March 24, 2019 - Sax Zim Bog

We are back in Minnesota after our mid-winter stay in Florida. I still have many Florida pictures to share with you but I’m going to mix in some local shots as I get them. Last week I went to our home in northern Minnesota. On the way, I did some birding in the Sax Zim Bog area. It’s located northwest of Duluth and is a hotspot for boreal species. Many of the winter birds have already left but I did see lots of Canada Jays (they used to be called Gray Jays). Unlike other jays, this species has a surprisingly short beak. They are year-round residents of the bog.

JayCanadaAdmiralRoadSaxZimBogLouisCounty20190316

Another resident species is the Boreal Chickadee. It’s much less common than the Black-capped Chickadee but the bog is a good place to see it. Notice the brown cap and the rusty sides.

ChickadeeBorealAdmiralRoadSaxZimBogLouisCounty20190316

Here’s a photo of a Black-capped Chickadee for comparison to the previous Boreal Chickadee. I took this photo at our home in Itasca County.

ChickadeeBlackcappedDunningLakeItascaCounty20190317

Within the Sax Zim Bog there are several homes that feed birds throughout the winter and they welcome visitors. At one of these homes, I spotted these two Wild Turkeys. This bird’s range has expanded to include most of Minnesota, even areas this far north.

TurkeyWildMaryLou'sHouseSaxZimBogLouisCounty20190316

This homeowner also had chickens and I couldn’t resist photographing this good-looking chick!

ChickenDomesticMaryLou'sHouseSaxZimBogLouisCounty20190316

When I got to our home, I photographed one of the many Red-breasted Nuthatches that are coming to our feeders. This has been a good year for them. We usually have a pair that stay around all winter but this year we’ve seen 6 or 8 of them.

NuthatchRedbreastedDunningLakeItascaCounty20190317

This is a first for us. We’ve had a White-throated Sparrow at our feeders all winter long. They’ve always been summer visitors but in other years they’ve gone south for the winter.

SparrowWhitethroatedDunningLakeItascaCounty20190317

I had to include a photo of one of the four Red Squirrels that call our yard their home.

SquirrelRedsnowDunningLakeItascaCounty20190317

Last but not least, this female Hairy Woodpecker seems to be peeking out from behind our oak tree to see what’s going on.

WoodpeckerHairyfemaleDunningLakeItascaCounty20190317