I know that Black-throated Blue Warblers aren't uncommon along the Shore, but it seems like many of the spots can be a difficult hike for some. When I was working in the area on Wednesday, I found an easy-access Black-throated Blue Warbler along the Superior Hiking Trail.
Getting there from 61, heading north: Just past the Cascade River State Park main entrance, turn left on CR 7. After about 4.5 miles, there is a left turn that should be either 48 or 158...sorry I didn't check more carefully. You're heading north for about .3 miles and come to a T intersection with some red pines in front of you. Turn left (now you're definitely on 158) and drive for about 1/2 mile. The road takes a 90 degree turn to the right here. Continue about another 1/2 mile to the parking lot for the Superior Hiking Trail. The Black-throated Blue Warbler was singing and eventually visible about 100' or so down the trail to the east side of the road, relatively flat terrain. The trail intersection with the "Sundling Creek Pond" sign would be a good spot to listen for it. On my way out, I could actually hear the bird singing from the parking lot, so it's possible to find from the road. Otherwise, Grand Marais and vicinity was really slow during what little birding time I had during my 4 days there. There were 2 Swainson's Thrushes singing from the west side of the Cascade River State Park campground where the campground comes closest to Cascade River and 4 Evening Grosbeaks plus a Magnolia Warbler at the so-called 'overflow campground' near the maintenance shop. -- Shawn Conrad http://users.2z.net/itasca_chippewa_birding/ ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
