It was a red feather day for Pine Grosbeaks in the Minnesota Northwoods, with small flocks in constant motion through the Sax-Zim Bog. Bog temperatures were brutal Thursday morning, but the sunshine was bright and the birding a delight. This female Pine Grosbeak has puffed up its plumage to hold a layer of body-heated air to keep warmer. Pine Grosbeaks definitely provide a level of elation when they become a regular part of the winter avifauna of a cold weather birding “hotspot.”

What a grand adventure I had throughout the Sax-Zim Bog, a Northwoods trip I had been waiting for 5 weeks to begin – waiting for the sun to break through what seemed like eternal cloud cover above northeast Minnesota. Finally, the weather wizards predicted a mostly sunny Wednesday and a totally sunny Thursday. The catch was that the coldest temperatures of the winter were predicted for Thursday morning, possibly into the realm of minus 30! Forget about the wind chill, at that point it gets downright dangerous unless everything works right every minute – especially vehicle engines, heaters, and cameras.

What fuels this fire to return to the Northwoods? One, my internal need to travel, to drive down the road; and Two, my internal drive to photograph kool birds, interesting birds, exciting birds, and learn what makes them special, how they behave, what they sound like during this deep dive into winter. And talk about kool birds, the chance of finding remarkable northern owls is enough – Great Gray Owls, Northern Hawk Owls, Snowy Owls, Boreal Owls, and even Great Horned Owls – but the potential to spend time with flocks of colorful Pine Grosbeaks, Evening Grosbeaks, Boreal Chickadees, Northern Shrikes, Canada Jays, Black-backed Woodpeckers, Pileated Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Ruffed Grouse – you never know what’s around the next bend, and even regular ole Black-capped Chickadees and Blue Jays are exciting for me! Did I mention Bald Eagles, Rough-legged Hawks, and the potential of a Northern Goshawk?

From my warm home and office the frigid Bog is almost straight east 350 miles, a 6 hour drive, except I missed a couple turns that set me back 20 minutes and 15 minutes each – darn. Nonetheless, I arrived with a few hours of afternoon sunlight remaining, which provided an initial opportunity to photograph a couple flocks of Pine Grosbeaks, my primary species of interest on this trip to be honest. I had only skimmed the surface of seeing, studying, and photographing the Pines during my December trip to the Bog, but they really piqued my interest and made me wish for more time among them.

The last hour of sunlight and the half-hour after sunset were devoted to searching for owls, with the best chance to find a big Great Gray Owl. It’s always exciting to know you are in the realm of these remarkable birds, and although I spent time with one during my late December visit, I would miss out on any sightings Wednesday – maybe in the morning.

The temperature wasn’t that bad as I settled into a warm hotel room in Hibbing, Minnesota – home of fabled singer-songwriter Bob Dylan – but temps were about to dive. As before, I was anxious to get started in the morning, even knowing the temperature outdoors was –28. As I drove east in the predawn darkness, I watched my thermometer drop steadily to –30, –31, –35, –38! And then it happened, as I reached Zim Road the outside temperature hit the dreaded depth of –40! Yikes! Dim light revealed a cloud of fog lifting from among the pines, verifying there was no wind. I always say the wind becomes frozen at –40, and although I’ve only experienced that frigid temperature a few times in my life, the premise has held true.

I was already deep into owl country as the day was breaking bright with the promised clear sky overhead. The forests of the Bog were a bit ominous in the deep freeze, although beautiful too. The sun rose with a brilliant white inner glow surrounded by bright yellow, and a brilliant halo that dimmed in the ever-brighter daylight. I drove through the best areas for owls without luck, but given that the entirety of the Bog is owl habitat and that a Great Gray might appear almost anywhere within, I opted to check out the Admiralty Road feeding station for early bird activity. Of course, the seed-eating birds were anxious to recharge with food in the polar cold, so I picked a promising location on the side of the road to watch the action and begin photographing. It was tough to open the window and shut off the van and its heater – a necessary evil paramount to photographing birds because the considerable shake of the vehicle when the engine running doesn’t gel with taking photos from within.

That was the start of a day devoted to photographing birds attracted to a number of feeding stations, with special emphasis on the 2 species of grosbeaks – Pine Grosbeaks and Evening Grosbeaks – along with all the other birds in spite of the coldest temperatures of the winter. The bottom line was that it was sunny, and I made the most of the beautiful sunlight and the exciting birds that passed before me.

Frigid Bird Photography

At this point, I’m going to refer you to the rest of my Bog story in this issue’s Bird Photography feature, and I thank you for your interest in this exceptional winter experience and the resulting photos. Before you break away though, I also want to share accolades for the Friends of the Sax-Zim Bog: I rank the Sax-Zim Bog as one of the best Northwoods birding hotspots, and the work of the Center and its staff, volunteers, and feeder-hosting neighbors is so very impressive – especially considering they have only been active for a dozen years. Their conservation efforts have been paramount to bringing attention to this impressive birding region.

Likewise, the Friends have provided a central point for birders to visit by constructing the Welcome Center, its feeders, and hiking trails, while providing excellent information sources including birding maps of the Bog and online information. The Friends of the Bog have also made great strides in gaining the interest and participation of many local residents who generously welcome birders to view and photograph birds on their properties and in their yards, which is unique to the multitude of birding locations I have ever visited. To learn more about the Sax-Zim Bog and view a map of the region you can refer to Friends of Sax-Zim Bog (saxzim.org)

Saturday Mystery

From my front yard I heard an interesting call Saturday afternoon. I couldn’t identify it immediately, but thought it might be a woodpecker sound I hadn’t heard in some time. The caller repeated the sound enough for me to pinpoint it coming from a blue spruce tree 75 yards to the west-northwest. I knew the call was one I’d heard before, but couldn’t nail down the identity of the bird in my mind. It was kind of a light whinny. I did drive by the tree on my way to do an errand, and got out to listen from a closer vantage point but didn’t hear it again or see any sign of the bird that made the calls.

About the same time Sunday afternoon, as I started a birding drive, I had a breakthrough thought: Maybe it’s an Eastern Screech Owl. It’s been years since I’ve heard one, so obviously my memory on their calls wasn’t up to speed, but later I checked the call on the Birds of the World website, and the recording was close. I also checked the calls of other possible small northern owls – Boreal Owls, Northern Saw-whets, and Western Screech Owls – but it was most likely an Eastern Screech. That surprised me, as I would expect a screech owl to winter farther south, especially as cold as it’s been the past 2 months. plus there’s pretty deep snow cover with an icy frosting, which must affect hunting. But gosh, it would sure be nice if that fine little owl would stay in my neighborhood; maybe even hang out in my tall blue spruce. What are the chances?

Sunday offered only a distant look at 4 Common Redpolls north of home, and 4 male Ring-necked Pheasants in groups of 1 and 3 about 3 miles south. At my feeders I was lucky to have up to a dozen redpolls at a time, along with White-breasted Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, and Hairy Woodpeckers – the usuals. A sunny Monday afternoon drive turned up a flock of 12 Sharp-tailed Grouse, 5 widely scattered lone Horned Larks, plus 6 female Ring-necked Pheasants feeding just a mile south of my office. Well, it was sure nice to manage a sub-polar birding trip last week, and I’m on the verge of planning another field adventure should a sunny windless day appear. Enjoy your birding activities, near and far, and best wishes for the week ahead!

Article and photos by Paul Konrad

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