Hello: Birders from 17 states joined us this year as we celebrated our fourth Sax-Zim Bog Winter Birding Festival held at Meadowlands, MN. On Friday evening 3 school buses full of participants headed out in the bog to search for a Great Gray Owl. At around 5:20pm Chris West called me to report that Seth Cutright spotted our first Great Gray Owl along CR 7 south of Byrn's Greenhouse. I called the other leaders and soon all the buses were able to get eye level views of this owl as it hunted along the ditches. Giving every participant looks of their very first Great Gray Owl within 100 feet of the buses!! Way to go Seth!
Later that evening after eating homemade pasties and other great offerings, Paul Bannick of Washington gave a wonderful presentation of the relationships of woodpeckers and owl species throughout the United States. Saturday morning all the participants got onto their designated buses and headed into Sax-Zim Bog, Aitkin County and Lars Benson of Duluth took a small group to Duluth. I have not yet counted all the species seen on Saturday but I'll share the highlights instead. Long-tailed Ducks: Spotted by Lars Benson's group in Two Harbors Great Black-backed Gull: Spotted by Lars Benson's group at Canal Park out on a ice flow. Glaucous Gull: Spotted by Lars Benson's group at Canal Park out on a ice flow. Goshawk(s): Lars Benson spotted an adult at the Superior, WI Landfill, a immature bird seen flying over McDavitt Rd and another adult seen on CR 7. Rough-legged Hawks: Many seen in the "bog" and also in the open fields in Aitkin County. Northern Hawk Owls: (2) Seen by everyone on the festival. Great Gray Owls (2) These sightings were made after Friday evening by a few individuals on Saturday and were in new locations. No owls were seen on Sunday. Sharp-tailed Grouse: All Aitkin Co. field trips were able to watch the grouse display on their lek south of Tamarack. Black-backed Woodpeckers: Seen on the logging road going west into the bog and also seen on the logging road going east into the bog. Also saw a third Black-backed Woodpecker on the Admiral Rd at the feeders (3.5 miles north of Sax-Rd) Northern Shrikes: Seen in many locations. Black-billed Magpie: Seen in Sax-Zim Bog and in Aitkin County. Bohemian Waxwings: 200 seen on the west edge of Floodwood along Hwy 2 and a small flock north of Tamarack along Kestrel Ave. Boreal Chickadee (3) seen at the Admiral Rd feeders. Gray Jays: Seen in many locations. Common Redpoll: Numbers are increasing at most of the feeders in Sax-Zim Bog. Hoary Redpoll(s): High numbers for the festival! 5 were seen on Saturday. 3 Hoary Redpolls coming to a feeder on the Stone Lake Rd. I did not get a exact location but there are only a few houses located back there. 2 classic male Hoary Redpolls were seen at the Morse's feeders on the Blue Spruce Rd. Pine Grosbeak: Seen in many locations Tree Sparrow: Seen at Kim Risen's feeders in Aitkin Co. Snow Bunting: Seen at the Sharp-tailed Grouse Lek south of Tamarack. * Only big miss not reported were Evening Grosbeaks.. Mammals seen during the festival: -Red Fox -Coyote -Fisher -Mink -Bobcat -White-tail Deer -Red Squirrel -Grey Squirrel Saturday night we ate a terrific meal followed by Sparky Stensaas beautiful presentation of orchids, butterflies, birds and mammals that can be found in Sax-Zim Bog followed by this unbelievable 20 minute film Sparky created showing some of the wildlife, owls, flowers and beautiful landscapes he captured in Sax-Zim Bog and other bogs located nearby. A real hit! Sunday was a day of concern as a few participants headed home to be with loved ones with the snow storm pounding southern Minnesota & Wisconsin. The field trips still went out and many participants were able to locate the Sharp-tailed Grouse and Hawk Owls and other birds in the gusty windy day. I'll give the MOU members notice on this listserv when the 2011 Sax-Zim Bog Winter Birding Festival will be aired on PBS Nature Adventures out of South Dakota but shown in Minnesota, Wisconsin and other upper Midwest states in November 2011. Stay tune as they got some great shots on some great birds plus the festival events. In a few months from now we (Toivola Meadowlands Development Board) will be launching the new Sax-Zim Bog website (Sax-ZimBog.com) this new website will include the new festival page along with new maps of Sax-Zim Bog, Checklists, lodging, Guided Tours, Projects in the works and host of every imaginable bit of information to be avail to all birders visiting the bog. Stay tune! This site will be the official site of Sax-Zim Bog. Thank you and the dates of 2012 Sax-Zim Bog Winter Birding Festival will be held on Feb 17-19 2012 Please bookmark these dates and join us! Mike Mike Hendrickson Duluth, Minnesota Website: http://www.mikehendricksonbirding.com Blog: http://colderbythelakebirding.blogspot.com/ ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
