The Duluth Delta: a Birding Trip to MN

Well it's been a month since we were in Minnesota, and I can't say that I really miss it. But that's not to say that I'm not happy with the trip. I'm so grateful to have experienced a place like that. It's just so different from what I'm accustomed to. Life up there is coping with the stresses of extreme cold (as were we). Diversity is just low. But some species are just so specialized, and it's impossible not to be impressed by their life histories. It was also impossible not to be impressed by the people up there. The birding community was awesome! People were so willing to exchange numbers and provide updates, and we would have been a bit less satisfied without their contributions. I guess weather like that really bands people together. And non-birders were extremely nice, even nicer than I think that people in the South are. I was given free items on two occasions for having to wait for a minuscule amount of time. In a Chick-fil-A, I waited maybe

Sunday: February 11th Well it was our last full day in Minnesota, and I felt that we had spent the perfect amount of time on this trip. Today we would try for a few more targets and then make our way back to St. Paul, mostly through Wisconsin. So we checked out of our hotel and began the day's route. It would be similar to yesterday's in that we'd be birding up 61, but we wanted to make a few different stops. Our first stop was the mouth of the Lester River, where a big group of Mallards had been seen lately. We needed Mallard on the trip, but no birds were present at this small pool of unfrozen water. We did enjoy seeing an adult Bald Eagle show off its prowess in the soft morning light. Bald Eagle We hopped back into the car to head up the highway. Waves of Red-breasted Mergansers flew down the coast as we stopped to scan. We passed the Boreal Owl spot, but there wasn't anything quite as impressive to stop for. As we continued to cruise up the road, I saw

Saturday: February 10th As fun and exciting as birding trips are, they are hard! Combining weeks of planning, expectation, money expended, and research with travel, sleep deprivation, and constant contact with others (no matter how much you like them) can cause friction. But it's all part of the trip. And it makes it memorable. That's how I remember day 3 of our trip. After our previous full day at the Bog, we were not in such a hurry to get started. Our researching lead us away from another visit to Sax-Zim and towards Two Harbors and even further to Lake County (though not to Grand Marais as we originally planned). We started the day leisurely, heading towards Highway 61, the mecca of Boreal Owl irruption reports, and stopping for breakfast at Uncle Loui's Cafe. They meant it when they said they open at 7. We and others arrived early to sit and wait in the dark. The lights turned on at 7 am sharp, and Phil Collins-the voice of the 80's- began to fill the room. We