Boreal Chickadee

Tuesday December 20 I was up in Sax-Zim Bog birding with a good friend. We spent most of our time along the Admiral Road which is also called County Road 788. About two weeks ago I hung up some feeders at this traditional location to attract Boreal Chickadees, Gray Jays and winter finches. Boreal Chickadees were making frequent visits to the suet feeders as were Black-capped Chickadees. Red-breasted Nuthatches and Gray Jays. I heard some Common Redpolls flying over and only one Common Redpoll flew in towards the feeders but never actually fed on the feeders. I think when the Northland gets hit with our first major snowfall many birds are going to flock to these feeders. We also saw some White-winged Crossbills flying over head and we had a small flock land right over us providing us with many picture opportunities. The biggest surprise was a adult Northern Goshawk flying over the tree tops heading south in search of prey. These large accipiters are tough to find in the winter due to their nomadic behavior but, it was sure pleasant surprise to have one fly near us. We headed south towards Meadowlands zigzagging along back roads and along the way we spotted several Rough-legged Hawks and a Northern Shrike. On Monday Sax-Zim Bog held its annual Sax-Zim Bog Christmas Bird Count and the count compiler, Sparky Stensaas reported the following birds:

Count Highlights

• 10 Black-billed Magpies
• 28 Rough-legged Hawk
• 125 White-winged Crossbill
• 244 Common Redpoll
• 1 Snowy Owl ( a first since 1991)

Misses include Sharp-tailed Grouse, Black-backed Woodpecker, Great Gray Owl, Northern Hawk Owl and Snow Bunting.  The weather was awfully windy which is probably the reason why many of these birds were missed.

On Saturday December 11th I got reports from a few birders who found Great Gray Owls in Sax-Zim Bog along with a Northern Hawk Owl.  Black-backed Woodpecker was located along McDavitt Road in Sax-Zim Bog as were some Sharp-tailed Grouse gritting/feeding near the railroad tracks along county road 7 just a half mile north of Arkola Road ( CR 52).

We still have yet to get any significant snowfall in the Sax-Zim Bog area which is probably the reason why Northern Hawk Owls are scarce to locate this winter because the owls are not driven to hunt along roadsides for small rodents.  Pine Grosbeaks are in low numbers this winter which is due to plentiful a good crop of natural food sources in Canada, so many winter finches are staying north this winter.  While Hawk Ridge in Duluth counted 37,000 redpolls migrating down the north shore of Lake Superior this fall many of these birds are scattered all over northern Minnesota and are feeding on natural food sources rather than being dependent on bird feeders.  I

What the area needs right now is snow and a lot of snow.   We are way below our normal average this time of the year and I believe once we get our first snow storm the bird scene will immediately change and we will see more birds coming to bird feeders and more owls along the road sides.

Good Birding

Admiral Road feeders

So far this winter season there is hardly any snow on the ground and yesterday while driving around looking for birds the landscape looked more like April than December. I drove down the Admiral Road (CR 788) and stopped at traditional bird feeder site which is located about 2.7 miles north of the Kolu Rd or roughly 3.0 miles north of the Sax Road (CR 28). I stopped at this location to hang up a sunflower feeder and some suet feeders up for the birds. This spot has grown in popularity because the feeders attract resident birds like Gray Jays and Boreal Chickadees. In the past some nearby birding folks from Hibbing maintained the feeders and then a man from Wrenshall took over but I figure all that driving and spending money on feed was getting expensive for these folks to keep these feeders filled with feed each week. So I figure with all the guiding I’ll be doing this winter season I will be visiting this site quite a lot and I can maintain the feeders with my clients. I also would welcome anyone who makes a visit to Sax-Zim Bog to bring along some store bought suet and some sunflower seed and fill the feeders if you make a visit to this site.

Before I made my stop at the Admiral Road, I was birding along the McDavitt Road in search of Great Gray Owls and other winter birds. I stopped my truck and walked down the old logging road off the McDavitt Road and located a female Black-backed Woodpecker working on a spruce tree for beetles and heard several White-winged Crossbills flying over head. The day was getting dark by the time I finished hanging up the feeders and headed back to Meadowlands to grab some dinner at the Trailside Bar & Lounge and then prepare my notes for the Sax-Zim Bog Winter Bird Festival meeting at the community center.

Great Gray Owl

We then headed down to Duluth to look for Snowy Owls and sure enough it did not take long to find a cooperative owl roosting on the railroad tracks in the Port Terminal area. The owl was very tolerant of us as we parked my car some what near the owl and use the car as a blind to take photos. I noticed the owl looked odd with some feathers not in the right places and it looked injured to me. So I got out and walked towards the owl to see if the owl was okay. I got within 15 yards of the owl and it flew a short distance away from me. I made a call to the local snowy owl research/ raptor bander and he also saw this same owl with the odd feathers sticking out of it the other day. The bander has been watching this same Snowy Owl and was planning on capturing the owl to make sure the Snowy Owl weight is up to par and look for any injuries. On Sunday evening on December 11 ,2011 the owl was captured and banded. The Snowy Owl researcher notified me the owl is a immature female owl and she weighed good and all is well with her. That is good knowing that the majority of these wondering Snowy Owls are finding food and doing quite well so far!

Immature female Snowy Owl

So YES there are a lot of good birds to be fond up here!! The Christmas bird counts are taking place this weekend and there will be more reports coming from Aitkin, Sax-Zim Bog and the Duluth area next week and I’ll create another post to update everyone on what birds are around this winter.

Good birding

Mike

Banded Snowy Owl in the Duluth Harbor.

The big news this week is the sudden movement of Snowy Owls being found in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and Michigan.  I truly believe we are seeing the beginnings of a Snowy Owl irruption.  So far in Minnesota most of the Snowy Owl reports are coming from the northwestern section of Minnesota.  Today a Snowy Owl was reported in the Twin Cities where many birders were able to observe this owl and take photos of it.  It looked like one of them was an immature/female plumage type which mean it’s very heavily marked with black feathering.

Its been a while since Minnesota had a Snowy Owl movement and it’s still early.  I suspect we will hearing more reports in the next month or so.  Snowy Owls like open terrain type habitats, but when they move south they are often seen along the shores of Lake Superior, the Duluth harbor, airports and hay fields.  They prey mostly on small rodents like meadow voles and rats when they head south, but if they are hungry I have seen them go after waterfowl and gulls.

Sax-Zim Bog has a lot of good habitat to look for Snowy Owls.  In the past I have seen Snowy Owls along County Road 7 near Byrne’s Greenhouse.  The area near the greenhouse is still good to look for Snowy Owls. There are also a lot of back roads you can take that have good open habitat to look for these owls.  I would suggest the farm areas along County Road 29 north of County Road 133 up to Correction Line road.  Also Dart Road, east or west of County Road 29, has some good open farm fields where you might look for Snowy Owls.  There are also good farm fields worth checking along County Road 52 between the Stickney Road and County Road 7.

If you do see a Snowy Owl please contact me at mlhendrickson@yahoo.com because I would appreciate hearing about any Snowy Owls in the Sax-Zim Bog area.  Its been a long time since I have seen a Snowy Owl away from the Duluth harbor.  Most of the Snowy Owls wintering in the Duluth Harbor area are banded and marked with a special feather paint.  The owl bander puts a green wing tag on the owl with a number on the tag to identify the owl to the bander.  The owl bander then sprays a black feather paint on the back of the head (nape area) and also a black stripe under one of its wings.  Its really sad to look at a black & green Snowy Owl but the owl researcher has been studying  Snowy Owls in the Duluth area since the early 1970′s. I suspect he will continue doing this until he is no longer able to do so. So spotting a Snowy Owl away from the Duluth area is always a treat!

Most of all, spotting a Snowy Owl in the Sax-Zim Bog would be a extra treat for me, but having Snowy Owls winter in the Sax-Zim Bog during the February weekend of the winter birding festival would make a lot of visiting birders very happy!

Good Birding

Northern Goshawks have population cycles that are closely related to the population cycles of Ruffed Grouse.  When Ruffed Grouse numbers are down along with snowshoe rabbit numbers, Goshawks begin to head south to look for other food sources.  This past year the Ruffed Grouse numbers are down and according to the raptor counters at Hawk Ridge there should be a irruption of Northern Goshawks next fall season.  So if you are in need of observing this large accipiter make plans to visit Hawk Ridge during October-November 2012.

The big news for the fall/winter season of 2012-13 is owls.  Yes owls!  Every four years Boreal Owls irrupt and head south from the far northern Boreal Forests in Canada.  Many of these small secretive owls are reported in residential back yards near feeders looking for mice and voles beneath the feeders.  Boreal Owls can also be found along the north shore of Lake Superior where snow is not as deep away from Lake Superior.  The winter of 2012-2013 is the next irruptive cycle for these owls as the last irruptive movement was 2008-2009.

Some birders and raptor enthusiasts are also predicting that Great Gray Owls will also irrupt during the winter season of 2012-2013.  The last big movement of these large owls was 2004-2005.  I do not know why these folks are predicting this and what facts they have to back their predictions but seeing a lot of Great Gray Owls are always fun to witness when these irruptions take place.

Right now there seems to be plenty of White-winged Crossbills and Common Redpolls being reported along the north shore of Lake Superior. Also flocks of these birds are being reported away from the lake.  This winter season might be shaping up to be a decent winter to view the winter specialties of the Bog.

Good Birding

Winter Adult

Birds Seen:

November 5 2011

• 9 first cycle Thayer’s Gull along the Minnesota break wall at the Superior Entry Way.
• 1 2nd  cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull on the Minnesota break wall at the Superior Entry Way.
• 1 2nd cycle Iceland Gull on the Minnesota break wall at the Superior Entry Way.

November 4 2011

• 1 first cycle Glaucous Gull on the Minnesota break wall at the Superior Entry Way.
• Gyrfalcon reported to me by the main hawk counter at Hawk Ridge.  The bird was flying down the north shore from the main over look.

As soon as deer hunting season is over there will be bird reports coming out of Sax-Zim Bog. For now I’ll share sightings of birds in the Duluth – Sax-Zim Bog – North Shore and Aitkin county.

Good birding

In my yard!!

I was ready to sit down and watch the drama between father and sons on one of my favorite TV shows “Orange County Choppers: Senior vs. Junior”  when I noticed a bird out the living room window.  The bird had a gray hood, dark mask through the eyes, bright yellow belly and right away my brain tells me Western Kingbird!!  I put the DVR on pause and ran outside with my camera to take a photo of this new yard bird.  The bird sees me and flies around our house and in the backyard.  I decided to call two friends of mine who would be interested in the sighting. I thought they could help identify the bird because now I am thinking Cassin’s Kingbird as it did not have white outer tail feathers that you would find on a Western Kingbird.

Cassin’s Kingbird is the closest Kingbird species by range and it would be a Minnesota first state record!  Kim Eckert told me he would be right there and he would bring Peder along.  After hanging up the cell phone I watched and waited to see if the bird would reappear in the same crab apple tree where I initially saw it.  Finally it came back and I snapped 5 photos of the mystery kingbird before he flew up and headed to my backyard again.  Kim and Peder arrived and of course the bird never came back despite the hour and half we spent looking for it! Kim and Peder were interested in viewing the photos I had taken of the bird.  When they did, they noticed the large thick bill, the deep notched tail and said, “Its either a Couche’s Kingbird or a Tropical Kingbird.”  An even more rare first state record!

Peder and I decided to look over at the Riverside neighborhood to the east of my yard. Peder, with sharp eyes, located the Kingbird and took two photos of it.  The bird flew over the house and has not been seen since.  Peder was kind enough to send me some links of museum specimens of Couche’s & Tropical Kingbirds.  From my perspective it really looks like this was a Tropical Kingbird and from hearing about other Midwest records it is most likely a Tropical Kingbird judging by bill size and deep forked tail.  There is only 1 Midwest record of a Couches’ Kingbird and the images I saw of this Kingbird don’t match up to what I photographed.

This is not a Sax-Zim Bog related topic but never the less it’s a cool sighting to share with you all.

Good birding,

Mike

Good birding

Mike Hendrickson

See you there!