2025 Chase Blogs and Photographs |
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Not
A "Classic" Chase, But A Trip to a Special Place Every birder, and most non-birders, loves to see owls. They are mystical birds and every encounter with one of this type of bird is special. And within this group, the owls of the far north are incredibly special and seldom seen. This includes Great Gray Owls, Northern Hawk-Owls, and Boreal Owls. Because of numerous factors that are poorly understood, every decade or so there is a winter movement south of these species. “South” is a relative term. For people in my home area, the south means the southern part of the US. For Great Gray, Boreal Owls, and Northern Hawk Owls south often means Ontario, Michigan, Minnesota, etc. This once every decade or so this movement is known as an “irruption”. The winter of 2024-2025 has seen a significant movement south of the owls in question. It is an “irruption” year across part of their range. And that means winter is a chance to see these birds. With this in mind, Chris Hitt and I quickly put together a plan to travel to and bird an area northwest of Duluth Minnesota. This is known as the Sax-Zim Bog Birding Area. Most birders are aware of this area, and many have traveled there. It is a classic winter birding destination. Chris and I met in the early afternoon on February 3 at Minneapolis Airport where we picked up a rental vehicle and headed north. Our immediate goal was to see a Northern Hawk-Owl that had been seen on and off west of McGregor, Minnesota. We got there about 30 minutes before sunset and were unable to locate the owl. We gave it a try and that is all we could do. We then traveled to Duluth, our base for this adventure, and checked into a motel. We then met three non-birding friends of mine (The Minnesota Divas) at a local restaurant and had a fun time catching up. Tuesday morning was a bit nippy. On our drive out to the bog the outside thermometer of our vehicle registered -16 degrees. This was the low temperature of our trip, and it should be noted that during our four days of birding the temperature never went above 20 degrees. Driving Route 133, getting close to the bog area, we noticed a couple of cars pulled off to the side of the road and people with cameras and binoculars looking in a specific direction. That is always a good sign when you are birding. We quickly saw the object of interest. A Great Gray Owl was calmly sitting on a broken-off tree about 30 yards off the road. We got splendid views and photographs. The owl was unconcerned by our presence as we stood on the road. In the bog area there are public lands, lands owned by the Friends of Sax-Zim Bog, and private property. There are also feeding stations maintained for the enjoyment of birds. One of these feeders is at the Sax-Zim Bog Welcome Center which is a good place to get information about birding the area. The strategy for birding the area is to visit these feeders and also drive the many roads in the area watching for birds. Anytime you see cars pulled off the road, it is worth stopped to see “what they are seeing”. Chris and I did that for the rest of Tuesday. We did encounter another Great Gray Owl, but we did not see any Boreal Owls, and none were being reported. There is an extensive social network that allows birders to share real time sightings. On Wednesday morning we drove up the shoreline of Lake Superior and at Two Harbors we headed due north up Route 2. We were heading to an area that has historically been good for Spruce Grouse in the morning hours. As we birded that area, we talked with a local birder who told us that Spruce Grouse had become less reliable in the area during the past several years. He also told us that there was a convenient location in a park in Two Harbors for Great Gray Owls. Two had been hanging out there for several days hunting the brushy fields. We headed to that area and joined several other birders watching two Great Gray Owls hunting. It was a memorable experience, and I took many pictures.
From there we headed out to the bog area for some birding there. Our main target was a Snowy Owl that was reported just south of the main bog birding area. It took a bit of work, but we managed to spot the owl in a distant tree. At about this time our rental vehicle developed a serious vibration. There was obviously something wrong with a wheel or two and we had to deal with it. We contacted the rental company and drove back to Duluth to have the problem diagnosed at a tires service store. It is a long story that does not fit into this birding story, but the bottom line is that snow accumulated all around the inside the fancy tire rims. When one part of the accumulation happened to break off, that tire becomes unbalanced and causes the vibration we were feeling. By the time we got the problem resolved at the tire service store it was too late to head back to the bog. So, we made a stop at Duluth Harbor before heading back to the motel and a dinner. The area received about 2-3 inches of snow on Wednesday night, but the roads were plowed and clear when we headed out on Thursday morning for our last day of birding. An issue besides the snow was that the temperature was in the single digits with a steady 20 plus mile per hour wind, with higher gusts. A bit nippy and tough to bird in such conditions. And as expected, owls in the area were hunkered down deep in the woods. There was no chance of them sitting up where we could see them. We birded the roads, feeders, and a couple of boardwalks in bog habitat, but it was pretty quiet. A flock of White-winged Crossbills near a roadside feeder was a pleasure to see. Midday was time to start working our way back to Minneapolis for an early Friday departure for our homes. On the way we stopped at another area where a Hawk-Owl had been reported. It may have been there, but it certainly was not sitting up and out in the prevailing weather conditions. Winter birding is not a trip to a zoo. While Boreal Owls had been reported through January there were none sighted and/or reported during our days of birding. Many birders were in the area and most if not, all were looking for this species. That was a “miss”, but it did not make the trip any less memorable. We saw and enjoyed many species that require “winter birding” to enjoy. This was not a chase trip in the classic sense of a chase but was rather a trip to an area where birding is special. A set of pictures from this adventure is at: http://www.thefilemyrs.com/Birding/BirdPhotographs/2025Pictures/2025_02_Minnesota/index.html Our eBird Trip Report is at:https://ebird.org/tripreport/324288 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ A Goose Chase There are two species of Bean-Geese (Gooses?) that occur in North America. They are the Tundra Bean-Goose and the Taiga Bean-Goose, both of which are native to Europe. When one of these two species wanders to North America it is considered a “mega rarity” in the birding circles. Of the two, the Tundra Bean Goose is the expected species, but the Taiga Bean-Goose has occurred on occasion. I have been lucky to have seen a Tundra-Bean Goose in both Oregon and Pennsylvania. But I have never seen a Taiga Bean-Goose - anywhere. It would be a “lifer” for me. Recently, there has been a Taiga Bean-Goose in various New York State locations starting on 1/2/25.. This could be the same bird that was seen from 11/9/24 to 12/8/24 in Matane, Quebec. After that sighting, probably the same bird, was seen in New York State in various locations starting on 1/2/25. It was located on 1/9/25 north of Albany, New York and since then it has been consistently roosting along rivers in that area and during the day it often feeds in surrounding fields. It associates with a flock of Canada Geese and there are many such flocks in the area. Many people have traveled to see this bird and most have seen it. But since it moves around it can be a challenge to locate each day. It can be missed. I decided to take my chances and go to see this mega rarity. On Tuesday 1/21, after having a nice breakfast with a group of former Cheltenham School District coaches, I headed north from the Philadelphia area at 10 am. I had an overnight bag with me in case the goose was hard to find. The weather was clear and a bit cool, but it was a good day for the 250-mile drive to the area where the Taiga Bean-Goose was hanging out. I had a list of the locations where the goose had been seen. At 2:35 pm I arrived at the location where most recent sightings had been. As much as I was looking for the goose, I was looking for birders. I knew that this bird was being seen by many people so looking for birders was a good strategy. But there were no birders at that location. I looked at social media postings for information and I posted a request for location help. Local birders came through immediately on the Discord app and directed me to the current location of the goose. I was about 5 miles away from that location. I drove there directly and quickly. Following the instructions I was provided, I parked and walked down a path. After walking about 50 yards I saw a group of birders about another 100 yards ahead. Things looked good! When I got to the group, I asked the obvious question, “Is it still here”. It was great to hear several people say “Yes”. The Taige Bean-Goose was tucked in on a patch of ice across the water with a flock of Canada Geese. It was really tucked in. It was identifiable as being different from the Canada Geese but only showed the barest of distinguishing field marks. It was pretty much a dark lump. I studied it and hoped it would move to provide a better view. I was told by the birders there that it had not moved for some time. But……..after I watched it for about 5 minutes, the goose cooperated. It stood up, spread its wings and gave great views. I was ready with my camera and got good images. Then it settled back down and tucked back in. The show was over. Also in the flock was an interesting Ross’s Goose x Cackling Goose hybrid. But that bird remained tucked in, and I only got pictures of it sleeping. It was now time to head back home. It was an uneventful
drive, and I arrived home about 8:15 pm. 525 miles for the trip. My ebird list is at:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S210188990
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