On the weekend of February 24, 25 and the 26th, I led a field trip for the Laughing Whitefish Audubon Society at the Sax-zim bog in Northern Minnesota. The highlights were 2 Great Gray Owls, a very cooperative Northern Hawk Owl, Black Billed Magpies, Gray Jays and a Moose!
On the 24th we got to the bog at 1:50pm. We saw a Black Billed Magpie, 3 Rough-legged Hawks, 2 Northern Shrikes and other usual winter birds like siskins, redpolls, chickadees and a Red-Breasted Nuthatch. As it was getting closer to dusk, we ran into another birder who just saw a wolf. We were ,unfortunately, a few minutes late and did not see it. He told us he saw a Northern Hawk Owl a few minutes before and kindly showed us where it was. We did not see it at first but after a few minutes of looking I found it on the top of a tamarack tree.
The birder then brought us to where he had previously seen Great Gray Owls. We were there for about 10 minutes when we saw a car down the road with its flashers on. We headed towards the car and when we got to them they told us they just saw a Great Gray. As we were talking to them a Great Gray flew onto a snag behind us! We got good looks at it even though it was pretty dark by this time. The owl flew across the road. I walked down the road to where the owl was and my dad turned the car around. As I was watching the owl a second Great Gray flew in. For a few seconds one owl landed on top of the other owl. We were able to watch them for a few more minutes before it got too dark.
On Saturday, we got to the bog at 8:30am. At about 10am we found a moose on the side of the road in the southern part of the bog. The moose was very tolerant of the people watching it. We watched the moose for about 10 minutes before we moved on to look for Sharp-tailed Grouse. We found 4 Sharp-tails near some bird feeders. Our group then headed to the Sax-zim bog welcome center. On the way to the welcome center there was a porcupine just off the road. At the welcome center there were siskins, redpolls, chickadees and 2 Gray Jays.
The next stop was to look for the Hawk Owl from the previous day. We soon found the owl thanks to a small crowd that was watching it. We then headed to a bird feeding station that was close to the owl. Highlights there were Evening and Pine Grosbeaks along with many redpolls. For the rest of the day we pretty much drove up and down McDavitt and Admiral roads, in search of Great Gray Owls, Black-backed woodpeckers and Boreal Chickadees. Although we found none of the listed species, we were looking from about 2pm to dusk. As it was getting closer to dusk, we found a Bald Eagle perched in a snag off of McDavitt road and that may have been a reason why we did not see a great gray. On our way back to Duluth, a Snowy Owl flew across the road but ,unfortunately, no one else in the group saw it.
On sunday we saw some Gray Jays and Rough Legged Hawks but not much else. We saw a total of 24 bird species, a Moose, a Porcupine and Wolf tracks on the trip.
On the 24th we got to the bog at 1:50pm. We saw a Black Billed Magpie, 3 Rough-legged Hawks, 2 Northern Shrikes and other usual winter birds like siskins, redpolls, chickadees and a Red-Breasted Nuthatch. As it was getting closer to dusk, we ran into another birder who just saw a wolf. We were ,unfortunately, a few minutes late and did not see it. He told us he saw a Northern Hawk Owl a few minutes before and kindly showed us where it was. We did not see it at first but after a few minutes of looking I found it on the top of a tamarack tree.
The birder then brought us to where he had previously seen Great Gray Owls. We were there for about 10 minutes when we saw a car down the road with its flashers on. We headed towards the car and when we got to them they told us they just saw a Great Gray. As we were talking to them a Great Gray flew onto a snag behind us! We got good looks at it even though it was pretty dark by this time. The owl flew across the road. I walked down the road to where the owl was and my dad turned the car around. As I was watching the owl a second Great Gray flew in. For a few seconds one owl landed on top of the other owl. We were able to watch them for a few more minutes before it got too dark.
On Saturday, we got to the bog at 8:30am. At about 10am we found a moose on the side of the road in the southern part of the bog. The moose was very tolerant of the people watching it. We watched the moose for about 10 minutes before we moved on to look for Sharp-tailed Grouse. We found 4 Sharp-tails near some bird feeders. Our group then headed to the Sax-zim bog welcome center. On the way to the welcome center there was a porcupine just off the road. At the welcome center there were siskins, redpolls, chickadees and 2 Gray Jays.
The next stop was to look for the Hawk Owl from the previous day. We soon found the owl thanks to a small crowd that was watching it. We then headed to a bird feeding station that was close to the owl. Highlights there were Evening and Pine Grosbeaks along with many redpolls. For the rest of the day we pretty much drove up and down McDavitt and Admiral roads, in search of Great Gray Owls, Black-backed woodpeckers and Boreal Chickadees. Although we found none of the listed species, we were looking from about 2pm to dusk. As it was getting closer to dusk, we found a Bald Eagle perched in a snag off of McDavitt road and that may have been a reason why we did not see a great gray. On our way back to Duluth, a Snowy Owl flew across the road but ,unfortunately, no one else in the group saw it.
On sunday we saw some Gray Jays and Rough Legged Hawks but not much else. We saw a total of 24 bird species, a Moose, a Porcupine and Wolf tracks on the trip.
Great Gray Owl
Moose
Northern Hawk Owl
White-Winged Crossbill
Great Gray Owl
Gray Jay