Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Bulletin #105 – Duluth MN winter birds #3

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
March 16, 2010

Bulletin #105 – Duluth MN winter birds #3

Hello friends,

Duluth Minnesota in winter is a magnet for birders, as many specialized northern species (owls, grouse, finches, gulls etc) winter in the area. I spent 3 days last week there. For many birders, most of the birds found are lifers, and it was no different for me.

I was fortunate to be able to obtain the services of 2 expert guides.

Kim Eckert...web site
Sparky Stensaas...web site


There were a number of finch species (family Fringillidae) attracted to feeders in the winter. The most common genera are Carduelis (goldfinches) and Carpodacus (House Finch and cousins).
We did have some American Goldfinches at feeders as well as Pine Siskins (Carduelis pinus). These brown striped finches have yellow wing edge



However, the species I went to Duluth for were the northern carduelis species, that don't have any yellow at all. These are the Redpolls. The Common Redpoll (Carduelis flammea) is a small (5.25") brown streaked finch with red cap, yellow bill and black lores and chin. The male also has a pink washed breast. The female in the second photo lacks this pink breast.







The closely related Hoary Redpoll (Carduelis hornemanni) is much whiter overall with less breast streaking. We found a single bird of this species - a female. Like the Common Redpoll, the male has pink on the breast and the female in the photo lacks it. This split of Hoary Redpoll from Common Redpoll is a recent development. Both redpolls summer on the extreme northern tundra from Alaska to Greenland. This was a lifer for me.








The local carpodacus finch is the Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus). They are slightly larger at 6" in length. The male is almost all purple with brown streaking. Peterson likens it to a 'sparrow dipped in raspberry juice'. The female in the second photo, is just a small darkly streaked finch with a bold white eye-stripe.









The term grosbeak refers to a number of birds with large bills. There are several in the Cardinal family (Rose-breasted, Black-headed and Blue), but there also are several members of the finch family with that name. They are the Evening Grosbeak and Pine Grosbeak. We saw both of these birds, but the Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator) was the one on my target list, as I did not have photos of it. The male is a large (9") red finch with a large beak and 2 prominent white wing bars. It tends to stay high in the trees, but in winter comes to feeders and can be found on the ground.




The female is gray overall with yellow on the head, breast and rump.












The last bird of the cold weekend was another lifer, the Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus). This waxwing of the western boreal forests is a little larger (8.25") than the familiar Cedar Waxwing. Its coloration is grayer overall and it had more white on the wings. It also has the waxy red on the wings, but the wing edges are yellow. Also, the undertail coverts are rufous.

We found a flock of these birds in Ely, MN which happened to be the coldest place in the lower 48 states that day, at minus 17 degrees F








Hoar frost is the name of a phenomenon of ice crystals are deposited on objects on very cold nights. As we were out first thing in the morning at temperatures of -15 degrees F, we saw all the treetops coated in these ice crystals and made brilliant and sparkly in the sunlight. The frost melts off later in the morning as the temperature rises. The first photo shows a spruce tree top with the frost. It sure resembles our flocked Christmas trees.








The next 2 photos are deciduous leafless trees encased in hoar frost.

























I will be leading a 9 day bird photography tour to Costa Rica in conjunction with Lillian Scott-Baer of Baer Travel March 3-11, 2011. We have worked out an itinerary to visit La Selva Preserve, Savegre Mountain Hotel in the central mountains for Resplendant Quetzal and other montane species and Wilson Botanical Gardens (Las Cruces). We have also retained the services of local guide Rudy Zamora to accompany us and locate and ID the birds for us to photograph. We will also have beautiful flowers and hopefully some mammals - tamanduas, monkeys etc.

I will be giving several talks in the evening on bird photography, Photoshop etc.

The price will be $1960 double to $2380 single. This includes hotels, all meals, guide, transportation in Costa Rica etc. The only other cost will be airfare and personal purchases (alcohol, souvenirs etc) . Space is limited to 10 persons to maximize our opportunity to see and photograph the birds. I have birded in Costa Rica previously. It is a wonderful country to visit and the bird life is exceptional. I hope that you can join us.

Here is the schedule of payments for the trip.
$ 25 reservation fee (not refundable)
$ 575 due April 30, 2010
$ 600 due July 30, 2010
$ 740 due January 15, 2011

Please send deposits to:

ScoBar Inc.
34 Galway Place
The Woodlands, TX 77382

Note - we will try to pair up singles and triple would be $1890 per person.

There are only 4 spaces left for this trip as of today, so please email me, if interested.

All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
email: davidkmcd@comcast.net

photos copyright 2010 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask for subscribe.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Bulletin #104 – Duluth MN winter wildlife #2

David McDonald Photography

Friendswood Texas
March 7, 2010

Bulletin #104 – Duluth MN winter wildlife #2

Hello friends,

Duluth Minnesota in winter is a magnet for birders, as many specialized northern species (owls, grouse, finches, gulls etc) winter in the area. I spent 3 days last week there. For many birders, most of the birds found are lifers, and it was no different for me.

I was fortunate to be able to obtain the services of 2 expert guides.

Kim Eckert...web site
Sparky Stensaas...web site

The local grouse are another reason I went to Duluth, as I did not have photos of any of these species. There are 3 in the area and like the owls, I got 2 of the 3. The first is the Spruce Grouse (Falcipennis canadensis). As the name implies, it is found in the boreal spruce forests. We drove down some logging roads and if you are lucky, you may find them on the edge of the road, picking up grit for their crop. Well, we were fortunate to find a group of at least 5 birds. These birds are rather tame and can be approached closely to take a photo. The male is gray and white with black throat and breast feathers. He also has bright red eyebrows!





The other grouse we found was the Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus). These brown and white birds have a shaggy crest and tend to be very skittish and fly away immediately. However, we found one on the shoulder of the road, also picking up grit. We got out of the car, and he calmly walked up over the snow bank towards the woods. Instead of flying away, he climbed up into some branches about 8 feet over our head and fed on their usual diet of buds.

Here are 3 photos. Look at the intricate pattern on the breast, spots on the back, and striped tail. Also, you can see the very heavily feathered legs to protect them from the cold.






Both the northern nuthatches were present. The Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) is the more common species and we saw many of them, especially at feeders. The male has a black and white striped head and rusty red breast. The female in the second photo is more dark gray and white on the face and the breast is paler. This was my first occasion to see enough of these birds to differentiate the sexes.








The White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) is gray and white with solid white face. This is the eastern form of this species and is another potential split.













I was hoping to also see some mammals. As we all know, squirrels are the most commonly encountered mammals on our travels as they are diurnal. I did get some photos of the Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). This cute little guy along with the Eastern Gray Squirrel, were the squirrels of my youth in Ontario.









Also, we saw 2 Red Foxes (Vulpes fulva). This small fox comes in the usual red phase and also a black phase called the silver fox. Intermediate forms also occur. We saw a red phase animal, but he ran off before I got a photo. However, as we drove down one of the logging roads, one of the intermediate phase animals was in the road and ran ahead of the car for a long distance before going off into the woods. Notice he has a black back and face, but reddish flanks. The third photo shows him running in front of the car. The white tip on the tail is diagnostic for a Red Fox.








I will be leading a 9 day bird photography tour to Costa Rica in conjunction with Lillian Scott-Baer of Baer Travel in March 2011. We have worked out an itinerary to visit La Selva Preserve, Savegre Mountain Hotel in the central mountains for Resplendant Quetzal and other montane species and Wilson Botanical Gardens (Las Cruces). We have also retained the services of local guide Rudy Zamora to accompany us and locate and ID the birds for us to photograph. We will also have beautiful flowers and hopefully some mammals - tamanduas, monkeys etc as well.


The price will be $1960 double to $2380 single. This includes hotels, all meals, guide, transportation in Costa Rica etc. The only other cost will be airfare and personal purchases (alcohol, souvenirs etc) . Space is limited to 10 persons to maximize our opportunity to see and photograph the birds. I have birded in Costa Rica previously. It is a wonderful country to visit and the bird life is exceptional. I hope that you can join us.

Here is the schedule of payments for the trip.
$ 25 reservation fee (not refundable)
$ 575 due April 30, 2010
$ 600 due July 30, 2010
$ 740 due January 15, 2011

Please send deposits to:

ScoBar Inc.
34 Galway Place
The Woodlands, TX 77382

Note - we will try to pair up singles and triple would be $1890 per person.

All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
email: davidkmcd@comcast.net

photos copyright 2010 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask for subscribe.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Bulletin #103 – Duluth MN winter birds #1

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
March 1, 2010

Bulletin #103 – Duluth MN winter birds #1

Hello friends,

Duluth Minnesota in winter is a magnet for birders, as many specialized northern species (owls, grouse, finches, gulls etc) winter in the area. I spent 3 days last week there. For many birders, most of the birds found are lifers, and it was no different for me.
The boreal spruce woods in Superior National Forest south of the Canadian border were magnificent. We drove along logging roads for miles with no other vehicles present. The stillness and quiet with the landscape completely covered in snow was awe inspiring. There were only a few chickadees and finches with occasional ravens breaking the serenity. Yes it was very cold (-15 degrees F), but there was no wind and the sun shone brightly in a blue sky. I was only cold when I had my hands out of the gloves to take pictures.

I was fortunate to be able to obtain the services of 2 expert guides.

Kim Eckert...email... eckertkr@gmail.com

Sparky Stensaas...web site



I found 2 of the 3 owl species I was hoping for. The first is the magnificent Snowy Owl (Nyctea scandica). This large (23”) owl is white with some streaking. They occur regularly in Duluth in winter, and all of the birds are immatures, which have more streaking. They have been studied for more than 20 years by a local biologist. He catches them, tags them, and then releases them and follows them over the winter until they leave to summer in the arctic. You can see the numbered tag on the wing and he also puts some black dye on the right side of the head. The birds roost out on the ice of the harbor during the day, and the black on the head allows them to be found on the vast expanse of ice. They come on shore at dusk to hunt overnight. This was a lifer for me.














The other owl was also a lifer. It is the Northern Hawk Owl (Surnia ulula). It is a medium (16”) sized owl. We saw 5 of these beautiful birds. They resemble falcons as they are thin and have long tails. They hunt during the day as well as night. Thus they can be easily seen as they perch on the top of trees. They are IDed by the white face outlined with black stripes.. Seen from the side or back, the head has black and white vertical stripes as seen in the second photo.









Another life bird was the Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor). It is slightly larger (10”) than the local Loggerhead Shrike. The black facial stripe is narrower in the Northern Shrike and does not extend above the eye.










The smallest birds were 2 chickadees. These cute little birds were sometimes the only birds we found in certain areas. The Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) is the chickadee of my early life in Canada. He is similar to the Carolina Chickadee with a black cap and bib, but it has some white edging on the wing feathers.










The other was the Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus). It is the chickadee of the northern boreal forests. It has a brown cap, black bib and gray cheeks.








Here is the Gray Jay (Perisoreus canadensis). It has white underparts and head with dark gray back of head, back and wings. These birds are very tame and will come readily to feeders and hand-outs from hikers and campers.










I will be leading a 9 day bird photography tour to Costa Rica in conjunction with Lillian Scott-Baer of Baer Travel in March 2011. We have worked out an itinerary to visit La Selva Preserve, Savegre Mountain Hotel in the central mountains for Resplendant Quetzal and other montane species and Wilson Botanical Gardens (Las Cruces). We have also retained the services of local guide Rudy Zamora to accompany us and locate and ID the birds for us to photograph. We will also have beautiful flowers and hopefully some mammals - tamanduas, monkeys etc as well.

The price will be $1960 double to $2380 single. This includes hotels, all meals, guide, transportation in Costa Rica etc. The only other cost will be airfare and personal purchases (alcohol, souvenirs etc) . Space is limited to 10 persons to maximize our opportunity to see and photograph the birds. I have birded in Costa Rica previously. It is a wonderful country to visit and the bird life is exceptional. I hope that you can join us.

Here is the schedule of payments for the trip.

$ 25 reservation fee (not refundable)

$ 575 due April 30, 2010

$ 600 due July 30, 2010

$ 740 due January 15, 2011

Please send deposits to:
ScoBar Inc.

34 Galway Place
The Woodlands, TX 77382
Note - we will try to pair up singles and triple would be $1890 per person.
All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

email: davidkmcd@comcast.net

photos copyright 2010 David McDonald
To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask for subscribe.