Hey all- Anya Illes and I went into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness at Entry Point 84, the Snake River, for a four-night stay, one night on the Isabella River and 3 nights on Gull Lake, in Cook Co. A few brief highlights - on the Isabella River we found a number of interesting marshland birds not normally seen in the lake country areas. A pair a presumably-breeding harriers, a bittern, swamp sparrows, a flock of red-winged blackbirds and a single Canada Goose feeding on wild rice were nice birds at the first campsite. The Snake River itself had a boggy area with Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and Gray Jays.
On the portage from Bald Eagle Lake toward Gull lake we found two Boreal Chickadees at the east end, which was a highlight for me. Despite a number of trips into the BWCA, I hadn't birded much bogland there, so this was a nice find. The birds were in a boggy area on the stream between the two lakes. On Bald Eagle Lake and again on Gull Lake we saw single Bonaparte's Gulls, also a nice treat in the BWCA. To my surprise we also picked up a few migrating shorebirds. A few Least Sandpipers were heard on Gull Lake, and while passing a little too close to shore for comfort on our way out of Bald Eagle Lake back down the Isabella River, I saw two Baird's Sandpipers at close range on the rocky shore. A few Spotties rounded out the list. Warbler-wise it was, as expected, very slow. Nashville Warblers and Yellow-rumps were still feeding babies. On one nice morning we heard a Northern Waterthrush singing, and a single Northern Parula. There were yellowthroats in the marshes at the Isabella River. So look to points south for your warblers! Jesse Ellis -- Jesse Ellis Madison, Dane Co, WI ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
