Okay … summer is still one month away, and last year we actually had snow during late May. Regardless, the summer bug eating birds have reappeared and are looking for mates. One of those birds is a Bobolink.

When I was a young boy in the 1960’s, bobolinks were one of the birds in my National Geographic Song and Garden Birds of North America book which I most wanted to see. However growing up in the Boreal Forest meant seeing a bobolink was a pipe dream. Although my parents liked birds, none of us knew about Sax-Zim Bog (only 35 minutes away). This book moved with me to prep school (Exeter), college (Dartmouth), my job in the Twin Cities (Honeywell), and finally back to Duluth! Some books are worth keeping! I think the combination of this book and our two bird feeders drove my interest in birds. What made you become interested in birding???

Make certain to read the comments to this post. Folks are starting to add how they became interested in birds!

Yesterday morning I had a grand time watching and listening to Bobolinks. Not many females are yet back in northern Minnesota, but the males were singing up a storm (email subscribers view / listen to this bobolink video). All the birds in this post were seen yesterday in the non Boreal portion of Sax-Zim Bog.

Bobolinks

Eastern Kingbird

The Sandhill Crane Family (wait for me!!!)

May and June are a great time for birding in northern Minnesota. Migration is in full force in May, and then birds are singing out as they define territories and find mates. Yesterday I had a fantastic experience when I found a small flock of Wilson’s Phalaropes. These birds were migrating north, and it was only the second time in my life I had ever seen such a bird. They do not inhabit the Boreal Forest where I live, but a drive over to Meadowlands (only 35 miles) and hanging out amongst the farms and meadows just south of the Bog yielded this fantastic sighting.

Why whirlpools? Because this bird is darn smart! If one spins in a tight circle fast enough it creates a small whirlpool which sucks bugs up to the surface of the water to be gobbled up.  Here are two videos of whirlpool eating (video links for email subscribers … video 1 and video 2).

Interestingly enough, the female is the much prettier bird of this species. She mates with multiple males during a breeding season, but then has nothing to do with incubating or feeding … not much of a motherly instinct!

Wilson’s Phalaropes

The less colorful male …

Part of the flock with two Semipalmated-Plovers

Female Swimming by herself

Birding Cross-Country Knicker Socks

There were lots of requests to see me wearing my knee socks. As promised, here I am! If you would like to find knicker socks, I have purchased mine from this company (red is my favorite color for skiing). If you want to see more options, search via Google for the words “trachten” and “socks”.

Yesterday I spent six hours in the Bog, leaving well before 6 am. Visiting Sax-Zim in the winter is very popular, but the Spring and Summer should be on birder’s “to do list. The Bog generates bugs which means lots of warblers, including the rare Connecticut Warbler. With some bug repellant, or restricting your visits to walking back roads, the mosquitoes are not too bad.

Great Grays Owls are busy feeding before sunset and after sunrise given they have hungry young mouths to feed. If you can find a cloudy (even foggy) day without rain, one may even see the owls out in the middle of the day (personal experience).

Regardless, it was a great time at the Bog yesterday. I found a Belted Kingfisher nest hole where I may stay concealed, but close. It will be fun in a little over a month when the babies hatch. The parents were courting yesterday morning.

Approaching at the Nest Hole

Leaving the Nest Hole

Great Grey Owl hunting after sunrise