It was a blast going through my 19,753 images from 2022 (15,259 on Canon R5 and 4,494 iPhone11) and finding my most memorable wildlife photos. Trips to Churchill, Manitoba, floating blind in the prairie potholes of North Dakota, Crex Meadows in Wisconsin and other parts of wild Minnesota netted some cool outdoor experiences:
Close range Hawk Owls, an adorable Saw-whet Owl, Short-eared Owls, Red Fox dens (in 2 states and 1 province!), Western Grebes performing their courtship “Rush Dance,” hunting Mink, frosty Long-eared Owls, and more.
Top Tens in several categories including “Creative Wildlife Photography,” “Wildlife Behavior,” “Animal in the Landscape,” “High Key,” “Landscape & Vernacular Architecture,” and more.
Evening Grosbeaks Galore! Winter Finches Arrive Sax-Zim Bog
Winter finches have arrived in the Sax-Zim Bog! Evening Grosbeaks are abundant with lesser amounts of Pine Grosbeaks and Common Redpolls. Sparky goes on an early winter jaunt in the snowy Sax-Zim Bog in search of winter birds. A junco is an unexpected find at the Sisu feeders at the Zabin. We also stop by the Welcome Center and find a Pileated Woodpecker feasting on a deer rib cage. A flock of Bohemian Waxwings make a cameo along Nichols Lake Road. A side trip takes us to Mary Lou’s new garage and outdoor “birder lounge.” Sparky also shares details about the upcoming Tiny Bird Art online auction AND the BRRRRdathon-World’s Coldest Birdathon. Come on along!
This truly comprehensive Minnesota birding guide is a must for every birder and bird photographer visiting the state. It is a county-by-county guide to over 1400 birding locations and lavishly illustrated with over 180 color bird photos and nearly 100 detailed maps. An exhaustive annotated list to all 447 of Minnesota’s bird species even contains valuable field identification tips. It is easy to use and just by scanning one of the many QR codes you can access maps of specific birding locations.
—Comprehensive bird-finding guide to all 87 counties
—Completely revised Fifth Edition
—Over 1,400 locations highlighted
—Annotated List of Minnesota’s 447 bird species
—Identification tips for the trickiest field problems
—Color photos of 170 of the state’s most iconic bird species
—QR codes link directly to detailed location maps
—Checklists for Minnesota’s “non-bird” wildlife
—Seasonal maps for the best birding sites by region
—Online database with updates to keep this guide current
“Kim Eckert’s interest in birding was sparked in the Chicago area during a 10th-grade biology class – the only biology course he would ever take. He became an English major at St. John’s University in Minnesota and then taught English (with some first-year French on the side) during the 1970s. But he turned to a career in birding after moving to Duluth, Minnesota in 1977, where he served as Naturalist at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve (for a total of 20 years), taught bird identification classes for a decade, and started leading birding tours (including 30 years with Victor Emanuel Nature Tours). In 1986, he created the Minnesota Birding Weekends & Weeks program of tours throughout Minnesota and elsewhere in the U.S. and Canada, which is now in its 37th season. In addition, Kim has written numerous articles for The Loon and other publications, plus Birding By Hindsight, a compilation of The Loon’s series of 70 bird ID articles, and four previous editions of A Birder’s Guide to Minnesota.
After 45 years, he still lives in Duluth…where he muses about the Great Plains, prefers not to take anything too seriously, finds joy in not knowing where he is going, reminisces about the times with Bob and Panda…and thinks about things.”
A Birder’s Guide to Minnesota
A County-by-County Guide to Over 1400 Birding Locations
On a whim, Sparky stops by Crex Meadows in western Wisconsin on his way home from a conference in St. Paul…and despite the initial BLAAH light and heavy overcast, he stays and the light suddenly turns magical…WHAAT!
Sandhill Cranes and Trumpeter Swans are the avian highlights.
Sparky tries shooting through the red fall foliage to create some unique and creative wildlife photos.
All photos taken with Canon R5 and Canon 100-500mm lens
Blizzard in October: Teddy Roosevelt NP, Badlands in North Dakota, NP in South Dakota & Yellowstone.
What a crazy trip! When I think back on it, I only remember the tough stuff… getting kicked out of Yellowstone (they closed all the roads and rangers had us leave) and the nightmare of white-knuckle driving through a North Dakota blizzard.
But when I look at the photos we got, I realize what an amazing trip it was! Mountain Bluebird flocks in the snow at Teddy, a sow Grizzly eating rose hips only yards from us near Wapiti, Wyoming, a Badger cooperatively hunting with TWO Coyotes, backlit Raven breath, and so much more.
[DISCLAIMER: This was filmed about a year before I got my Canon R5 so cut me some slack on the video quality :)]
Is it possible to get into the heart of a Western Grebe colony and witness the amazing and complex courtship of these water birds? It certainly is….if you use a floating blind/floating hide. In this episode of Shooting with Sparky he and Ryan take you out to central North Dakota’s prairie pothole region where spring bird courtship was in full swing! Western Grebes were the star of the show, performing their courtship rituals right in front of us including the “weed-dance,” “dip-shaking,” and of course, “rushing.”
Bird photography/Bird video from a floating blind is not an easy thing…but the Canon R5 makes it MUCH more possible. The animal-eye tracking works wonderfully when shooting at water level.
Other birds encountered included Eared Grebes, Red-necked Grebes, courting Forster’s Terns, American Avocets, Dunlin, and we visit an old friend at their nest, the Ferruginous Hawk.
In part 2 of Sparky’s Southeast Arizona trip he visits several landmark birding locations…Paton’s Center for Hummingbirds in Patagonia, the Wayside Rest famous for the “Patagonia Wayside Picnic Table Effect,” Stateline Road near Rodeo, New Mexico, Foothills Road, Willow Tank, Portal Arizona’s feeders (including Dave Jasper’s yard). Bird highlights include Greater Roadrunner, Rose-throated Becard nest, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Thick-billed Kingbird (a lifer for Sparky), Violet-crowned Hummingbird, Blue-throated Hummingbird, Vermillion Flycatcher, Phainopepla, Arizona Woodpecker, and Lesser Nighthawk. Sonoran Gophersnake, Black-tailed Rattlesnake and Western Diamondback Rattlesnake are the reptile highlights.
In this episode of Virtually Live from the Sax-Zim Bog, Sparky Stensaas shares his favorite sightings from the last month, including FIVE SPECIES OF OWLS, MINK, BOBCAT, ERMINE & WOLF! All in the Sax-Zim Bog of northern Minnesota from early February through early March.
Encounters with FIVE different owl species in Sax-Zim are highlighted… An adorable Northern Saw-whet Owl hunts below a feeder; A Great Gray plunges into the snow and pulls up a vole; chickadees help him find a Barred Owl soaking up the sun at Fringed Gentian Bog; a Snowy Owl NOT on a power pole!; and a Northern Hawk Owl returns to the Bog and performs and preens for the camera.
Sparky also shares some ETIQUETTE for watching and enjoying Great Grays without disturbing them.
In additIon, we watch a Mink hunt for fish, see an Ermine in hunting mode and enjoy a Bobcat just sitting there.
We also make a stop at the Sax-Zim Bog Welcome Center to see what’s happening there: Pine Grosbeaks and Common Redpolls in slow motion.
Though I do still enjoy a beautiful “bird on a stick” frame-filling portrait, more satisfying to me now is a wider field of view showing the bird or mammal in its native habitat. It tells more of a story about how and where that critter lives. Here are my favorites from 2021
Common Redpoll in frosty branches; January; Skogstjarna Carlton County, MN
We had about three days of GORGEOUS rime ice in early January 2021. It coated everything in a huge area of northern Minnesota. Rime ice is basically dense fog that freezes. That is how it differs from hoar frost. In hindsight, I should have spent A LOT more time looking for subjects amongst this crazy backdrop since it only occurs rarely. I did find this Common Redpoll out my living room window though. Its red cap adds a much-needed splash of color to the scene.
Migrating geese; March; Western Minnesota
Maybe this is less “bird-in-the-landscape” and more “specks on the horizon” but the two flocks of geese (squint real hard!) add a lot to this rural western Minnesota farms cape.
Wild Turkey Toms displaying; April; Skogstjarna Carlton County, Minnesota
It is not everyday that you can take a winner image while taking the garbage cans out to the road! Here three tom Wild Turkeys are in full display mode for the numerous hens just out of frame. I like the backlit feathers and aspen catkins.
Snow Geese and Moon; March; North Ottawa Impoundment; Grant County, Minnesota
I didn’t even notice the moon until well into my trip to North Ottawa Impoundment. Then I had the “aha” moment, and started taking hundreds of photos pointing my camera straight up into the azure blue spring sky. I like this wider image that has the moon in line with the Snow Geese, and I also appreciate that the line of migrating geese goes from upper left to lower right corner of the frame.
Rock Pigeons and old warehouse; March; Superior, Wisconsin
Hey, this IS the native landscape for Rock Pigeons! They live/nest in this old warehouse in Superior, Wisconsin. I just like the symmetry of the windows as well as the texture and colors of the weathered boards and tin siding…oh, and the pigeons add to the photo too.
Porcupine and Willow catkins; May; Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota
Porcupines are relatively easy to find in late spring in the Sax-Zim Bog due to the fact that they feast on willow and aspen catkins relatively low in the woods. I framed this fella with blobs of yellow by shooting through a flowering willow with a larger aperture.
Black Tern over marsh; May; Chase Lake NWR, North Dakota
I do love this shot….BUT…I wish I had left the tern more space on the right so I could crop it so the bird was more to the left of the frame.
Cottontail and Badlands; May; Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
The “Badlands” are really a land of plenty for the many critters that live there. Though it appears to be an inhospitable landscape, there is no shortage of wildlife that call it home such as this curious (cautious?) Cottontail.
Gilded Flickers on Saguaro; July; Saguaro National Park, Tucson, Arizona
Gilded Flickers are close cousins to our Northern Flickers, but they are only found in their preferred Saguaro cactus habitat in Arizona and extreme SE California. They even excavate nest cavities in the prickly cacti.
Blue-winged Teal takeoff at sunset; May; Kidder County, North Dakota
Dusk in the floating blind. I thought shooting time was over, but I noticed the thunderheads turning pink on the horizon and wondered if I could get some ducks in the foreground. It didn’t take long before I maneuvered the blind into position for a raft of four Blue-winged Teal. But before I could get a shot, they jumped into the air and were gone. But I got lucky, as this frame turned out to be my favorite.
Common Nighthawk on fence post; June; South Dakota
Nighthawks are rarely seen in the full sun of daytime. They are primarily a bird of dusk when they take wing to suck up flying insects in the air. That tiny bill opens to reveal a huge gaping mouth, which is all the better for inhaling mosquitos.
White-tailed Deer in snowy field; April; Carlton County, Minnesota
Peek-a-boo, I see you!
Trumpeter Swan squabble on snow; March; near Danbury, Wisconsin
I intentionally included the meandering tracks of this early-returning pair of Trumpeter Swans as it lent a bit of visual interest. This would be a killer shot with more dramatic light.
Tufted Titmouse orange and blue; February; Old Frontenac Cemetery, Minnesota
You don’t often see Tufted Titmouse in Minnesota, and when you do they are usually tucked into an evergreen. I like the out-of-focus leaves that make orangish blobs of color that match the buffy sides of the titmouse.
Snow Geese; March; North Ottawa Impoundment; Grant County, Minnesota
You build it and they will come. That is certainly true of the impoundment project called North Ottawa. Now every spring, tens of thousands of geese state here on their way north. Quite a sight, and an even more impressive auditory experience.
Bald Eagle nest; February; near Winona, Minnesota
I HAVE to get down here to photograph this nest in early spring next year. I love this shot, but it would even be better with the spring green of just-emerging leaves to warm up the scene. Big bird, big nest, big tree.
On their way back to the Arctic, Rough-legged Hawks hunt open areas all over the upper midwest.
Great Gray Owl; February; Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota
I just like the gray of the Great Gray amongst the white branches of the aspens. Last year’s leaves add a pop of subtle color.
Sharp-tailed Grouse; May; central North Dakota
This picture really shouts, “North Dakota.” A land of open country, grasslands, empty spaces, and prairie birds such as this lone Sharp-tailed Grouse.
River Otter; April; Crex Meadows, Wisconsin
A River Otter sighting can brighten a gloomy spring day.
Red-breasted Mergansers; March; Lake Superior, Two Harbors, Minnesota
Northeast winds had stacked shards of blue ice along the shore at Lighthouse point on Lake Superior. I used a small aperture to keep the Red-breasted Mergansers in focus while giving some detail to the ice.
Varied Bunting; July; Box Canyon, Arizona
I just like the leading lines of the Ocotillo that bring the eye to a stunner of a bird; the Varied Bunting which is in full song.
Yellow-headed Blackbird; May; Prairie potholes of North Dakota
Montana isn’t the only ” big sky country”! North Dakota has its share of vast skyscapes. A lone Yellow-headed Blackbird sings to the sky its melodious song….STOP…let me rephrase that…A lone Yellow-headed Blackbird croaks out its grating call to any other blackbirds that might be nearby.
Not many other birds share the same habitat as the White-throated Swift! Crevices in bare rock cliffs is where this relative of the swallow nest. And this one is swooping up into its retreat on the one and only Devil’s Tower.
Black-throated Sparrow; July; Stateline Road near Portal, Arizona
I just LOVE birds perched on rusty barbed wire…and especially if there is an old wood fence post in the frame as well. Jackpot! Black-throated Sparrow in the Chihuahuan Desert on the Arizona-New Mexico line.
I like this photo of Evening Grosbeaks in white-barked Aspens …but I would LOVE it if there were a few more in the center of the frame…and if the others were looking into the center. Oh well.
Black-tailed Prairie Dogs at sunset; May; Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
Just a tiny bit of rim light illuminates these Black-tailed Prairie Dogs at sunset in Teddy Roosevelt National Park. Moody!
Eastern Meadowlark; April; Firebird WMA, Carlton County, Minnesota
Yellow bird amongst yellowish grasses in a snowy scene. An early-arriving Eastern Meadowlark is greeted by an April snowstorm.
Sagebrush Sparrow; June; near Pinedale, Wyoming
Maybe a portrait and not a bird-in-the-landscape but kind of in-between. Enjoyed a wonderful morning in the sagebrush flats south of Pinedale, Wyoming, and the surprisingly colorful Sagebrush Sparrow was a species I’d never photographed before.
Bald Eagle in frosty tree; January; Carlton County, Minnesota
Just allow me one more “bird in frosty landscape” shot.
Western Grebe and submerged tree; May; Horsehead Lake, Kidder County, North Dakota
The water has been rising in central North Dakota for years. The last time I visited this spot six years ago, this tree was still on dry land! A lone Western Grebe confirms that this is now a permanent lake.
Great Gray Owl; January; Superior National Forest, Cook County, Minnesota
It is always fun to stumble upon a Great Gray in a spot where you don’t expect them. This was an early morning jaunt in the Superior National Forest to look for Moose (which I did find). I love its perch and wanted to include the whole thing in the photo.
Bald Eagle in frosty tree; January; Carlton County, Minnesota
What can I say? I like birds in frosty landscapes!
Well, this concludes my “Top Tens” of 2021 posts. Now I better get out there and start shooting so I will have some Top Tens of 2022 to share next year!
All photos taken with Canon R5 and Canon 100-500mm lens
January 1, 2023
Sparky Stensaas
thesparkygroup@gmail.com
