2010 Tour Narrative
In Brief: Northern Minnesota may not come to mind when most people think of a winter vacation. But birders know better, and the snow-covered bogs and forests north of Duluth are home to some of the most enigmatic species on the continent. Our tour was based in Duluth, where we would head out each day in a different direction in pursuit of all sorts of boreal denizens. The famous Sax-Zim Bog did not disappoint, and many other locations were also very productive. Temperatures ran 5-10 degrees above normal, and with light winds on most days, it was more than tolerable outside. The sight of a total of nine different Northern Hawk Owls, Great Gray Owl, Snowy Owl, and Sharp-tailed Grouse dancing in the snow quickly warmed spirits, if not fingers and toes. Pine Grosbeaks, Gray Jays, and Pine Siskins were common, and other irruptive target birds seen included a number of Northern Shrikes, Boreal Chickadees, and Evening Grosbeaks. Other highlights included Lesser Scaup, Iceland and Glaucous Gulls, five Coyotes, and a family group of four Bobcats.
In Detail: Things really got going during a long day in the renowned Sax-Zim Bog area. Four Northern Hawk Owls, three Boreal Chickadees, and four Evening Grosbeaks (in really short supply this year) were the highlights of the day.
The next day, we headed north on the county roads through Superior National Forest in Lake County. An unexpected treat was a Great Gray Owl along Stony River Road, a happy find if only for the fact that it meant fewer early starts and late endings to the upcoming days. And after all, it was a Great Gray Owl—and they are just awesome. Period.
A pack of five Coyotes and a group of four Bobcats curled up in the middle of a side road were two of the mammalian highlights of the trip. Two of our “best” birds of the trip, at least from the standpoint of wintertime rarity in northern Minnesota, were seen in Two Harbors: an overwintering Ring-billed Gull and a drake Lesser Scaup.
On the third day of the tour, people even got to sleep in a bit! We didn’t leave the hotel until 7:30, when we began the day with a walk around the harbor. The best stop of the day was the Superior Landfill in Wisconsin, where we were treated to a very good show, highlighted by three Glaucous and two Iceland Gulls. Unfortunately, the weather turned against us in the afternoon, so we tried our luck to relocate a Snowy Owl in the Twin Ports. When we actually spotted one on the mast of a small ore boat across the frozen bay from Duluth’s Park Point, the feeling was like what we’d experienced with the Great Gray: not just excitement about seeing a wicked cool bird, but a sense of that “need-that-species” weight falling from our shoulders (and the group was once again thankful that we might catch a few more minutes of sleep with another crepuscular target bird under our belts). This Snowy was a lifer for three participants, and finding it meant that our final day would open up with more opportunities to look for other birds.
On the last day of the tour, we headed west to Aitkin County, where extensive agricultural fields support a healthier population of Sharp-tailed Grouse than does the Sax-Zim area, and there is one particular location where the birds actually dance all year long, even during winter snows! And sure enough, shortly after sunrise, a total of 16 Sharp-tailed Grouse arrived in a field and began to display, with a strong wind and light snow still falling. Exploring more of Aitkin County yielded of improved views of Northern Shrikes and five Northern Hawk Owls, bringing our trip total all of the way up to a truly extraordinary nine different birds. We then came back through Sax-Zim Bog, hitting a few feeders and other locations in an attempt to clean up a few species.
Our final stop was Main Street in Superior, where I hoped lightning might strike twice and the Snowy Owl would return. As the sun set, under finally clearing skies, the temperatures began to plummet. Then, out of nowhere, the ghostly owl appeared in flight, heading straight for its perch from the night before! With the last light shining on the western horizon, we celebrated an excellent end to an excellent birding trip.
- Derek Lovitch
Updated: February 2010