Winter Duluth MBW & post-MBW Species Summary
January 9 - 10 & January 11, 2025
Bird List (42 total species: 13 on main MBW only + 3 on post-MBW only + 26 on both)
- MAIN = main MBW, January 9-10 (39 species)
- POST = post-MBW, January 11 (29 species)
Trumpeter Swan MAIN (at Canal Park; plus a Tundra Swan found frozen in the ice at Knife
River)
Mallard MAIN, POST
American Black Duck MAIN (1 at Canal Park)
White-winged Scoter MAIN (Canal Park; unusual in winter anywhere in MN)
Common Goldeneye MAIN, POST
Red-breasted Merganser POST (2 or 3 dozen at mouth of the Lester River)
Wild Turkey MAIN, POST (lots of them, especially on the post-MBW)
Ruffed Grouse MAIN (only 1 seen in 3 days?)
Ring-necked Pheasant MAIN, POST ( SW of Meadowlands; not really wild or countable)
Rock Pigeon MAIN, POST
Herring Gull MAIN, POST (a probable adult Thayer’s-type Iceland Gull also seen by KRE at
WLSSD on the main MBW)
Bald Eagle MAIN, POST
Red-tailed Hawk POST (uncommon in winter in Duluth area)
Rough-legged Hawk MAIN (1 dark-morph SW of Meadowlands)
Snowy Owl MAIN, POST (distantly seen on the bay ice at Park Point)
Northern Hawk Owl MAIN (great views on the not-so-great Hedbom Rd in Aitkin County)
Great Gray Owl MAIN, POST (about 5 or 6 seen during each part)
Boreal Owl MAIN, POST (different ones seen nicely on each)
American Three-toed Woodpecker MAIN (pair at the “secret spot” near Greenwood
Lake – and potentially nesting?!)
Black-backed Woodpecker MAIN (lone female near the Three-toeds)
Downy Woodpecker MAIN, POST
Hairy Woodpecker MAIN, POST
Pileated Woodpecker MAIN, POST
Peregrine Falcon MAIN (spotted by Val at WLSSD; rare or absent in most winters)
Northern Shrike MAIN, POST (6 counted on the main MBW)
Canada Jay MAIN
Blue Jay MAIN, POST
Black-billed Magpie MAIN, POST (great views on both)
American Crow MAIN, POST
Common Raven MAIN, POST
Black-capped Chickadee MAIN, POST (but no Boreals)
Red-breasted Nuthatch MAIN, POST (just a few...and no White-breasteds)
Brown Creeper MAIN (spotted by Kathrynne in Sax-Zim; uncommon to rare in winter)
European Starling MAIN, POST
House Sparrow MAIN (a few at WLSSD)
Evening Grosbeak MAIN, POST (at the feeder on McDavitt Rd. in Sax-Zim; best views on
the post-MBW)
Pine Grosbeak MAIN (scarce so far this winter; only seen along Lake CR 2)
Purple Finch MAIN, POST (more than usual; normally local or absent here in winter)
Redpoll MAIN, POST (better views on the post-MBW)
White-winged Crossbill MAIN, POST (ditto)
Pine Siskin MAIN, POST
Snow Bunting POST (on the alleged Snowy Owl road SW of Meadowlands)
________
The JTL Report: The Main MBW, Jan. 9-10, 2025
– John Quinn, Junior Tour Leader (with minor edits by KRE)
Thursday: A Four-Owl Day?
Now, technically, I am writing about two Minnesota Birding Weekdays, but let’s not get fowled up in the details. We gathered at the Kwik Trip at 6:45 a.m., then headed for Sax-Zim Bog with the promise of miles of backroad travel. We were soon met by our first Great Gray Owl of the day shortly after sunrise on Lake Nichols Rd., the first of many roads we explored. There, we were also distracted by our first of 5 or 6 Northern Shrikes of the day, and it didn’t take long for the old joke to emerge – the one about shrike one, shrike two, shrike three and... Well, you know the rest.
I encourage you to read the history of Sax-Zim and reflect on the impact our fearless leader, Chairman Eckert, and others have had on the bog birding we enjoy today – see https://saxzim.org/about-sax-zim-bog. [KRE comments: in the interest of full disclosure, my role was minimal and often overstated, especially compared to the ongoing efforts of Sparky Stensaas as he leads Friends of Sax-Zim Bog.]
Later, at the Admiral Road feeders, most of the excitement was the Pine Marten which made its way under the parked cars to the feeders on the other side. [KRE asks the old riddle: Why did the marten cross the road?] There is a large feeding station near the Sisu feeders (see the map at saxzim.org), where we stopped for our only Evening Grosbeaks of the MBW. On Arkola Rd., another feeder is set up, where we picked up Brown Creeper and Canada Jay but missed the Boreal Chickadee [Almost everyone has been missing them in MN this winter. –KRE]. Time to make the obligatory stop at the Welcome Center to warm up.
Leaving there, we diligently followed Kim’s directions until we came to Correction Line Road. Now, as a birder who has blindly followed his directions down dead ends and less-than-low-maintenance two-tracks, zigged and zagged off and on highways and gravel roads, and been instructed to execute multiple flip-arounds, I was struck by the irony of a correction in our direction. But there is a greater purpose in the effort. In case you’re curious, there are hundreds of Correction Lines, and they serve an important purpose in mapping the globe. See The Correction Line Principle. (And perhaps they represent a new listing opportunity?)
Soon thereafter, Black-billed Magpies flushed from a field. Always a good bird to get because you can’t really find them – they just wander around until they find you. We swung through Meadowlands to try for the Snowy Owl reported previously by others. We would have to be patient until later to see one, though we did see a dark-morph Rough-legged Hawk. We stopped in Floodwood, the Catfish Capital of the World – see This Small Town Minnesota Festival Celebrates The Catfish Capital. But we’d have to return in July for their Catfish Days, so we eat lunch instead.
Working on a tip, another good reason to bird with a group, we proceeded to Hedbom Road and into Aitkin County, where a Northern Hawk Owl was perched just fifty feet off the road. We stood in quiet admiration until it flew towards our parked cars. Several of us were then treated to views of the owl sitting on a snag in the falling snow just fifteen feet away – the closest any of us will ever be to this species. Any photographer with a 500mm lens must have been taking pictures of the owl’s iris.
Kim was still on a mission for a four-owl day, so we took off for a Boreal Owl spot reported near Knife River, deciding the Snowy could wait until we returned to Duluth. But it had started to snow, and Kim wanted confirmation by radio that we were still all together. Kathrynne confirmed “we were on his donkey.” I felt like a real equine’s rear end when she had to explain the joke to me.
But when you travel with the best, even a puny JTL can catch a break. Kim received a call about a closer Boreal Owl just seen near Hermantown. We raced to the location but failed to find the bird. Do we stay and keep looking or move on? Kim made the decision to proceed. Fortunately, Frank Nicoletti had let Kim in on the location of Boreal about 30 minutes away. We drove over, made it on time, and turned our attention to the small brown owl sitting five feet off the ground fiercely staring at us! We decided to push our luck and drove down to the Duluth harbor ice and Park Point to look for a Snowy Owl. No luck as darkness settled in early under overcast skies, and we had to settle for a three-owl day.
Friday: Persistence Yields Results.
The wind picked up and the temperature sank down. Meeting at 7:45, we first drove to WLSSD (Western Lake Superior Sanitary District) to look for open water. But the wind had shifted and the harbor’s ice floes had blown in. No ducks. But Josh got temporarily lost and drove some of us up a side road to the yard waste compost site, where Val shouted “Peregrine Falcon!” A few of us watched as it coursed back and forth flushing crows, starlings, and a few gulls before it headed across the harbor and onto someone’s Wisconsin list. Kim reported a probable Thayer’s-type Iceland Gull that flew in and quickly disappeared, but the rest of us would have needed the bird resting on our car hood to confirm.
We proceeded to Canal Park and joined the others who were already there. We scanned through a couple hundred goldeneyes but did not find the White-winged Scoter which was seen on previous days. But a late-lingering Trumpeter Swan was still in the shipping channel, though almost invisible while sleeping on the ice. Paul then found an American Black Duck among some Mallards, while most of us huddled behind a building out of the cold crosswind, aching for the warmth of our cars.
It was mid-morning as we left Duluth and headed up the lakeshore along the Scenic Highway toward Two Harbors. A quick stop at the Knife River Marina led to a previously seen Tundra Swan that was trying to overwinter. But the poor bird was frozen solid – its neck still arched – in the harbor ice. Sad.
Val spotted a Great Gray Owl as we traveled up Lake CR 2 from Two Harbors heading for the site of yesterday’s sighting of some sought-after woodpeckers. We watched as it expertly hunted the margins of the road and made an unsuccessful pounce on prey before flying off. We stopped for Redpolls. Thankfully, there was no need for a silly discussion about the recently lumped Hoary. They were just Redpolls. We also stopped for Pine Grosbeaks, which were scarcely being seen this year in Sax-Zim or anywhere else closer to Duluth. (It was somewhere along here that I dropped my iPhone. We circled back. but without cell coverage or my Apple ID, it was a lost cause. More important things to find. Let’s get on with it.)
We continued toward Greenwood Lake, based on the report of both American Three-toed and Black-backed woodpeckers from the day before, but the exact spot was not given. [KRE: Fortunately, I had birded this area several times before and guessed correctly where to start.] As Sam looked for some indoor plumbing behind the trees, he spotted a woodpecker. Thinking it was a Black-backed, we all filed back to the area. And there were two birds – both American Three-toeds, a male and female! Always the more difficult of the two in MN, and a life bird for many in our group. But no Black-backed, yet. So we wandered off in all directions before Kathrynne called us to a female Black-backed as it fed 10 feet above her head.
When you’re on a roll it is wise to push your luck. After lunch back in Two Harbors, Kim asked if anyone wanted to return to Canal Park for ducks and then look for that Snowy Owl on the bay ice. Those of us in Car Two practically roared, “Yes, let’s go for the Snowy!” We all were thinking: a four-northern-owl trip – who wouldn’t sign up for that?
As we ventured back to town, watching the roadside for that small black rectangular object of mine, Kim regaled us with his story of finding all four owls in less than twenty minutes back in February 1978. Hard to imagine a time Kim was posting maps outside the back door of his house so people could find owls. For you kids in the audience, there wasn’t an eBird, texting groups, or even a cell phone then. You called into a telephone answering machine that related the birds. Then you loaded up your covered wagon…
We swung into Canal Park and made a beeline for the open water. Scanning the goldeneyes again we finally found the White-winged Scoter. Heidi made a strong play for my JTL position by finding it in the scope and pointing it out to Josh. Jeesh, this is a tough job! Youth and enthusiasm constantly pushing me to stay on my game. Adding to that, Val was audtioning for the job by spotting owls and shrikes at 60 miles an hour from the back seat.
With the sun just above the horizon, we drove down to the 2900 block of Park Point. Eureka! The Snowy Owl was 300 yards out on the frozen bay ice, clearly visible while huddled next to a large ice chunk, as they tend to frequently do. We got the scopes out and observed with satisfaction, then entered our fourth owl of the weekend into our devices. (I would have to wait for a new iPhone and Val’s eBird report before doing so.)
As I drove home that evening, I reflected. Sometimes birding can be filled with long hours, poor weather, too few birds, or the same old birds. But we keep these days – like our four-owl weekend – as reminders of why this is so much fun. See you in April, [when there's the promise of only another month or so of winter! –KRE]
The Spineless Wishy-Washy Tour Leader Report:
The Post-MBW, Jan. 11, 2025
– KRE (with minor edits by no one)
Since John was not able to be on the post-MBW, it falls to me to provide just a brief summary of the day. Besides, his narratives are always a tough act to follow, so I won’t even try to match it. To begin, it was especially noteworthy that half this group had never been on a MBW before. Manoli (rhymes with cannoli) and his son Joseph flew in from D.C. for the weekend, Penny and Blayne came from much closer (i.e., southern MN – to remember their names, I thought of the Beatles’ song “Penny Lane”), and MBW veteran Mark was joined by daughters Emily and Kelsey for the day.
With only one day to find everything, there was no time to even try to get to Hedbom Rd for the hawk owl, or to Greenwood Lake for woodpeckers. As this MBW’s checklist shows, it was not surprising that this group had 10 fewer species. Still, we had three of the four sought-after owls. There were point-blank views of a Boreal Owl (along a road a few miles away from the one seen by the first group), and 5 or 6 Great Grays (the same number as on the main MBW), with 3 of these simultaneously hunting the median of busy Hwy. 61.
The same Snowy was seen at dusk by both groups, while this post-MBW found Snow Buntings southwest of Meadowlands, which the main MBW missed. Our post-MBW also turned up an unexpected gathering of Red-breasted Mergansers at the Lester River (also missed by the Thu-Fri group), and the post-MBWers did better with
their views of turkeys, pheasants, Evening Grosbeaks, redpolls, and White-winged Crossbills.
PHOTO GALLERY
Main MBW ~ Hedbom Forest Rd. ~ Mariann Cyr photo
Main MBW ~ Homestead Rd. ~ Mariann Cyr photo
Post-MBW ~ Bergquist Rd. ~ Val Landwehr photo
Main MBW ~ Greenwood Lake ~ Mariann Cyr photo
Main MBW ~ Sax-Zim Bog ~ Mariann Cyr photo
Main MBW ~ Lake County Rd. 2 ~ Mariann Cyr photo
Main MBW ~ Sax-Zim Bog ~ Mark Mueller photo
Post-MBW ~ In the median of busy Hwy. 61 ~ Val Landwehr photo