Tag Archives: MN North: Sax-Zim Bog

The Fall Birding Doldrums

Background, Year 8, ,
  • Most of our summer birds have departed the Northland
  • Winter birds from up north have not yet arrived
  • Eternal thick fog seems to have coated the area

In short, the birding opportunities have been few and far between over the past week. Perhaps the only excitement was fixing the bear damage at the new public bird feeders at French River.

Winter birding is just around the corner. Two prime locations near Duluth are Sax-Zim Bog just north of town, and Superior (just across the bridge from Duluth). I recently created two short birding guides for a friend’s business. Folks may enjoy downloading the free PDF’s.

The sun did briefly make an appearance yesterday morning, and I caught this Pileated Woodpecker in flight.

Bog Fog Birds or F’Owl Colors!

Year 1

We picked up a fair amount of rain over the weekend, particularly in the overnight hours. This has a dampening effect on our local owls ability to hunt. After all, “who” likes to hang out in a rainstorm. When the weather forecast showed extremely heavy ground fog after midnight the past two nights, and light winds each morning, I thought one of my friendly neighborhood Great Gray Owls might be out hunting long after sunrise. I hit the jackpot both mornings, and even left a hunting owl this morning just before high noon. Does anyone ever leave a hot fishing spot when the fish are biting? I did!

Each morning I arrived in Sax-Zim Bog long after sunrise (not normal), but I needed to have some ground fog burn off if I was going to have a chance at seeing anything. As often stated before in this blog, think like a bird when heading out in the woods … and find the food sources.

There are quite a lot of photographs in this post. Sorry (no I’m not!). It will give you an idea what the last two mornings were like in terms of owling. I spent close to six hours watching “old gray”. When the sun came out in bursts, the colors were amazing. The Tamarack needles are beginning to have their golden glow; the aspens are also yellow.

Day #1: Fall Colors & Ground Fog

Day #2: Tamarack Take-Off 1 (and a few Spruce)

Day #2: Tamarack Take-Off 2 (and a few Spruce)

Day #2: The Claw! (make certain you maximize the first image of the talon)

Day #2: Cedar Tree Camouflage

Cemeteries and Septic Ponds: Ross’s Goose

Year 1,

Yup, I like to hang out at Cemeteries and Septic Ponds (Sewage Treatment Ponds). Yesterday afternoon I struck paydirt at the LakeView Cemetery in Two Harbors when I saw a rare northeastern Minnesota migrant, a Ross’s Goose.

This Ross’s Goose was hanging out with about 1,000+ of its Canadian buddies yesterday afternoon at the cemetery. While Ross’s and Snow Geese might be a common sight in the western Minnesota border region with the Dakotas, it is rare in NE Minnesota. If you wondered how I was able to get close to the goose with so many birds around, the answer is to NEVER walk directly towards a bird. I spent ten minutes walking in oblique, non direct lines towards the geese. They would look at me, but decide I was not a threat. I made sure to stop every few feet.

Later this morning I plan on driving up to the Castle Danger Sewage Treatment Ponds. I generally hike / bird the area outside the fenced in ponds. It is at Castle Dangle four years ago when I found / rescued Silver the Snowy Owl while hiking.

Even with my propensity to hang out at these aforementioned unusual locations, I was “bog bound” two mornings ago. The combination of heavy ground fog overnight, plus light winds in the first two hours after dawn led me to believe my favorite Great Gray Owl would be out hunting after sunrise as the fog cleared. I was not disappointed. It was beautiful to watch the owl hunt with all the fall colors around.