Tag Archives: MN North: Stony Point

Bow Saw Birding (big waves!)

Year 12,

The last three days have seen HUGE winds here at the head of Lake Superior. Yesterday afternoon winds were clocked at 65 mph on the bridges across the Duluth/Superior Harbor. More normal speeds were 40 to 45 mph. I took these two images and video at Stoney Point which is about 12 miles up the shore from my home (video link for blog email subscribers)

Not too surprisingly these fierce winds (and cold … it was 38F at my house yesterday afternoon) blew down some trees. Of course I went birding early this morning inland from Two Harbors. On Stoney River Forest Road I ran into this roadblock! No problem! Anyone who birds remote roads should carry a bow saw in their car. Although it took a while, I was able to continue my birding excursion after some elbow grease. I like this 30 inch box saw from Amazon, which has a permanent spot in my car’s trunk. As always I have zero sponsored links on this blog, and receive no compensation from any person or company. I purchase everything reviewed on this site with my own money.

Stony Point Peregrine Power

Year 11

Peregrine Falcon Power! I took these photographs a few days ago at Stony Point which is about 1/2 way between Duluth and Two Harbors. The weather overnight had been fine with a decent northwest wind. I knew this meant migration was most likely in progress.

Stony Point juts out into Lake Superior. Thus the North Shore which is a local migration highway sees lots of migrating songbirds. Raptors like this Peregrine time their migration to hunt those same migrating birds. This falcon was perched on the highest White Pine Tree in the vicinity, and it was hunting shortly after sunrise.

If you have a local migration highway (river, very large lake, decent sized hills, etc), head out birding during the Fall Migration after an overnight with a strong North or Northwest wind. Often the number of songbirds you see will be amazing, but also watch for raptors hunting those tweety birds!

If you maximize the first image, you will see the migration. The black smudges were blue jays way up high. The falcon was looking for easier, unsuspecting prey.

If you are near the North Shore, tonight’s weather and winds look like a strong burst of birds should migrate south overnight.

Birds Riding the North Wind

Year 11

For the past two days there has been a decent NW wind, which after all the south winds giving NE Minnesota unseasonably warm weather, meant that migration finally resumed. A NW wind is actually the best migration wind (opposed to a North wind). A strong NW blow pushes birds against Lake Superior, and then migration picks up down the North Shore (most birds do not want to head out over the big lake).

Over the past few days I have seen large flocks (50+ birds each) of Robins, Northern Flickers, and Yellow-Rumped Warblers. The first juncos are also appearing … a certain sign that the songbird migration will soon be in its finally phase. Snow Buntings seem to be the past songbird to come down from the Arctic.

Here are a few pics from the past two days …

A pair of Eagles guard Stoney Point

A Northern Flicker watches the local crows that harass many migration species.