Richard Peet and I headed north from the Twin Cities at dark thirty on Saturday, 2/18, seeking boreal birds. We had heard of Great Grey Owls in good numbers along the north shore, so we made a beeline for Gooseberry Falls, passing through Duluth as civil dawn began (6:30 am) and nearing Gooseberry as the sun rose (7:00 am). Viewing conditions were very good but several hours of searching yielded no Grey Ghosts, but many White Tailed Deer. Along Highway 61 we saw 3 murders of crows and 3 unkindnesses of Ravens (I love terms of venery – these collective nouns), gathered on road killed deer carcasses in the ditches. At 9 am, we decided to head north on the Sawbill Trail. We traveled north to a road named “The Grade” turning eastward towards Brule Lake and the Gunflint Trail. In search of the Northwest Passage! Traveling along the BWCA on a brightly lit, 40° morning was spectacular; we stopped to inspect Wolf and Lynx tracks in the 2.5 foot deep snow. The 2”crust on top broke quickly from our weight, immersing us up to our hips in the loose granular snow underneath…some hard walking, but we wanted to be certain of the tracks, which required measurements. The Lynx left clear crisp prints as it danced its 40 pounds across the crust, never sinking more than an inch. The wolves punched through the crust deeply, making it tough going, their tracks showed they use the roads this time of year. We approached within ten miles of the Gunflint Trail, along the NW corner of Two Islands Lake, (N47°82’29”; W90°29’26”) when a small bird flew up from the roadside and away from us. It appeared to be mostly flat brown on the head, back, wings and tail. We stopped to view a Boreal Chickadee! It was traveling with a Red Breasted Nuthatch, in the type of dense evergreen only Boreals love. “The Grade” is a road I plan to hit in mid-march for Saw Whets and in June for warblers. We headed on and into Grand Marais, passing 40 plastic Great Horned Owls nailed to the tops of utility poles. There were also sleeves of metal mesh on the pole, protecting them from what? Porcupines? When you are looking for Great Grey Owls, each of these provides quite a distraction. The harbor in Grand Marais was full of birders as the trip from the Sax Zim Weekend had dispatched a bus of birders there. The leader (Chris?) put us all on a Harlequin Duck and two 3 Common Goldeneyes. We grabbed lunch at Huey’s Tacos (recommended), then headed south, stopping to view the varied Thrush in town. We picked up a single Common Redpoll and 3 Pine Siskins at Tettigouche Visitor Center’s feeders, two Ruffed Grouse near Wolf’s Ridge Environmental Center- skittering across the snow pack, running like the Scaled Quail I have seen in Colorado, raising and dropping their crests in agitation. Running on hard pack, these birds are fast! In Gooseberry Falls Park, down by the lake, we saw 4 Long Tailed Ducks out about 500 yards from shore, diving actively. We planned our afternoon search for Owls to start at Tettigouche as the sun set (5 pm), to arrive in Gooseberry before the end of civil dusk (6:12pm). Our search was successful ¼ mile north of the Castle Danger sign as you head southward, we saw a Great Grey Owl hunting the western road edge, perched atop a spruce. My first Great Grey sighting since 2005! We finally headed home, after 17 hours of driving, bushwhacking, and birding, and epic day, with fewer number of birds than we expected, but with great birds found. It is great to be back in Minnesota. Good birding to you all!
Mark Alt Minneapolis Trip List 2/18: 1. White Breasted Nuthatch – 1 2. American Crow – 32 3. Common Raven – 22 4. Gull sp– 28 5. Red Breasted Nuthatch – 2 6. Ruffed Grouse – 2 7. Black Capped Chickadee – 28 8. Hairy Woodpecker – 2 9. Bald Eagle – 3 10. Boreal Chickadee – 1 11. Harlequin Duck – 1 12. Common Goldeneye – 4 13. Common Redpoll – 1 14. Pine Siskin – 3 15. Long-tailed Duck – 4 ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
