.

Now let’s take a pause from the techie side of the eBike equation, and focus on the birding side of the equation. My new bicycle came all decked out with fenders and a rack. This allows me to ride in sloppy conditions and attach my rear bike bag. I use the pannier to hold a light jacket, and my camera. My monopod is strapped to the top of the bike bag. Here are some photos I took while riding to French River and back on the North Shore of Lake Superior on Monday. (and yes … the lupine are still blooming right next to Lake Superior!). However the flowers will soon be gone, and fall migration will start shortly with Shorebirds working their way down from the sub-Arctic and Arctic.

My birding wasn’t bad either. When I almost had reached home towards the end of my ride I was thrilled to see a Red-Bellied Woodpecker adult teaching its youngster the ropes. For a few years I have had Red-Bellied Woodpeckers visiting my feeders and nesting in the nearby woods. This is my first known instance of a successful breeding. In northern Minnesota we are at the extreme edge of their northern range (climate change?). This range map is from Cornell’s web site, All About Birds. The two bird pics are of the young Red-Bellied.

Now to finish up the eBike part of this blog post … my data may surprise you. I often wear a heart sensor while cycling, which allows me to check my “beats per minute”  after the ride. The bike rides are the same in terms of the land covered, except on my eBike I have been willing to push on to the next river along the shore (Talmedge to French River … an additional roundtrip distance of  3 miles). On the two vertical axis you are able to observe both the elevation climbed (or fallen) and my heartbeat.

Traditional Bike Ride – Distance Traveled 12.3 miles (press or click to maximize)

eBike Ride – Distance Traveled 15.3 miles (press or click to maximize)

Thus, the total work done and my heart rate is not dramatically different between the two types of bicycles. Some studies are finding for pedal assist eBikes many riders (including me) are biking longer distances and taking more rides, exerting almost as hard, but using more of the eBike power for hill climbs.

Finally, this morning after an initial workout, I took a short birding ride via eBike. It was fun and I was not worried if I would get too tired even though I had already worked out previously this morning.