Hello: TheSax-Zim Bog Winter Bird Festival will be held on Feb 18-20th 2011 at Meadowlands, MN. Our two speakers will be Paul Bannickfrom Washington State and you can read more about Paul here: http://www.paulbannick.com/ and Mark "Sparky" Stensaaswill be our Saturday night speaker and you can read about Sparky here: http://www.stoneridgepress.com/ssphoto/guiding.html
Paul Bannick will speak on Friday night: The Owl and the WoodpeckerEncounters with North America's Most Iconic Birds Every wild place and urban area in North America hosts an owl or a woodpecker species, while healthy natural places often boast representatives of both. The diversity of these two families of birds, and the ways in which they define and enrich the ecosystems they inhabit, are the subject of this vivid new book by photographer and naturalist Paul Bannick. Spark Stensaas will speak on Saturday night: OWLS TO ORCHIDS: MAGIC AND MYSTERY IN OUR NORTHERN BOGS Are bogs really dark, dank, mosquito-infested swamps? Sax-Zim Bog birders know better, and through Sparky's HD video and still images we'll explore our northern Black Spruce and Tamarack Bogs...without getting our feet wet or frozen! Meet the bird that grows snowshoes, the devious orchid that outsmarts bumblebees, and the death-defying frog. And of course, the stars of the show will be some cooperative owl families caught on HD video. To learn more about the 2011 Sax-Zim Bog Winter Bird Festival you can go here: sax-zimbog.com Again we will have terrific field trips to Sax-Zim Bog, Aitkin County and Duluth/Superior areas. Our trips will be led by following leaders: Alex Watson, Ben Fritchman, Chris West, Dave Bartkey, Dudley Edmundson, Erik Bruhnke, Lars Benson, Laura Erickson, Sparky Stensaas, Terry Brashear and Shawn Zierman and Steve Weston. On Friday only from 4:00pm to 5:45pm there will be Great Gray Owl dusk search trip. This will be our year to find a Great Gray Owl! We are also having a Saturday only Photo Workshop led by Sparky Stensaas, Shawn Zierman and Terry Brashear. The festival will also host some local vendors and craftsman at the Meadowlands Community Center all day Saturday and Sunday Feb 19-20th. Latest News from Sax-Zim Bog / Duluth / Aitkin There are now 2 feeders away from Meadowlands that were set up by Jim Almquist of Wrenshall. The first feeder is the famous Admiral Rd feeder which is now attracting Boreal Chickadees to the suet feeders along with some Pine Grosbeaks and some Common Redpolls. The other feeder is on the Arkola Rd which is about 1 mile east of Owl Ave on the north side of CR 52 ( Arkola Rd ) previous seasons it was installed on the south side of the road in the shadows but it was moved over into the sunny side of the road allowing photographers to photo birds in the sun. Both of these feeders are maintained by Jim Almquist and I and I am sure all of you who made the journey to Sax-Zim bog this winter are also thankful to Jim. Jim also doesn't mind of you bring bird feed to Sax-Zim Bog and fill the feeders or toss some on the ground under the feeders. This is true with bringing suet up ( NO Deer carcasses please) just store bought or homemade suet is allowed at these sites. The other feeders are located on the Blue Spruce Rd which is owned by June Morse son and daughter in law, which is attracting redpolls and occasionally some Evening Grosbeaks. Helen & David Abramson invites birders to their feeders on the Little White Face Rd off CR 133 and they have the same birds as Morse's feeders. Both of these feeders are off CR 133. The other feeder is Paul Mueller who has A LOT of feeders set up behind his house on CR 201 which is just north of Meadowlands Community Center. Drive CR 201 and cross over the Dart Rd. His home is the first house on the right and there are signs inviting birders to come in and visit. He will be host the feeders during the festival offering hot coffee and snacks. If yo go up there before or after the festival Paul will most likely offer some hot drinks and snacks too! The big news is that there are several Northern Hawk Owls in the Sax-Zim Bog area and Great Gray Owls for now are being seen off and on in the Sax-Zim Bog area too. Every festival we recorded Northern Hawk Owls but we have yet to record one for the festival. I am more confident this year than previous years that this will be out year to get a Great Gray Owl during the festival. So far there has been 6 Northern Hawk Owls seen in the bog and so far there has been 13 Great Gray Owls reported in the Sax-Zim Bog area from Dec 1 - Jan 6. Other birds like Sharp-tailed Grouse have been seen off and on in numerous locations in the "bog",Northern Shrikes and Gray Jays. I have not receive any new reports of Black-backed Woodpeckers in the bog since mid December but I am sure they can still be found along the McDavitt Rd. Also Snow Buntings have been seen recently along CR 7. The only species not reported in the "bog" are Crossbills. Well in fact any where in Northern Minnesota crossbills are tough to locate. Aitkin County: Sharp-tailed Grouse are still being found on CR 16 just south of Tamarack, MN and its possible the Aitkin County trips will also stop at the Hedbom Logging Road which is being plowed regularly this year. As you know there has been Great Gray Owls reported on this road recently as well as Black-backed Woodpecker. There are host of other birds to be found on this trip as well. Duluth: The main attraction will be locating the Snowy Owls out on the ice and gulls. Canal Park is the place to go to view Iceland Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous Gull and Great Black-backed Gull. We will also try to spend some time looking forBohemian Waxwings around the Hawk Ridge area. There is still time for a Varied Thrush or Townsend Solitaire to turn up in Duluth or possibly a Gyrfalcon ( fingers crossed! ) During the festival Nature Adventureshttp://www.sdnatureadventures.org/ will be here to film a segment for their 2012 season. I'll be leading them around and showing them places to film and interview people for the show. This is great piece of PR that Sax-Zim Bog needs and attract even more a wider audience to visit Meadowlands and the Sax-Zim Bog. I cannot tell you how excited the folks of Toivola-Meadowlands are to have this show come to their neck of the woods. I also hope everyone has visited the following links to learn more about the bog and the birds of the bog: Michael Furtman's: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/volunteer/novdec10/sax_zim.html Sparky Stensaas: http://www.vimeo.com/9327409 or this: http://www.vimeo.com/8568813 or this: http://www.vimeo.com/17776064 Lastly I asked people to be part of Bird Nation http://www.birdnation.org/ and take part of BRRRDathon and you can know more about this event here: http://www.birdnation.org/brrrrdathon/ and see a video about it here: http://www.vimeo.com/14832771 So there is a lot to see in Sax-Zim Bog and I hope to see you all at the 2011 Sax-Zim Bog Winter Bird Festival 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
