Bird Watching

[Dotch]

Suspect the Harris sparrows are heading your direction MT. Haven't seen them again since Saturday. Kinda kewl little fellers. Just happened to gaze upon them while looking out the storm door on Saturday so grabbed the bird books & binocs. Had them blow thru here before but couldn't remember what they were.

[1DIRTBALL]

I'm putting a gold star on the calender to celebrate! Jackpine Rob actually parted with some of his vast knowledge of the outdoors without playing havoc(too much)with actual fact! LOL! Serially JR, thanks very much for your help on the ID of the Northern Harrier. I've sighted quite a few of them here around Warroad. What threw me was seeing the bird flying low and hovering near the ground. A characteristic I've always associated only with owls.Does that make me a "Bird brain?" 1 DIRTBALL

[friendlyfisher]

I have just spotted harris sparrows for the first time this year. They are feeding at my parents house in Litchfield MN. ff

[M.T. Bucket]

Awesome! They're one of the feeder birds I most look forward to seeing in the spring because sometimes they hit my yard, sometimes they don't.

[buzzsaw]

The Orioles, Red breasted Grosebeaks, Bluebirds and Hummingbirds are back in Lakeville! I have a few pictures at home that I will downsize and upload later.

[IFallsRon]

We had the first-ever cardinal in our yard this past weekend.

[Jackpine Rob]

Saw what I am 99% certain was a goshawk on Friday afternoon just outside of Ely. It came screaming through the trees hot on the trail of what was quite possibly the last partridge in NE Minnesota. The partridge passed a couple of carlengths in front of my windshield, I stomped on the brakes and the hawk came by, maybe 20 or so feet in front of me and across the dirt road. Don't know how that little chase turned out...

Also watched a little mating action of a couple of hooded mergansers. The hen is setting up housekeeping in one my 5 gallon bucket duck houses, and it looks like a goldeneye has dibs on the other one. Didn't see the drake goldeneye though, just the hen. Guess he finished his duty and headed off...

[M.T. Bucket]

Goshawk! What an awesome predator! It never ceases to excite me on the rare occasions that I see (or hear) this great accipiter in the woods.

They're easy to identify during the winter because there aren't any Cooper's Hawks around, but in the summer you have to consider the possibility that the bird you observe is a Cooper's--the field marks are very similar, and the largest Cooper's Hawks are nearly as large as the smallest Goshawks.

I'd think that a Goshawk would be more likely than a Cooper's to spank a grouse.

[buzzsaw]

Heres the Bluebird near Orchard Lake in Lakeville

and the Orioles in my backyard.... I'll get a good Red Breasted Grosbeak and Hummingbird picture soon!

[MT Net]

Great photos, Buzzsaw!

I've always enjoyed watching and feeding the chikadees, but after buyng a 15-45x60 spotting scope, I can see that this bird watching hobby can really become fun.

Two weeks ago on Vermilion, we watched countless gulls sitting in the lake off a point. Really neat to zoom in on them with the scope. I commented that that point would be a good spot for the opener. Then they all took off flying, cricling all over, and spotted many turkey vultures skimming the treetops circling around. They are really something to see in a tree. I focused my spotting scope on it, whew, what a site!

It was interesting to see this flock of turkey vultures soar above the treetops, agitating the gulls. Even the ravens got into the flying act.

Later on, we witnessed 2 bald eagles lock talons nearly above us, then fly to that point where they sat high in the pines.

My pops and I took turns watching the point. We must have put in a couple of hours instead of chores. Looking forward to zooming in on some yellow colored warblers, (I believe that's what they were) this summer.

[buzzsaw]

Heres a yellow headed blackbird in flight!

our albino squirrel friend...

and last but not least... Mr. Wolf!!!

[buzzsaw]

Heres the red breasted grosebeak.... and I hope you have high speed internet or your hating me for the slow download speed!

[The_Duckslayer]

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Heres the red breasted grosebeak.... and I hope you have high speed internet or your hating me for the slow download speed!

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Thanks for posting, I had seen one of those birds earlier today at the feeder and was wondering what it was... Now I know. You forgot to tell about the grey squirrel sitting there issuing the double dog dare to the guy with the scoped pellet gun! Take care and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[jonny_redhorse]

nice pics buzz!.....nice and clear!...i haven't seen near the variety of birds you guys have down in the southern minn area....seen some sparrows up here......(of course geese and ducks galore saw a few mergansers)...red winged black birds(going to get a pic of one i see nesting)...grackles....crows.ravens...but not alot of the real summer birds .at lest not yet...no orioles yet....i've never seen a blue bird up here in hibbing.......no yellow headed blackbirds up here......no cardnals...the people in southern part of the state have way more varietys of birds (i think) then we do up here.....(that statement will probably be contested .lol!)

[Wayne Ek]

No Hummingbirds or Orioles yet... but it was 32 degrees yesterday and sleeting. The Loons have been nesting on the loon pontoon for 10 days now, this is the 4th year that a pair have used it. Also, this morning we had a mature bald eagle, not in the area... put sitting on the railing of our pontoon boat. When I first noticed it, I thought my bride or myself had left a jacket on the boat railing, then it lifted it's head and wow!!! It sat there for 30 minutes, then the dogs could not hold their blatters any longer and when I let them out it lifted off.

[M.T. Bucket]

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i've never seen a blue bird up here in hibbing.......no yellow headed blackbirds up here......no cardnals...the people in southern part of the state have way more varietys of birds (i think) then we do up here.....(that statement will probably be contested .lol!)

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Oh yes it will! We definitely have more species breeding in the NE than elsewhere (I've seen 170 species in Itasca County alone and nearly as many in the other NE counties)--and the many of the boreal birds (neotropical warblers, spruce grouse, boreal chickadees, pine and evening grosbeaks, three toed and black-backed woodpeckers, northern goshawk, olive-sided and yellow-bellied flycatcher, etc.) here can be found nowhere else in the US east of the Mississippi. Being in Hibbing, you live in kind of a 'black hole' for some species as there aren't many good wetlands or boreal forest (spruce-tamarack bog) stands on that part of the iron range - only alder swamp, aspen, and planted pines. Unfortunately the mines have not done a lot for bird habitat. I've only noticed a few species that seem to be more common in the mines - Veery, Ruffed Grouse, Yellow Warbler, Snow Bunting, Gray Catbird - not much else.

The Cardinals are coming your way! Grand Rapids is crawling with them now and I finally saw one in an Iron Range town (Bovey). I can say for certain that Yellow-headed Blackbirds are found in the northeast in Embarrass, International Falls, and Deer River. You have to find the (very few) deepwater cattail marshes and they'll be there some years, other years not. You could get a few migrant YHBBs at your feeder too, you never know. Bluebirds are all over around Hibbing! Any of the meadows outside of town should have them perched on fenceposts and powerlines. Watch for Eastern Meadowlarks, Bobolinks, Tree Swallows, Savannah Sparrows, Wilson's Snipe, Northern Harrier, American Kestrel, Black-billed Magpie -- all these guys and more are in the fields around Hibbing. I wouldn't be surprised if you saw a Northern Hawk Owl or Snowy Owl at the airport someday.

It's true the actual mine dumps aren't great for birds, but head north of town or down the backroads of Sax-Zim near CR 7 and you'll have no problem finding some of the most sought-after birds in Minnesota.

By the way, in my travels over the last 2 days I've seen Bonaparte's Gulls (in Itasca and Koochiching counties), American Bittern, Black-billed Magpies, 6 Great Gray Owls, Tree/Cliff/& Barn Swallows, Black-and-White Warbler, Boreal Chickadee, Pine Warbler, Winter Wren, Sandhill Cranes, American Woodcock, Greater Yellowlegs, and dozens of the usual suspects.

[jonny_redhorse]

MT...Lol!.apparently i live in the middle of that.."black hole"..i've spent my entire life here in the hibbing area(56 years) and the surrounding areas...i have only seen 1 blue bird up here in all the years i've lived in this area.......no cardinals also... i've never seen a yellow headed black bird alive or dead...lol!..........honest i.ve spent alot of time in the woods through those years here...but...apparently they eluded me...lol!..i have seen some of those birds you had on your list of species...but not near what you've seen but i also was not actually"looking" for them as a "birder" would do.....i did see the boreal owls this past winter and hawk owls in the zim area (posted a pic of the great grey here awhile back)...but....now that you've mentioned that they are here...i'll certainly be looking

[fishface5]

Hey EMT Bucket, Did you get to Sherb. Cnty.? Did I miss it? What did you see? You guys up N. Have a ton of birds that just pass on through here. Thanks for keeping this thread going you guys! I think it should have its own spot on the main page! The Cardinals, Orioles, and Finches, Gold, and purple are thick. I saw a Blue bird today also, (I need a digital camera) They are realy pretty little birds.

[M.T. Bucket]

Oh man, FF! I didn't even want to bring up the subject! I was there on April 29th, and the weather was terrible--the birds were in hiding the entire weekend. I only found a few species at Sherburne, and the only birds that weren't 'everyday' birds (at least up here) were Sandhill Crane, Field Sparrow, and Wild Turkey. I'll have to try again during late summer/early fall and see what's going on.

On the other hand, I did see quite a few good birds on Mille Lacs, Aitkin, and western Minnesota - 107 species including most of the regular Minnesota ducks, Horned, Pied-billed, and Western Grebe, Cattle Egret, Ross's Goose, Cooper's Hawk, Swainson's Hawk, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Gray Partridge, Greater Prairie Chicken, American Avocet, Marbled Godwit, several of the sandpipers, Wilson's Phalarope, Bonaparte's Gull, Caspian and Forster's Terns, Orange-crowned Warbler (only 2 warbler species Vesper Sparrow, both Meadowlarks, and Eurasian Collared-Dove.

Whew! The trip was definitely worth it, even though Sunday had rain, sleet, hail, snow, and 30mph winds (just try holding a pair of binoculars!) to offer instead of birds.

Going on a walk with a group this morning to see if any migrant warblers are back yet - the only reason I'm up this early! (I fish year round, no need to deal with the crowds, traffic, and inevitably crappy weather of walleye opener. Later FF.

[The Grebe]

Buzzsaw...Hey? That's the bird I seen in my yard and wondered what it was! I wrote something about it last season.

I had seen them in swampy areas before, but I don't recall seeing one with white on it's wings? Maybe I have'nt been looking hard enough? Maybe my sight, or memory is fading? Maybe both? Maybe the end is near?

[buzzsaw]

Grebe, which bird are you talking about?? and WOW MT is a serious birder!! I'd like to see some digital pictures of some of the species you mentioned, I don't think that I've seen some or alot of them. Heck I saw a white capped chickadee, a yellow Warbler and a yellow headed blackbird yersterday eating around below the feeders... I missed getting a picture of an Indigo Bunting last year and havn't seen one since! as well as a Great Horned Owl at dusk! It's hard to always have that camera ready.

[Dotch]

Speaking of indigo buntings, just got a call from my Mom at Spring Valley and she saw one at the feeders this AM. Geez I'm tired; rooster pheasant crowing outside awoke me from my nap!

[buzzsaw]

House finch out in the front yard today..

A brown Thrasher in the backyard today..

and My Golden Retriever getting her chase on in Murphy Hanrehan park today.

[The Grebe]

Buzzsaw...Sorry, it was the Yellow Headed Blackbird.

[The Grebe]

Buzz...We used to get Orioles around here now and then, but I have'nt seen one for a number of years now? Sure are pretty birds.