Tag Archives: MN North: Stony Point

Wrong Owl!

Year 9,

Late yesterday afternoon I drove over to Sax-Zim Bog. After two nights of horrible weather with 40+ mph wind gusts, and rain the first night, I thought the Great Gray Owls would be out before sunset and hungry. After all, the prior two nights should have made successful hunting very difficult.

Apparently one of the local Bog owls was in tune with me, but it wasn’t a Great Gray. Shortly before sunset I found this Great Horned Owl starting its evening hunt. I got all excited because if the owl would only hold still for about five minutes (often happens), I would be able to work my way through the forest and get the bird lined up with the essentially full moon … orange given the early hour. Not!

My other failure this week was not finding Boreal Chickadees at Stoney Point on Sunday. Apparently these little guys are erupting southward this season, but I could only find Black-Caps in the early morning light.

Flinally, be aware there is a winter storm watch for the Northland starting Thursday. Thus, many of the backroads could become very difficult, if not impossible for driving. Remember, if you find a dirt road plowed, there is a very strong possibility of logging taking place in the near vicinity. Logging trucks do NOT backup. These roads are single laned, and you should be prepared to back up your car a looonnnng ways.

My presentation about birding in Sax-Zim Bog and Northeastern Minnesota is ready for my two Chicago area talks later this week. Here is the link. I would be happy to present for other birding organizations. While my time is donated, I do expect the sponsoring organization to cover my expenses.

Meet Me at Lester River!

Year 9,

Lester River has finally turned on! Our huge snowfalls and rains meant the river flow has been extremely high this spring / summer, but with August approaching the current speed has finally fallen to late summer velocities. The end result is food may finally be more easily found within the river … for fishing and bug eating birds. This morning when the sun rose high enough in the sky to start kissing the ravine’s river bottom (about 7:30 am), feeding got real busy.

One wants to bird on the “non lake” side … not the mouth of the river on the Lake Superior side of the highway. If traffic is difficult, use the Lakewalk tunnel to safely pass under the road. Your birding should be two fold. First use the overlooks and viewpoints next to the ravine to scope things out. I quickly determined three young kingfisher chicks were demanding to be fed, and the local cedar waxwing population was ambusing bugs from tree tops and branches. Activity slowed down by 9 am.

Cedar Waxwing’s

Belted Kingfisher

Hooded Merganser (female w/o much of a hood … perhaps a juvenile)

A Merlin Surveys the Area and Scouts for Breakfast at Stoney Point

Winter’s Last Gasps – Fluff Watch

Year 9,

This morning I am awaiting a new winter storm which will dominate our region for the next two days … rain, sleet, snow and ice plus 40+ mph winds. Yesterday afternoon when it was just plain windy (32 mph winds), I hiked over to visit Amy, the Great Horned Owl Mom. Each year, I start my official “fluff watch” on March 23rd. The owlets may have already hatched, but for the first seven plus days the youngsters will be under mom 100% of the time. Here are a few seconds of windblown Mom (video link for email subscribers)

I did stop and watch The Deeps waterfall on Amity Creek during my afternoon hike. It lost much of its ice cap yesterday (video link for email subscriber). The footbridge seen in the video is 225 yards from the end of my driveway.

Meanwhile about 800 yards down at the lakeshore, the blow was apparent. I was very surprised to see three trumpeter swans fighting their way north into the wind. Getting to breeding grounds first and choosing a choice territory is a powerful incentive for the male birds. In the fall, one would never see migrating birds fightings such strong winds.