Hamhed
Well-known member
Liz and I talked each other into making a winter journey to a place we’d known about for years. I scored some low priced airfare to Minneapolis, Minnesota and that pushed into making the commitment. We signed up for the Sax-Zim Bog Festival in mid-February, arriving at the airport on the 13th to an appropriate starting temperature of 12F (-11C). A quick pass on the airport roads for potential Snowy Owls or Snow Buntings was not successful but lunch stop in town yielded a flyover, mature Bald Eagle. From there, we chose a night’s stay two hours north in the adjacent state of Wisconsin, just across the bay from Duluth, Minnesota.
Liz and I talked each other into making a winter journey to a place we’d known about for years. I scored some low priced airfare to Minneapolis, Minnesota and that pushed into making the commitment. We signed up for the Sax-Zim Bog Festival in mid-February, arriving at the airport on the 13th to an appropriate starting temperature of 12F (-11C). A quick pass on the airport roads for potential Snowy Owls or Snow Buntings was not successful but lunch stop in town yielded a flyover, mature Bald Eagle. From there, we chose a night’s stay two hours north in the adjacent state of Wisconsin, just across the bay from Duluth, Minnesota.
Another fruitless stab for any Snowy Owls at the nearby Superior airport the following morning preceded a drive up the western coast of Lake Superior, now frozen several feet deep in winter’s grip. We stopped for our obligatory “standing on the lake” (aka “walking on water”) photo and were soon in the town of Two Harbors, Minnesota. Word was out on eBird that Bohemian Waxwings were being seen here and they were on our hit list. Good directions led us to a neighborhood behind the Dairy Queen where our most colorful target bird was easily found in good numbers. We passed on cold ice cream though temperatures were up to 22F now.
A trip back to and through Duluth was necessary to stop for groceries, topping off the gas tank and picking up some preordered, extra large “choppers”, a leather mitten sized to go over any other insulating layers I could fit over my easily chilled digits. Thanks to Bird Forum member Richard Hoeg for suggesting this. A bag of chemical hand warmers was in our luggage for backup. Driving out the backside, north west actually, of Duluth, we headed in falling snow to the west side of the Bog, about an hour away to our reserved stay at the Alesches Inn
(http://www.alesches.com). This was one of the most convenient lodging locations to the bog and, in hindsight, worked well for our needs.
Liz and I talked each other into making a winter journey to a place we’d known about for years. I scored some low priced airfare to Minneapolis, Minnesota and that pushed into making the commitment. We signed up for the Sax-Zim Bog Festival in mid-February, arriving at the airport on the 13th to an appropriate starting temperature of 12F (-11C). A quick pass on the airport roads for potential Snowy Owls or Snow Buntings was not successful but lunch stop in town yielded a flyover, mature Bald Eagle. From there, we chose a night’s stay two hours north in the adjacent state of Wisconsin, just across the bay from Duluth, Minnesota.
Another fruitless stab for any Snowy Owls at the nearby Superior airport the following morning preceded a drive up the western coast of Lake Superior, now frozen several feet deep in winter’s grip. We stopped for our obligatory “standing on the lake” (aka “walking on water”) photo and were soon in the town of Two Harbors, Minnesota. Word was out on eBird that Bohemian Waxwings were being seen here and they were on our hit list. Good directions led us to a neighborhood behind the Dairy Queen where our most colorful target bird was easily found in good numbers. We passed on cold ice cream though temperatures were up to 22F now.
A trip back to and through Duluth was necessary to stop for groceries, topping off the gas tank and picking up some preordered, extra large “choppers”, a leather mitten sized to go over any other insulating layers I could fit over my easily chilled digits. Thanks to Bird Forum member Richard Hoeg for suggesting this. A bag of chemical hand warmers was in our luggage for backup. Driving out the backside, north west actually, of Duluth, we headed in falling snow to the west side of the Bog, about an hour away to our reserved stay at the Alesches Inn
(http://www.alesches.com). This was one of the most convenient lodging locations to the bog and, in hindsight, worked well for our needs.