Tag Archives: MN North: Two Harbors Highlands

Catching Up at Year’s End

Year 3,

Time to clean up photographs from the past two months as I sit here on the first day of 2017. There are two birding trips I never reported upon, and have some good images. Back in mid November I took a drive up Lake County #3 which leaves the Northshore of Lake Superior at the mouth of the Stewart River.  This is an occasional birding route of mine, and 13 miles inland I catch the logging road, East Alger Grade to connect to Lake County #2 which comes back down into Two Harbors.

The second trip was a few days prior to New Year’s when I drove down to Canal Park. In addition to hundreds of bouncing goldeneyes, there is one beautiful male long-tailed duck.

Rough-Legged Hawk on Lake County #3

Canal Park Goldeneyes and Long-Tailed Duck

Bouncing Bobbleheads!  🙂

Townsend Solitaire and Other Stuff!

Year 3, ,

I went looking for Bohemian Waxwings today. A few flocks of these northern birds had been reported in the local fruit trees. Instead, I found something much more unusual for northern Minnesota, a Townsend Solitaire. This grey bird was enjoying an afternoon feed in some fruit trees with temperatures that were 50 degrees warmer than Sunday morning (from -21F to +35F). Welcome to winter in the Arrowhead. I never did find the Bohemians, but they tend to be my nemesis bird!

Townsend Solitaire Eating Frozen Berries!

After some fun with the local rarity it was out to Old Vermilion Trail where I needed to refill my public bird feeders. While the northern finches have not appeared in the feeders, I do not have a hen pheasant enjoying sloppy seconds from all the local chickadees. Pheasant are rather usual in the northern Boreal Forest. Just the normal visitors out on Old Vermilion Trail!

Finally, here is a video I forgot to post of the pine grosbeaks from a few days ago!

Frozen Hotspot Birding Map: Duluth Area

Year 3,

The overnight low in Duluth was -21F (-29.5C). Although the official start of winter is a few days away, here in northern Minnesota I have always considered Thanksgiving as the approximate start to winter. Birding in these extreme conditions can be a challenge, but it is fun to find Canadian sub-Arctic birds which spend the cold weather months on Lake Superior’s Arctic Riviera (Duluth!).

Key winter birding facts are:

  • Find the fruit … find the birds (mountain ash and crab apple trees)
  • Pine forests loaded with cones
  • Forests protected from the Northwind

Over the past few days, some of my top winter birding spots yielded Pine Grosbeaks, and even a Townsend Solitaire (rare for our area)!  In addition to my winter birding map I’ve included for the Duluth area at the bottom of this post, remember these other great cold season birding opportunities in our area:

Pine Grosbeaks Feeding Near Korkki Nordic

A Townsend Solitaire in the Riley Road berry trees

Trumpeter Swans on a -19F Mississippi River morning (Taken this morning in Monticello which although not northeastern Minnesota, certainly qualifies as a frozen hotspot)

Duluth Area Winter Birding Map (right click to download)