Common Redpoll Invasion

Year 11

On Wednesday I drove and birded Hedbom Forest Road near Floodwood. This birding spot is one of my NE Minnesota Birding Locations and part of the free PDF of birding locations you may download / use on your mobile device.

Hedbom is wunderbar! I’m not certain how much longer this forest road will continue to be drivable this winter as snow will get deeper, but for the moment if you are in the vicinity of Floodwood, Minnesota check it out. One need only drive the first 3.5 miles from the gate to see the best habitat. While I did not find any owls (I was hoping I might find a hawk owl) I did find hundreds and hundreds of Common Redpolls. These birds are invading NE Minnesota this winter. Right now they are not visiting feeders, but later in the winter that equation will change. For the moment they are finding lots of natural food in the forest.

While many of these images may look like you are seeing the same bird, in actuality about 300 redpolls were gritting up right in front on my car, and I knew they would fly to a particular dead tree to clean their beaks.

Common Redpoll … Incoming!

And More Redpolls and Lichen

Mixed Up Winter Birding: Owls Outnumber Grosbeaks

Year 11

What I expect is not what I see! Over the last three days Great Gray Owls have outnumbered Pine Grosbeaks 4 to 1! In addition, late yesterday afternoon I discovered six Horned Larks. In short none of these sightings are normal …

  • Seeing four Great Gray Owls in a single afternoon, and NOT being at Sax-Zim Bog was crazy nice. Each owl was a private showing for me!
  • Pine Grosbeaks are normally a common winter sight here on the Arctic Riviera. However, I count myself lucky with having found one female pine grosbeak this morning. These birds are staying up in Canada as their food sources are plentiful up there. I scanned the trees and listened for the telltale song of other Pine Grosbeaks, but it was just the lone bird.
  • Horned Larks being seen in December 20th is not normal. They migrate through the Northland and should be way south of us now, but six individuals found a wind swept field in which to search for seeds.
  • Although I did not see any crossbills over the past few days, it is a banner year for this species. Normally I would be very happy to spy and individual or two.

Two of the Great Gray Owls seen earlier this week …

Owl #1 (in the 1st image the owl is carefully watching a Bald Eagle fly over)

Owl #2 (right at sunset)

One Lone Pine Grosbeak (a new verse for the 12 Days of Christmas?!)

Six Horned Larks

Arriving Track Two on the Frozen Prairie: the Holiday Train

Year 11

Sunday. three couples including Molly and me drove northwest from Duluth to watch the Canadian Pacific’s Holiday Train arrive in Plummer, Minnesota. The train arrived at the frozen prairie town after sunset, in the dark. Shortly thereafter the door of a special boxcar folds down and a Christmas concert ensues in support of the local food bank. Within an hour of arriving the train moves to the next small town. Thanks Canadian Pacific (CPKCR)!

This is the third time we have travelled and watched on of CPKCR’s Holiday Trains. While one train works its way across the northern United States, another train crosses Canada.  We had fun a few years ago up in Schreiber and Nipigon, Ontario. Most of the small towns have corresponding events which support their local food banks.

From Plummer, Minnesota … the 2024 Holiday Train!

The Train Arriving in Plummer (video link for email subscribers)

Short Excerpt from the Concert (video link for email subscribers)