Today was the Illinois Ornithological Society’s (IOS) Gull Frolic at Winthrop Harbor, which is on Lake Michigan just south of the Wisconsin border. We had never been to one of these things, but expert birders were promised to be on hand, so we figured we get a few animals to add to our list. Gulls are a nightmare. There are something like 27 species and each may have up to 5 plumages (first year, second year, breeding, etc.). And worst of all, a lot of them look the same. So sadly, for birders of our skill level, 27 x 5 = forget it.
Category Archives: LIST
no hawks were violated [51]
Today was our last day in Minnesota, and we decided to bird Sax-Zim bog, a rural area northwest of Duluth and famous for birding. We planned to stay till noon and then drive back to Chicago. We stayed till dusk, of course, and didn’t get home until 1:30 am. We still hadn’t seen any Great Gray Owls this trip, and since we saw a lot of them at Sax-Zim last year, we hoped we might get lucky.
We started on Route 133, where, almost immediately, we saw a large raptor. It was sitting in a tree and turned out to be a juvenile Bald Eagle. An adult (mom or dad?) was just perched just a little down the road. Then we saw another raptor flying over a field. Pole identified it right away by the distinctive markings under its wings: a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. Another lifer for us both. We actually saw two of them, so they might have been a breeding pair. We saw them frequently as we drove around the bog.
a bird in the scope is worth two in the bins [48 – 50]
After spending the night just north of Duluth, we decided to bird County Road 2, which runs north from Two Harbors. According to Kim Eckert’s A Birder’s Guide to Minnesota, Spruce Grouse can be found there north of the Sand River. When we got to the area, we started to drive slowly and watch carefully. We saw a couple of flocks of pine grosbeaks, but suddenly, some other birds flew up from the roadside. I didn’t get a good look at them, but Pole said they were a little chunky and had red in the tail. That means Spruce Grouse.
duck duck goof [44 – 47]
We both got up before dawn to see the wolf, but no luck. Maybe it was eating one of those pesky deer. I hope.
We checked out of Gunflint Lodge, and our first stop was Grand Marais harbor. The first thing we saw in the water was a Common Goldeneye. Another duck we couldn’t identify was hanging out with it. I put the scope on it and got a quick look before it dunked its head. It was a colorful bird and before giving the lens up to Pole, I made my pronouncement: “Wood Duck.”
more deer than birds [38 – 43]
Pole on the George Washington Pines Trail
Last night we arrived at Gunflint Lodge on Gunflint Lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail. It would be nice if I could say it was in the town of Gunflint, too, but it ain’t. Driving the trail at night, we saw two moose calves, and in the morning, lots of tame whitetail deer around the cabins. At one point I counted something like 16 outside our window. The lodge has corn so the guests can feed them, which means the deer become spoiled pests. A big doe actually stamped her foot at me when she thought I was going to mess with the corn I had given her. I stamped my foot right back at her, the ingrate.