Yesterday morning I scored a Trifecta, or I should say the fruits trees of Big Falls, Minnesota in the Pine Island State Forest hit the Trifecta. I always pay attention when birding any time of the year to where there are large concentrations of mountain ash and pygmy crabapple trees because I know the “birds of winter” will eventually visit.

Such was the case yesterday when I found not one species, or two but all three species of birds which have been scarce this winter … often in the same exact tree at the same time, which led to some disagreements over who was allowed the choicest berries. Thus I bring you the birds of the northern winter … Bohemian Waxwings, Evening Grosbeaks, and Pine Grosbeaks. I spent over an hour watching the pig-out. Better yet, I also saw some birds which needed to be thrown into the Hoosegow! Yup, eating a lot of berries eventually means drunk birds as the fermentation process starts in their gizzards. Everyone was happy, including me but I would have to wait for dinner before I joined with a glass of Chardonnay.

A Disagreement between an Evening Grosbeak and Bohemian Waxwing

Evening Grosbeaks

Bohemian Waxwings

Pine Grosbeaks

Team Photo in one Tree

This post is a bit different as it shows some of my favorite “hang outs” in northern Minnesota, including the Toomey Williams Forest Road. However, the DNR has now locked the gate at the beginning of the road in the middle of the Pine Island State Forest wilderness. Our recent spell of temperatures above freezing had softened up the ground making the road very rutted. When the weather returns to “the norm” and the ground refreezes the gate will be reopened.

I spent two glorious days (Wednesday and Thursday) this past week in this remote area. I arrived on Toomey Williams long before sunrise. After all, owling requires one to get up long before sunrise. This was my view as I started owling

30 minutes later when the sun was finally making its presence know I took these pictures with my cell phone. My Subaru Outback is my trusty backwoods steed. It now has 216,000 miles on the car, and is going strong. These images also show why I love Toomey Williams … remote, with Boreal forest bog. I saw zero other cars or people during my morning.

More and more cell towers have changed the back country. Occasionally a person will actually have mobile phone coverage. Most of the time I had no signal, but after 35 miles of driving on various forest roads (all dirt … successively more remote), I arrived at Phone Box Corner. In my younger days this box would have had a satellite phone. No more!

Phone Box Corner

And yes, I did see some birds! (Pine Grosbeak, Bald Eagles, Rough-Legged Hawks, Spruce Grouse)

With this post I will finally catch up on photographs. Over the past week seeing all the Owls and Northern Lights had really put me behind in more than just sleep. Thus do to an unexpected gap in our schedule, I am considering a return to Big Falls tomorrow including a one night stay. One might ask, what motivates me to drive three hours when Sax-Zim Bog is only 50 minutes from my doorstep??

• Birds! (winter finches are staying up near the border)
• Minimal snow on the ground. Often by this time of year the back country is impossible to access
• Good weather … no snow, moderate winds and a day each of sun and clouds (I like both as it leads to different birding outings)

Here is the final report from last week’s trip to the Pine Island State Forest (previous post: When Great Gray Owls Outnumber Humans)

Pine Grosbeaks (very few of these birds down by Duluth)

Bald Eagle (they’re everywhere)

Rough-Legged Hawk (the numbers this fall are amazing)

Canada / Gray Jay