July 25, 2021 - A Tale of Two Cuckoos

Last week there was a report of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in the Sax Zim Bog, which is northwest of Duluth, MN. I’ve been wanting to get pictures of that species, so on my way from our lake home to our apartment, I stopped at the bog. The bird was reported to be on Lake Nichols Road, so I went back and forth on this road looking for the Cuckoo.

The Bog has a great variety of interesting things in the summer. Here are some that I photographed during my Cuckoo search. This is a Northern Crescent butterfly. It’s small, with a wingspan of only 1 to 1½ inches.

CrescentNorthernPhyciodescocytaLakeNicholsRoadSaxZimBogLouisCounty20210718

Fireweed is one of the plants that only opens a few of its blossoms at a time. The flowers in the middle of this photo are open. The ones above are waiting to open, and the ones below have already blossomed and gone to seed.

FireweedLakeNicholsRoadSaxZimBogLouisCounty20210718

Goat’s Beard has a yellow flower that opens early in the morning but closes before noon. It later forms a huge seed ball like this one. It’s about six inches across and looks like a giant Dandelion.

Goat'sBeardseedheadLakeNicholsRoadSaxZimBogLouisCounty20210718

Several Monarch butterflies were gathering nectar from the abundant wildflowers. This one is on a thistle flower.

MonarchDanausplexippusLakeNicholsRoadSaxZimBogLouisCounty20210718

Apparently, the Monarch was encroaching on the territory of this Great Spangled Fritillary. Even though it is much smaller, the Fritillary attacked the Monarch and drove it away.

FritillaryGreatSpangledattackingMonarchLakeNicholsRoadSaxZimBogLouisCounty20210718

This is Common Milkweed, the plant on which Monarchs lay their eggs. When the caterpillars hatch, they eat the leaves of this plant.

MilkweedCommonLakeNicholsRoadSaxZimBogLouisCounty20210718

Joe-Pye Weed is a perennial wildflower that is found in Minnesota. It grows three to five feet tall.

JoePyeWeedLakeNicholsRoadSaxZimBogLouisCounty20210718

Moths are usually out at night, so I was surprised to see this one flying around during the day. Perhaps that’s why it is named Confused Haploa.

MothHaploaConfusedconfusaLakeNicholsRoadSaxZimBogLouisCounty20210718

Evening Primrose is another plant that only opens a few flowers at a time.

PrimroseEveningLakeNicholsRoadSaxZimBogLouisCounty20210718

I saw several of these large, web-like structures along Lake Nichols Road. I was sure it was made by a group of caterpillars, but I didn’t know which species. I sent a copy of this photo to Clinton Dexter-Nienhaus, head naturalist for Friends of the Sax Zim Bog. He confirmed that Fall Webworm caterpillars make these big webs. He also said that Cuckoos like to eat these caterpillars. (Nice transition back to the Cuckoos.)

MothWebwormFallHyphantriacuneaLakeNicholsRoadSaxZimBogLouisCounty20210718

So, did I see the Yellow-billed Cuckoo? No, but I did see this Black-billed Cuckoo and got a partially obstructed photo of it. That made the trip worthwhile.

CuckooBlackbilledLakeNicholsRoadSaxZimBogLouisCounty20210718