On our second day we headed up to Voyageur National Park in northern Minnesota. We found a boardwalk through a bog; Orr Bog Walk. On this walk we saw Red-eyed Vireo, Nashville Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and Black-capped Chickadees. We didn't get any new birds there.
Next trail was Blind Ash Bay Trail. The lady at the visit center told us to be on the look out for bears, as one had been spotted on the trail and also the deer ticks would be really bad. That is an understatement! Throughout the entire day I pulled off roughly twenty ticks and Simon pulled off two. We walked on the same paths and he only gets two ticks on him. We headed to the trail and this trail was uphill and was lacking in birds. Why are we having such bad luck in Minnesota? We saw only a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and heard many calls, but we are unfamiliar with many calls. We did see bear scratches on the ground but no visual. Another no new bird trail.
Our last trail for the day was Beaver Pond Trail; a short .15 mile walk to the pond. This pond was a nice view but no ducks or birds. We did hear a call I was hoping was a grouse but we listened to calls and didn't match up. We did hear a bird calling from across the pond and we were hoping to match that up with a Northern Hawk Owl, but no dice. The call didn't match up with any of the other owls in the area either, then I thought I'd try the Northern Goshawk and it matched up!! Just one new bird.
Oh my, we really need to get some more birds! We hope to have better luck in South Dakota this week. Happy Birding!!!
I've got a tick phobia and am just so creeped out when we walk in tall grasses on our birding trips. I try to act mature about it in front of others, but that sure takes some doing. As far as I know, I've never gotten a tick, but my children have gotten plenty. If a tick has to be removed from a child just before bed, I can hardly sleep with the itchies I feel for the next couple hours.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get some good birds soon.
I am so glad you saw a Bobolink! They are a favorite. Sadly, they've been silent for a week or more, so either lost their eggs from a raccoon or something, or the feral cats did the unthinkable. When I mentioned that possibility to my husband, he sounded upset enough to do something. He suffers from terrible grass pollen allergies and was willing to live with the tall grasses this year so they had a place to nest.
Ticks are pretty creepy, but growing up on a farm in South Dakota I got used to ticks. We are planning on going birding on Saturday so hopefully we will get some new birds then.
ReplyDelete