Tag Archives: MN North: Pine Island State Forest

Incoming! Birding Journey Ahead!

Year 10

I am staying in a delightful little motel up in Littlefork, Minnesota (near Minnesota’s northern border with Canada). Marsha is the hostess / owner, and she is well known in the birding community as providing a great friendly place to stay “up north”. Check out the Home Town Motel.

I am birding the Pine Island State Forest. The lack of snow so far to start this winter means I have great access to the back country. Yesterday afternoon I was in birding heaven on Toomey Williams Forest Road. Today I will drive the route I have always wanted to take in early winter … Big Falls to Waskish. My 70 mile route once I leave Big Falls will be devoid of any civilization, even one single cabin … two hours on dirt roads without any backtracking! The dropped pin is at the end of Toomey Williams Forest Road, and where I normally turn back towards Big Falls.

Here are just two photographs from yesterday afternoon. I will work on more later, but it’s 6 am and time to get my act in gear.

Incoming! (Immature Male Pine Grosbeak)

Take-Off!

Northern Minnesota Morning Grouse

Year 10,

It was a grousy morning … clear skies, only 25F and a heavy frost. Molly and I had travelled over to our small cabin in the first lake of the Hudson Bay Watershed yesterday afternoon. I needed to drain and water system before the season’s cold froze everything up. This meant a refreshing dip into the lake (we pump lake water), followed by crawling under the cabin to disconnect pipes to drain the system at its low points. When we arrived at the cabin yesterday evening, the temperature was in the mid 40’s … inside and out. Obviously it was necessary to fire up the wood stove (our source of heat) quickly!

However I was allowed to play in the morning before doing my chores. For me this meant a trip deep into the Pine Island State Forest near the Canadian border. Per normal once I drove west on the local roads from Big Falls, nary a car would I see for hours. It was fun to walk within a few feet of some Spruce Grouse. These birds are notoriously dumb, and if you are lucky enough to bird somewhere that the grouse don’t get hunted much, getting close is not too difficult.

Upon getting back to Northstar Lake, a Ruffed Grouse decided it wanted equal time. This bird was enjoying some sun on my driveway. It is also a bit more touchy when it comes to humans. My forest road gets hunted, and this grouse seems to have learned to spend time on my driveway (not out on the forest road). I have seen this particular bird often.

Finally, here is an image I took at sunrise this morning in the Boreal Bog. Heavy frost was evident, and standing water had iced over.

In closing, we are going out to dinner this evening  at a local bar near Marcell tonight. They have water to do dishes *rather than me lugging it up from the lake), and we may use their bathrooms before reverting to our outhouse later tonight!

Hawk Morning in the Boreal Forest

Year 10

The last two mornings have found me deep in the Boreal Forest near the Canadian border. Pine Island State Forest is remote, and has beautiful bogs … my favorite being Toomey Williams Forest Road. This road starts about six miles west of the small town of Big Falls, and for exactly 12 miles follows the path of an old logging railroad deep into the forest bog. For much of the road the combination of bog, small drainage creeks next to the road and dead snags provide a birder’s delight. It was almost exactly one year ago today when I came upon the most amazing bull moose on this road. What I never see on Toomey Williams Road, unless it is grouse hunting season, is other people. Even then I rarely see more than one other person over the course of a few hours.

When Toomey Williams Forest Road ends, I just turn left and follow Pine River Forest Road for another 8 miles. In total my loop from Big Falls is 44 miles long with 20 miles on dirt forest roads. Even the paved portions of my drive rarely have traffic. Over the past two mornings I have seen zero cars or humans during my time in Pine Island State Forest. I am in birding heaven.

For the past two days in has been Hawk Heaven with lots of Broad-Winged and Red Tailed Hawks on Toomey Williams Forest Road.

Red-Tailed Hawk on Toomey-Williams Forest Road

Broad-Winged Hawk on Toomey-Williams Forest Road

The Movie! (video link for email subscribers)