Reeds Landing

Usually people do not think of winter as a good time to go birding. Especially here in Minnesota where our winter are cold and gray and most birds leave town heading for warmer climates. However winter birding can be quite rewarding if you know what to look for and where to look. Minnesota has a large population of nesting bald eagles, second highest state next to Alaska. During the spring, summer and fall you can find eagles mainly around one of our many lakes, rivers and other water bodies. Although bald eagles are opportunistic feeders, and will eat whatever is easier, they are built to catch and eat fish. During the warm months they are spread out all around the state.

When winter comes its a different story. Bald eagles are not affected very much by cold but they still need to eat. During the winter our temps get cold and our lakes, rivers and streams get frozen. So the eagles migrate and congregate in locations where the water remains open. This is the case at Reeds Landing in south eastern Minnesota. Reeds Landing is right across from where the fast moving Chippewa River comes from Wisconsin and merges into the slow moving Mississippi. When the fast water hits the slower water it churns things up which helps to keep the ice of the river through out the winter. It is possible to see eagles by the hundreds around Reeds Landing. Many eagles will be perched in a favorite tree keeping an eye out for a fishy meal, some will be out on the ice and others will be soaring through the brilliant blue. 

Happy Independence Day

 

Tuesday Tweets

The bald eagle is the national bird and a symbol of the United States. Since it is the only eagle in the world that is found exclusively in North America I think that it is a fitting choice. The only other species of eagle in North America, the golden eagle, is circumpolar and found in the northern regions of Europe and Asia. The bald eagle is a member of the group of eagles classified as fish or sea eagles. These eagles have scaled legs with out feathers that are designed to dip into the water to catch fish. The bald eagle is opportunistic however and will eat whatever is easiest to catch, including carrion.

Welcome to Tuesday Tweets. To join in the fun, just post a photo of a bird on your blog then come here and enter your information in the inlinkz tool down below. Don't forget to put a link back to here on your blog and the pretty little banner photo. Then visit all of the sites that participate to see a lot of cool bird pics.

Reflectioned Majesty

Here in Minnesota we have a healthy population of bald eagles. All of out 10,000 plus lakes and our rivers are a good source of food and habitat for these large birds. It is the winter though, when the true show begins. As the lakes and rivers begin to freeze the eagles congregate around the few remaining areas of open water. Trees that line the shore become perches for numerous eagles and more still sit on the ice at the edge of the water waiting to find their next meal.

Eagles

There are over 60 species of eagles in the world. Most of them are found in Europe, Asia and Africa. Eagles are members of the Accipitridae family which includes most of the diurnal raptors. Eagles are divided into three groups. The first group is the sea or fish eagles. These are eagles that have scaled legs with no feathers on them. Their legs are designed to dip into the water and catch fish. The bald eagle of North America is an example of a sea/fish eagle.
The next grouping is the booted eagles. These eagles have feathers that reach all of the way down to their feet. They are usually better hunters then sea eagles and live off hunting live prey, such as small mammals and ground birds. They often live in more arid climates and get most of their moisture from their prey. The golden eagle of North America is an example of a booted eagle.
Snake owls are generally smaller then other eagles. They are usually found in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. As their name implies most snake eagles hunt and eat snakes. Since many snake are equipped with venomous fangs snake eagle have extremely tough pads on their feet to help protect them from snake bites. The bateleur eagle of Africa is an example of a snake eagle.

Some people also separate the harpy eagle of South America along with several other large and powerful eagles into a forth group. Many of these eagles eat larger prey such as monkeys, sloth, or lemurs which they pluck from the tree tops.

Harley's Passing

I received some sad news yesterday. Harley, a special bald eagle that was rehabilitated at The Raptor Center has passed away. Many bald eagles are treated and released from The Raptor Center but because of the special circumstances of his rescue Harley had gained some local notoriety. Harley was found by the side of the road by Brian Baladez up in North western Wisconsin. Even though Brian was riding his motorcycle at the time he did not want to leave the injured eagle to die. So he wrapped up the bird in his leather jacket, strapped it to his bike and drove it to the Duluth Zoo.
The eagle was transferred to The Raptor Center where he was treated for a wing injury and lead poisoning. The local Duluth newspapers heard about the incident and printed the story making Brian and the eagle local celebrities. The eagle was named Harley and about six months later he was ready for release. Brian traveled down to the Twin Cities and had the privilege of releasing Harley Back into the wild in front of a couple hundred people at the Carpenter Nature Center. When Harley was released he was fitted with a satellite transmitter so that his fans could monitor his movements at The Raptor Center's website. In September Harley's transmitter went silence in northern Minnesota near Evelyth. We were all hoping that it was a possible problem with the transmitter but unfortunately Harley's body, along with the transmitter was located by the Minnesota DNR and returned to The Raptor Center. Even though it is sad that Harley has passed on it is important to remember that because of Brian and many other people who helped him out Harley had a second chance at life. He lived free in the wild for two more years then he would have if Brian had not cared enough to stop. He also helped to give many people a small glimpse into the life of a wild bald eagle.

To Fly

Have you ever wondered how birds fly? This is a subject that has fascinated mankind for ages. In many ancient cultures they viewed a birds ability to fly as something magical or associated it with the supernatural. The truth is that through many many centuries birds have evolved several adaptations which have assist in their ability to fly.
In order to fly birds need to be light weight. Instead of having heavy bones and teeth like we do most birds have hollow bones and a light weight beak. They also have a much more efficient cardiovascular system then we do. Their lungs process oxygen more quickly efficiently and their heart beats much faster. This is necessary because it takes a lot of energy to fly.
Perhaps the coolest adaptation for flight though are their feathers. Birds have between 1,000 to 25,000 feather. Feathers are made of a substance called keratin. Even though they are strong and durable they are also very light. The spine of the feather is called a shaft. The shaft runs the length of the feather and it is hollow inside. Connected to the shaft are branches called barbs. The barbs connect to each other giving the feather a solid appearance however there is space between them which helps to keep the feather light. Each bird has several different type of feathers each serving a different purpose. It is important for the bird to keep their feathers in good shape so they spend a significant part of each day preening. Once or twice a year, depending on the type of bird, they will lose their feathers and new replacements will grow in. This is called molting. Most birds only molt a couple of feathers at a time so that they can continue to fly while their feathers are being replaced. However some waterfowl molt all their feathers at once leaving them flightless for a week or two.

Bald Eagle

Minnesota in winter time is probably not the best place to go bird watching. In most of the Christmas Bird Counts that I participate in, we feel lucky if our group spots 20 different species. However winter does provide some more unique birding possibilities. Minnesota does have a large population of nesting bald eagles, second in the United States, but during the winter many of the eagles from Minnesota and surrounding states and Canada congregate in the south eastern part of the state.
Bald eagles have over 7000 feathers so they are not migrating south because of the cold. The reason that they head south is because of food. Even though bald eagles are opportunistic feeders that will eat whatever food is the easiest to obtain, including roadkill, as a sea/fish eagle they are designed to catch fish. So in the winter when all of the lakes and rivers freeze up they head to open spots on the Mississippi River in south east Minnesota. The eagle in the photo above is enjoying its morning catch.

Bald Eagles

Bald eagles are opportunistic feeders. They will eat whatever is the easiest. A lot of what they eat is carrion, since it is pretty easy to catch dead stuff, but their primary food source is fish. Eagles are divided into several different groups. Bald eagles belong to the Sea or Fish Eagle group. These are eagles that have special adaptions that help them to fish These include featherless scaled legs that they can dip into the water thus keeping their feathers relatively dry, and a large hooked beak designed to rip through tough fish scales.

Bald Eagle

A More Exciting Birthday

Well another year has come and gone and I am celebrating another birthday today. I did not really do anything special today. My boss did take me out for lunch and Michelle bought me a treat but since the weather was mostly rainy and cloudy I came home and sat around the house after work.
My most exciting birthday happened four years ago on 8-12-2007, I apologize to any long time readers who have already heard this story. It was a Sunday and since it was my birthday Michelle let me pick how we would spend the day. I decided that we would go up to Crex Meadows, in Wisconsin, and do some wildlife photography.
While driving around Crex we spotted an eagle on the ground. It is unusual for an eagle to be on the ground, unless it is on some prey and we did not see any food, so we decided to watch the bird for a while. After about 15 to 20 minutes the eagle had still not taken off so we headed over to the visitors center to let them know about the injured eagle.
Unfortunately the volunteer that was on duty was not able to help us so we decided to take matters into our own hands. We went to a store and purchased some supplies and then headed back to rustle up the eagle. The eagle did not want to go with out a fight, so when I tried to grab him he ran from me straight into a large mud puddle.
It took a while but eventually I was able to get him out of the mud and into a small crate. The mud actually wore him down a bit making it easier to handle him. So we took off from Crex with a muddy eagle in a crate on the back seat. We tried to get a hold of some Wisconsin rehaber but we could not reach any so we decided, with the blessing of someone at the Wisconsin DNR, to take him back down to The Raptor Center. At TRC they fixed up a bone in his wing, which was broken, and the next February I was able to release him back into the wild. Although most of these pictures are not quite up to my normal standard, I obviously did not take most of them, this is one of the fondest memories that I have, and that fact that it happened on my birthday made it so much more special. Eventually the weather will clear up this weekend and then perhaps I can go out and find another special memory like this one. If you would like more details on the story check out these links http://ecobirder.blogspot.com/2007/08/rollercoaster-birthday.html http://ecobirder.blogspot.com/2007/08/eagle-rescue-update.html http://ecobirder.blogspot.com/2008/03/eagle-is-set-free.html.

Colvill Park, an Eagle's Winter Retreat

Each year as winter approaches most birds begin there annual migration south to their wintering grounds. The reason why most birds head south for the winter is not to escape the cold, that is why retirees head south for the winter, the reason why they make such a journey is basically just to find food. Consider flycatchers and warblers that primarily eat insects, when winter comes there are not so many insects so they head south to where there is still food.

Bald eagles do what is often referred to as a partial migration. With over 7000 feathers they do not worry much about the cold, however it is very difficult to catch fish, their primary food source when all of the lakes and rivers are frozen.

Since eagles are opportunistic feeders they also eat a lot of carrion. So some eagles may stay in areas where there is no open water source and survive mainly off of road kill, but the majority will head south until they find open water for fishing. Minnesota has a very healthy population of bald eagles, Alaska is the only state in the US that has more nesting pair, and so during the winter most of them congregate in the southern part of the state along the open waters of the Mississippi River.

One spot where we usually find good numbers of bald eagles during the winter is at Colvill Park in Redwing, Minnesota. Colvill Park is a little city park that is located adjacent to the Mississippi River. Much of Colvill Park is what you would see in a typical city park, benches overlooking the river, a public swimming pool, a very nice children's playground, but during the winter the big attraction is the small wooded area to the north of the park. People come from all around to see the eagles perched on the trees or fishing in the river. An Excel Energy plant which is located just a few blocks up river helps to keep the river as well as the back channels from freezing up.

The eagle population at Colvill fluctuates depending on the weather. During years where we have a mild winter we often have a pretty large group wintering down around Redwing. During years where the winter is harsh, like this year has been, the eagles tend to go further south down into the Mississippi River National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, so only a few remain up in the Redwing area. Even when the eagles go further south they often begin to head back up to Redwing as winter begins to thaw. When I was down in Redwing last weekend I only saw a few eagles in the park. I expect that will change as the weather starts to warm up. I took the pictures for this post last year in January. Last year the winter was milder then this year and there were quite a few more eagles to photograph.

Ice Fishing

As a child I was taught that birds fly south for the winter, at least here in the northern hemisphere. I always thought that the reason was to get away from the cold, after all who could blame them. As an adult I found out that the real reason that birds fly south is to find food.

In Minnesota we have a large population of nesting eagles, Alaska is the only state in the US that has more, so it is not difficult to find eagles through out the year. In winter though, many of the eagles that nest through out Minnesota as well as many from the neighboring states and Canada head south in search of open water where they can find food.

One of the spots where the eagles usually find open water is on the Mississippi River at Redwing, MN. The Excel Energy power plant at Redwing pumps warm water into the river which keeps the water open in this area. This provides an area where the bald eagles can fish and so they often gather here in large numbers, which is great if you are into nature photography and raptors.

1st Annual Brrrrdathon

Last weekend I headed up north for the first annual Brrrrdathon. This event was sponsored by the newly created organization The Friends of Sax Zim, formerly Bird Nation, to raise money for an eventual visitors center in the Sax Zim Bog. Like any outdoor event held in Minnesota in January weather played a major role. Shortly after I arrived in Duluth on Friday the snow began to fall, which made photographing wildlife, not to mention driving, very difficult.

As I sat in my hotel room Friday night I was worried that the trip would be a waste of time due to the weather but when I woke up Saturday morning the skies where clear and blue. After digging my car out of the snow I headed out slowly to the bog. The city plows were already out working but the road conditions were still not very good, especially when I got to the back roads in the bog.

Despite my concern over the roads I was excited about the number of birds that I spotted as I travelled to the bog. The end of the storm seemed to bring the birds to life and many of them fluttered from tree to tree looking for food. As I entered the bog area a bald eagle soared from his perch to greet me.

The first place in the bog that I headed to was a feeding station that had been set up on Admiral Ave. Admiral had not been plowed at all but I was able to make it through travelling down the tracks of others who had already made their way down the road. A feeding station has been set up in this location for years and it has always been good for attracting northern species including boreal chickadees. When I arrived at the feeder there was already a pair of boreal chickadees there as well as black-capped chickadees, pine grosbeaks, red-breasted nuthatch, and downy and hairy woodpeckers.

After shooting at the Admiral feeder for about an hour I headed over to McDavitt RD, which is another location that many of the northern species have been seen. About half way down McDavitt I found a path in the snow that went back to a small feeding station that was located in the woods. I decided that I could use a little exercise so I through on my winter gear and headed out down the path. It did not take long before I located a pair of black-backed woodpeckers. I was excited because black-back and three-toed woodpecker sightings have not been as common this year as they have in the past. Unfortunately to get the angle I needed to get decent shots of the bird I did have to wade through waist deep snow. It was worth it though, don't you think?

The main attraction at Sax Zim are the northern owls. The Sax Zim Bog is a mix of state, county and private lands, which includes the Cloquet Valley State Forest, Whiteface River State Forest and the Sax and Zim Wildlife Management Areas. The habitat consists mainly of conifer bog, spruce, tamarack and white cedar. This particular habitat is very attractive to northern owls that come down from Canada in the winter in search of food. The most common type of owl seen during the winter is the northern hawk owl. I found this northern hawk owl perched in a tree not far off of Mcdavitt. Since northern hawk owls are mostly diurnal, active during the day, they are one of the easiest owl to photograph.

As the sun went down on Saturday night many birders began their search for the most prized bird in the bog, the great grey owl. Great grey owls have not been seen with any regularity in the bog since 2005, when there was an irruption of thousands of birds which came down from Canada. This season there have been more sightings then in the past few years but it still seems to be hit and miss. The fact that they are crepuscular, hunt at dusk and dawn, also does not help, especially if you are looking for pictures. Fortunately around 4:30pm I found some people who had spotted a pair of these owls on McDavitt Road. I got a few pictures in the low light and then just watched them hunt until the sun went down.