A Few from the Bog

[Jim Almquist]

Got to the bog a little late so I did not see too much worth shooting but still a very nice day to get outside.

[Steve Foss]

Pretty ones, Jim. Have you or anyone been seeing boreal chickadees at the Admiral Road feeding station or elsewhere?

[MN Shutterbug]

Gotta love the winter birds. What else is there to love about winter?

[ShawnZ]

Nice soft tones/colors on each image. I really enjoy the catkins that the chickadee is amongst on number two. Nice additions to your fine bog portfolio.

Recently, I did see two boreal chickadees at the Mcdavitt road feeding setup, but they were just "hanging around", not coming into the rib cages yet. Probably still lots of food in the trees that they were exploring. There were also white winged crossbills near the feeder the entire four hours I was there, almost got a good image of one, but by that time the jays were following me around everywhere I went and they spooked the crossbills I was thinking about bringing some salt/grit to that location and putting it down on the road to see if the crossbills could be induced to come down from their lofty spires.

[JayinMN]

I like the gray jay shot, its nice and sharp.

Shawn, the feeder is actually on S. Admiral. McDavitt is the next road over.

[ShawnZ]

Or is it?..... You got me, thanks for the gentle correction.

[JayinMN]

I don't want anyone getting lost in da bog....

[Borealhunter]

I have a true story about getting lost in a bog.

3 years ago the Hedbom Logging Rd was getting a lot of attention from birders because of great gray owls and woodpeckers. One day before Christmas I was there in the afternoon looking for owls. I ran into a few birders along the way but I kept noticing this car parked on the road near the woodpecker area. I think I was the last birder to leave as the sun was just beginning to set. So I decided to head home. My cell phone rang and it was a birder who I met a few times and he asked if I was on the Hedbom Logging Rd? I told him I just going by the east gates and asked him whats up? The birder told me he is out in the bog and and is lost and that car was indeed his!

So I turned around and saw I had maybe 45 minutes to get him out or I have to call for help. He told me he only has 2 bars on his cell phone left and he has been walking for hours trying to get back to the road. I told him I will park by his car and blast my horn for 1 full minute. I did and he called back telling me I was about 1/2 mile to the west of him. So I moved to the east 1/2 mile and blasted the horn again. He told me I was dead ahead of him and will walk to the sound of my horn. So I blasted the horn every 2 minutes while I blasted the hown for 30 seconds. Well right when the last bit of light faded away he came out all sweaty and worked up. He told me I saved his life and for some reason I bought this bottle water and I never used it and I offered it to him and he slugged it down.

He was to the best of knowedge about a 1/2 mile east of his car and about a mile due south of the road. He was never able to retrack his foot prints in the snow because he was walking all over the place loking for woodpeckers that he gave up and thought he was walking north but was actually walking SE or away from the road.

So yes people do get lost in the spruce bogs and even I was lost with clients 3 years ago along owl avenue in June looking for Conn. Warblers. It took me 1 hour to get back on track and thanks to a large over grown tree stump I climbed onto I was able to see some telephone poles.

Scary stuff. PS for christmas I would like a GPS!

[JeffB]

A cheap compass will get you back to the road, and it wont run out of battery.

[Jim Almquist]

Pretty ones, Jim. Have you or anyone been seeing boreal chickadees at the Admiral Road feeding station or elsewhere?

I have not seen any yet and I did spend some time at all the feed stations. The two I spent the most amount of time was the S. Admiral and the new one that I set up. The 2 Chickadee shots came from that location and there looks to be some recent activity from the Blackbacks in the area and the Pileated,Hairy as well as a flock of Pine Grosbecks so I would thing its just a matter of time and the Boreal Chickades will be there as well. The new feed station is on McDavitt road towards the south end of the Blackback area or about 1 mile north of the tracks. There is also a new culvert the is on the west side of the road. It is about a 100 yards in but you can not be seen from the road and should provide good light most of the day to include the afternoon, There are seeds and ribs and if I ever remember I will bring some deer fat to put in some cages and hang as well.

[MARINERMAGNUM]

Nice images Jim. I look forward to you guys posting lots of Bog images this winter!

[micpic]

Never get tired of looking at the winter birds. Nice work!

Mike

[finnbay]

Ahhh, it's good to see activity in the Bog again! Nice shots, Jim!

[Dbl]

Very nice shots, the first and last are my favorites. Looks like winter is for real!

[Birdsong]

Not much to shoot???? These are wonderful photos. Quite a story Borealhunter. And though I do worry about batteries going dead, I almost never go into the woods now without my GPS. I love that I can 'mark' every time I take a turn and then just retrace my steps if coming out the same way. Somehow neither the dog nor I seem to have a great sense of direction. Lost in the bog overnight does not sound like fun.

[Jim Almquist]

Not much to shoot????

I guess I should rephrase that

I wish the Boreal Chickadees,Red Polls,Evening/Pine Grosbeaks would show up at the feeders and maybe a critter like a Weasel just for fun besides all the other usual suspects

They will show up but the has not been a normal fall/winter until now and with the temps staying so low we are almost like January. Who knows what mother nature will throw at us next

[JayinMN]

Oh so there is a feeder on McDavitt now. Jim did you move the ones off Arkola because I noticed the rib cages were gone? I think we are going to see a lot more logging on McDavitt this year.

[Jim Almquist]

Jonny started tending his station on Arkola with a seed tray and a rack so there was no sense having multiple spots on one road so I took both sets of ribs and brought them to the new spot on McDavitt. It sure looks like things are marked for logging and the new culvert means the west side for sure this winter but there seems to be a lot more markings all around the area. Hope they don't get to nuts this winter but that is part of the process.

[MN Shutterbug]

I think we are going to see a lot more logging on McDavitt this year.

Shoot their tires out as they go by.

[Steve Foss]

Moose love logging cuts.

[wishing for walleyes]

Cute little birds.Nice and sharp images.