Throughout this past week (Sunday through Saturday), I showed-around a bird photographer visiting from California, and we covered the northwoods of northern Wisconsin and far northeastern Minnesota. He has never experienced the upper Midwest before. We were treated to the stunning scenic views of rushing rivers through the northwoods of NW Wisconsin, the rustic and awe-ing habitat of Sax-Zim Bog, great views of raptors at Hawk Ridge, an intense of rush of raptors (as a cold front moved through) at Two Harbors up the north shore, gulls throughout the Twin Ports, and closer to the end of the trip, we spent a night in Grand Marais, MN – checking out the Gunflint Trail near Canada!
Before showing the lists of birds seen per day over the past week, I wanted to share a neat photo I took this morning at Sax-Zim Bog. The Bald Eagle had a little scratch on it's face. It's one of my favorite shots this fall, and can be found in the link below: http://www.pbase.com/image/139799076 I’ve typed up a little summary of day-by-day sightings that were seen while out in the field. Over the past week, I’ve shot nearly 3,000 photos, and it will take me a little while to check through them. I am very excited to share the photos with you! *Nov 13 (Sax-Zim Bog - MN)* Red-tailed Hawk Rough-legged Hawk Bald Eagle Northern Shrike Hairy Woodpecker Black-backed Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker Red-breasted Nuthatch Black-capped Chickadee Common Raven American Crow Northern Shrike Black-billed Magpie Blue Jay Gray Jay Snow Bunting White-winged Crossbill American Goldfinch *Nov 14 (Wisconsin Point – WI, Hawk Ridge – MN, **Canal** **Park** – MN)* Red-tailed Hawk (including one dark morph) Surf Scoter Black Scoter White-winged Scoter Common Merganser Bonaparte’s Gull (32!!) Thayer’s Gull (8 Juvenile, 1 Adult) – all seen from the shore of Gull Bluff Herring Gull Ring-billed Gull Glaucous Gull Great Black-backed Gull Blue Jay Black-capped Chickadee Rock Pigeon Snow Bunting Common Redpoll *Nov 15 (Brule River – WI, **Ashland** – WI)* Tundra Swan Mallard American Black Duck Black Scoter (4 of them, from Maslowski Beach – Ashland, WI) White-winged Scoter (2 of them, from Maslowski Beach – Ashland, WI) Canada Goose Red-tailed Hawk Rough-legged Hawk – 1 dark morph Bald Eagle Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Hairy Woodpecker Blue Jay Downy Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker Red-breasted Nuthatch Black-capped Chickadee Dark-eyed Junco Red Crossbill Common Redpoll American Goldfinch *Wolves were heard from the southern edge of the Brule River. We were photographing Red Crossbills in the bog habitat and heard the wolves off in the distance. It was amazing! *Nov 16 (**Duluth** – MN, Two Harbors – MN, up to Grand Marais – MN)* …we left Duluth around 7 this morning, and headed up the north shore to Grand Marais for the night; stopping at many places along the way. Agate Bay and the main lighthouse walkway were explored, and a big push of raptors came through during our early morning walk along the lighthouse walkway. In one hour from this location, I counted and photographed 21 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS (5 were dark), 8 RED-TAILED HAWKS, 12 BALD EAGLES and 2 GOLDEN EAGLES. The raptors were cutting over the water and flying nearly overhead as we were on the cliff of Lake Superior! Early migrating Bald Eagles and winter finches were seen heading south around/after sunrise, so many birds were tallied below. The grand tallies of the birds observed that day are below. Tundra Swan 28 Herring Gull Ring-billed Gull Rough-legged Hawk 25 Red-tailed Hawk 11 Bald Eagle 24 Golden Eagle 2 Common Redpoll 330 Bohemian Waxwing 18 Pine Siskin 6 White-winged Crossbill 55 Purple Finch 13 Snow Bunting 52 *Nov 17 (Grand Marais – MN, Gunflint Trail – MN, back to **Duluth** - MN)* Horned Grebe Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Mallard Ruffed Grouse Rough-legged Hawk Bald Eagle Black-backed Woodpecker Black-capped Chickadee Red-breasted Nuthatch Blue Jay Gray Jay Black-capped Chickadee Bohemian Waxwing Pine Grosbeak Red Crossbill White-winged Crossbill Common Redpoll *We heard a wolf briefly once along the Gunflint Trail, and one of the biggest surprises was seeing FOUR foxes! *Nov 18 (Wisconsin Point – WI, Indian Pt. Campground – MN, **Canal** **Park* * – MN)* Mallard Canada Geese Lesser Scaup Northern Pintail LONG-TAILED DUCK – 1 (WIsconsin Point, seen with the flock of fly-by scaup) Glaucous Gull – 3 (1 adult, 2 immature) Thayer’s Gull – 3 juvenile, plus one 3rd-cycle at Canal Park Iceland Gull – 1 adult Great Black-backed Gull – one 1st winter Rock Pigeon *Nov 19 (Sax-Zim Bog – MN)* Great Gray Owl - heard at sunrise, but not seen Pileated Woodpecker Black-capped Chickadee Gray Jay Black-billed Magpie Dark-eyed Junco White-breasted Nuthatch Red-breasted Nuthatch Northern Shrike Red Crossbill White-winged Crossbill American Tree Sparrow Pine Grosbeak American Goldfinch Common Redpoll *one Porcupine was seen too! Good birding, Erik Bruhnke Duluth, MN -- *NATURALLY AVIAN* - Guided Birdwatching Trips and Bird photography www.pbase.com/birdfedr www.naturallyavian.blogspot.com [email protected] ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
