buckskin hawk
Oklahoma Birder
Cool Get Away
Voyageurs National Park International Falls, Minnesota
Highlights:
• The high temperature was only in the low 80s rather than 100 to 115 as they have been at home for almost 2 months. Yikes this heat has really put a damper on my birding!
• A Ruffed Grouse standing in the road just outside the visitor's center at Rainy Lake. My teens (non-birders) were in the front seat but when they saw this one they remarked, “What in the world is that?” It was in the middle of the road and we had to stop the car to avoid hitting it. They say they aren’t birders and they would not admit it but they sure do help me out quite a bit.
• Loons on the lake--I can't think of anything that says the North Woods more than listening to the loons as the sun sets while hiding in my tent from the mosquitoes.
• Our campsite was one of the best backcountry sites, I have ever found. It was on Rainy Lake. Close enough to get into town for a meal but far enough to only hear a couple of boats pass by from time to time. A flock of warblers would flit through daily, loons and other water birds were just over in the cove and a whole host of others including white throated sparrows would sing to your hearts content.
Itinerary:
Day one: Load up the car with my teens and decided to see how far north we could drive before dark---Answer Two Harbors just north of Duluth on Lake Superior. This is my favorite campground but it was full when we arrived. (Next time I’ll definitely make a reservation!) Drove up the road trying to find an opening but now it is getting late and we couldn’t find any. We finally ended up in Finland on Highway 1 leading inland to Ely. It was a beautiful National Forest campsite but not a whole lot of sightings the next morning.
Day two: That morning was very overcast and forecasted to rain so we headed into Ely instead of staying along the Lake Superior coast. Stopped at a couple of ponds but OH I need a scope for the ducks! Saw some grebes but again couldn’t make out the type of grebe. The weather was supposed to get stormy so we took shelter in a hotel in International Falls.
Day three to Day seven: OK now the birding got good. When we went to get our backcountry pass at the visitor’s center, a large chicken like bird was just sitting in the road. The teens stopped the car and asked, “What in the world is that?” I looked and went silent, no need for bins, it was just a few feet in front of the car. Looking through my book I settled on a ruffed grouse because of the very black band at the end of the tail and the crest. When we went into the visitors center and I described the sighting the ranger also suggested I consider a Spruce Grouse but the tail was too short and the overall color and crest is wrong. Both are commonly seen up there.
We rented a small fishing boat and headed out on Rainy lake with our camping and fishing gear ---We camped on a point and fished in the morning and evening. Before the teens got up and during the day, I was able to bird quite a bit. Those little warblers would come through in mixed flocks and flit from tree to tree so fast. Man, no need for them to have coffee. I am not good with warblers but this daily on-slot really helped me to hone my skills. I was able to id multiple times five warblers: Connecticut, Nashville, Ovenbird, Pine and a Yellow Romped. The ovenbird is easier to id from its call of Teacher, Teacher, Teacher than from sight. I just got lucky once.
On the water was one of my all time favorites. In fact if it were the only bird up there I would still drive a day and a half to spend time listening to the loons call on the lake at sun sets.
Fishing was great- 25 to 30 inch Northern Pike are fun to catch and we caught one every morning and every evening. We also caught walleye and small mouth bass.
Day eight: We stopped at Wild River State Park on the return trip home. It is just north of Minneapolis. It is very birdy! Lots of different birds. I called home and it was 116 degrees at 5:30 PM. I wanted to turn around and go back to International Falls but that is Oklahoma weather. This year is unseasonably hot. I wouldn’t want to trade a hot Oklahoma summer for their winters up there.
Take a look at my list of birds. The ones in red are life birds.
Common Loon Voyageurs National Park
Double Crested Cormorant Voyageurs National Park
Turkey Vulture Voyageurs National Park
Ruffed Grouse Voyageurs National Park :hi:
Herring Gull Voyageurs National Park
Ring Billed Gull Voyageurs National Park
Mourning Dove Wild River St. Park
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Voyageurs National Park
Downy Woodpecker Voyageurs National Park
Hairy Woodpecker Voyageurs National Park
Northern Flicker Voyageurs National Park
Eastern Kingbird Voyageurs National Park
Eastern Phoebe Voyageurs National Park
Least Flycatcher Wild River St. Park
Blue Jay Voyageurs National Park
Common Raven Voyageurs National Park
Red Breasted Nuthatch Voyageurs National Park
Gray Catbird Wild River St. Park
Wood Thrush Wild River St. Park
Connecticut warbler Voyageurs National Park
Nashville warbler Voyageurs National Park
Nashville warbler Wild River St. Park
Ovenbird Voyageurs National Park
Pine warbler Voyageurs National Park
Yellow Rumped Warbler Voyageurs National Park
Red Breasted Grosbeak Wild River St. Park
Chipping sparrow Voyageurs National Park
White-Throated sparrow Voyageurs National Park
Common Grackle Voyageurs National Park
American Goldfinch Wild River St. Park
Pine Siskin Voyageurs National Park
Voyageurs National Park International Falls, Minnesota
Highlights:
• The high temperature was only in the low 80s rather than 100 to 115 as they have been at home for almost 2 months. Yikes this heat has really put a damper on my birding!
• A Ruffed Grouse standing in the road just outside the visitor's center at Rainy Lake. My teens (non-birders) were in the front seat but when they saw this one they remarked, “What in the world is that?” It was in the middle of the road and we had to stop the car to avoid hitting it. They say they aren’t birders and they would not admit it but they sure do help me out quite a bit.
• Loons on the lake--I can't think of anything that says the North Woods more than listening to the loons as the sun sets while hiding in my tent from the mosquitoes.
• Our campsite was one of the best backcountry sites, I have ever found. It was on Rainy Lake. Close enough to get into town for a meal but far enough to only hear a couple of boats pass by from time to time. A flock of warblers would flit through daily, loons and other water birds were just over in the cove and a whole host of others including white throated sparrows would sing to your hearts content.
Itinerary:
Day one: Load up the car with my teens and decided to see how far north we could drive before dark---Answer Two Harbors just north of Duluth on Lake Superior. This is my favorite campground but it was full when we arrived. (Next time I’ll definitely make a reservation!) Drove up the road trying to find an opening but now it is getting late and we couldn’t find any. We finally ended up in Finland on Highway 1 leading inland to Ely. It was a beautiful National Forest campsite but not a whole lot of sightings the next morning.
Day two: That morning was very overcast and forecasted to rain so we headed into Ely instead of staying along the Lake Superior coast. Stopped at a couple of ponds but OH I need a scope for the ducks! Saw some grebes but again couldn’t make out the type of grebe. The weather was supposed to get stormy so we took shelter in a hotel in International Falls.
Day three to Day seven: OK now the birding got good. When we went to get our backcountry pass at the visitor’s center, a large chicken like bird was just sitting in the road. The teens stopped the car and asked, “What in the world is that?” I looked and went silent, no need for bins, it was just a few feet in front of the car. Looking through my book I settled on a ruffed grouse because of the very black band at the end of the tail and the crest. When we went into the visitors center and I described the sighting the ranger also suggested I consider a Spruce Grouse but the tail was too short and the overall color and crest is wrong. Both are commonly seen up there.
We rented a small fishing boat and headed out on Rainy lake with our camping and fishing gear ---We camped on a point and fished in the morning and evening. Before the teens got up and during the day, I was able to bird quite a bit. Those little warblers would come through in mixed flocks and flit from tree to tree so fast. Man, no need for them to have coffee. I am not good with warblers but this daily on-slot really helped me to hone my skills. I was able to id multiple times five warblers: Connecticut, Nashville, Ovenbird, Pine and a Yellow Romped. The ovenbird is easier to id from its call of Teacher, Teacher, Teacher than from sight. I just got lucky once.
On the water was one of my all time favorites. In fact if it were the only bird up there I would still drive a day and a half to spend time listening to the loons call on the lake at sun sets.
Fishing was great- 25 to 30 inch Northern Pike are fun to catch and we caught one every morning and every evening. We also caught walleye and small mouth bass.
Day eight: We stopped at Wild River State Park on the return trip home. It is just north of Minneapolis. It is very birdy! Lots of different birds. I called home and it was 116 degrees at 5:30 PM. I wanted to turn around and go back to International Falls but that is Oklahoma weather. This year is unseasonably hot. I wouldn’t want to trade a hot Oklahoma summer for their winters up there.
Take a look at my list of birds. The ones in red are life birds.
Common Loon Voyageurs National Park
Double Crested Cormorant Voyageurs National Park
Turkey Vulture Voyageurs National Park
Ruffed Grouse Voyageurs National Park :hi:
Herring Gull Voyageurs National Park
Ring Billed Gull Voyageurs National Park
Mourning Dove Wild River St. Park
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Voyageurs National Park
Downy Woodpecker Voyageurs National Park
Hairy Woodpecker Voyageurs National Park
Northern Flicker Voyageurs National Park
Eastern Kingbird Voyageurs National Park
Eastern Phoebe Voyageurs National Park
Least Flycatcher Wild River St. Park
Blue Jay Voyageurs National Park
Common Raven Voyageurs National Park
Red Breasted Nuthatch Voyageurs National Park
Gray Catbird Wild River St. Park
Wood Thrush Wild River St. Park
Connecticut warbler Voyageurs National Park
Nashville warbler Voyageurs National Park
Nashville warbler Wild River St. Park
Ovenbird Voyageurs National Park
Pine warbler Voyageurs National Park
Yellow Rumped Warbler Voyageurs National Park
Red Breasted Grosbeak Wild River St. Park
Chipping sparrow Voyageurs National Park
White-Throated sparrow Voyageurs National Park
Common Grackle Voyageurs National Park
American Goldfinch Wild River St. Park
Pine Siskin Voyageurs National Park
