This winter there are lots of Bohemian Waxwings down from Canada, but even though I had seen quite a few of these birds, my favorite waxwing location was still striking out. This afternoon that situation changed! If you want to see Bohemian Waxwings, look for fruit trees near heavy forest, and you will find waxwings. It is always better to find locations with lots of fruit trees, and not just one or two Mountain Ash or Pygmy Crabapple trees. Once both the waxwings and pine grosbeaks find the fruit, they will hang out for a long time in the area. This afternoon I saw over 250 Bohemian Waxwings, and I know their numbers will only increase.
Tag Archives: MN North: Two Harbors Highlands
Bald Eagles Think 4 Year Old Toddlers are Scary!
Two days ago I was birding near a favorite spt, an old apple farm which is a bit inland from Lake Superior. The Bald Eagle pictured here was hunting at the farm until some toddlers came out to play. Uff dah! Little kids are scary! The sequence duration of photographs is no more than a two seconds.
Small Humans Spotted
Raise Wings … Rotate into the Wind
Take-Off
Final Close of of the Bald Eagle
Note: Large birds will almost always take-off into the wind.
Pine Siskin and Friends
A quick winter birding report for NE Minnesota including Sax-Zim Bog. The promised eruption of winter finches is reality. At this time, most of the grosbeaks, redpolls, and other finches are north of the Duluth area. There is a nice sized flock of Evening Grosbeaks using the Sax-Zim Bog bird feeders. As always the best time to see these “yellow birds” is shortly after sunrise. Most of the other finches are not yet using feeders as there is plenty of natural food in the woods. However, the magic hour to easily find them on backroads “gritting up” seems to be around 8:45 to 9:00 am.
Unfortunately the number of raptors, such as our native Great Gray Owls, and migrating into the area Rough-Legged Hawks are way down. I am beginning to believe our local owls did not have a good year breeding. Some of the other raptor populations may have been affected by avian flu (i.e. preyed upon infected ducks). Hawk Ridge had one of its lowest season totals in terms of “banded birds”. Finally, Snowy Owls have not yet appears in the Twin Ports. Hopefully the latter part of December and early January will bring some Canadian owls down to our area. Time will tell, but numbers and sightings are sparse.
This morning I found this Pine Siskin hanging out with a Goldfinch Flock.
In addition, this Bald Eagle was eating moose. I don’t often find moose carcasses, and will have to revisit the scene of the crime. Moose are a lot bigger than deer, and often attract wolves, bobcat and lynx, but I need to go close to sundown.