Tag Archives: MN North: Sax-Zim Bog

Time for Youngsters!

Year 9

It is a great time of year to take a ride in the countryside. In fact, here in northern Minnesota the forecast for Monday morning (tomorrow) is most excellent … cool, clear and calm winds. Get out shortly after sunrise and you will get to enjoy a wildflower bonanza is perfect light. I plan on visiting some favorite birding bog habitat up near the Canadian border. Birds are very busy feeding their young, and many species have already fledged.

While in Sax-Zim Bog yesterday morning I came across a bunch of Harlequin Blueflags on McDavitt Road. A great tool for easily getting a successful ID of your wildflowers may be found via “WildflowerSearch.Org“. Make certain you enter your location and date.

In addition this year’s Thanksgiving dinner was hanging out in a tree. The young wild turkeys could not be more than a week old, but they could already fly.

Northland Glassland Birds

Year 9,

One does not think of “grassland birds” and the Northland at the same time. Boreal Forest is the habitat which quickly comes to mind in our area, but if you know where to look, there are some great grassland habitats both in Northeastern Minnesota and Northwest Wisconsin.

Driving Wisconsin 13 towards BayField but not further than the Cloverland Town Hall and the Johnson Mitigation Wetlands provides excellent grassland habitat (once one leaves US53 a few miles behind). I found this Upland Sandpiper (a rare find for our area) on Poplar River Road. Believe it or not my viewing opportunities for this bird are already getting shorter. Within a few weeks it will be one of our first southward migrants … on its way to South America.

The other area I like is the farmland in and around Meadowlands, and just south of Sax-Zim Bog. A drive through the grasslands may be combined with some great Boreal birding only a few miles apart. This Dickcissel, which is always a later arrival (and some summers not at all) , was advertising for a mate on Andrews Junction Road.

And of course … old reliable, the Bobolink!

Finally a grassland drive is quite pretty right now. The wildflowers are beginning to be spectacular. It is Lupine time near Lake Superior!

Great Gray Owl Morning Magic!

Year 9

Magical! How else may one describe well over a half hour that a person spends with a Great Gray Owl shortly after sunrise? Such was the case yesterday morning when I found this Great Gray Owl hunting. For the next few weeks parent Great Gray Owls may be found hunting  early in the morning (first 2 hours after sunrise) up in Sax-Zim Bog as they work at feeding hungry owlets. Unlike the crowds of winter, I was by myself for most of my owl watching. Eventually, one person (a good friend) found me on the remote road and stopped to also watch. By that point it was fun to share with a friend!

I have included a HUGE number of images. However the first photograph and two movies will give you a quick idea of my magical morning.

  • Video #1 link for email subscribers … 3 seconds expanded to 25 seconds … about 40 photos)
  • Video #2 link for email subscribers (vole searching … as opposed to soul searching!)

More photographs of my Great Gray Owl Magical Morning. These images are from three different perches used by the owl. For about ten minutes at each location it would remain almost motionless, occasionally moving its head to better triangulate sound.