What a beautiful mid May morning in the North Woods of Wisconsin! Ryan and Sparky take their FLOATING BLINDS out to a nearby marsh to see what they can find. 

Ryan gets some COOL creative shots of a pair of Common Loons and Trumpeter Swans. 

Sparky is one pond over in his leaky waders under the canopy of his floating blind searching for marsh birds. Instantly flooded with mucky marsh water, Sparky presses on. Surprisingly, he finds several species that are more common further south—MARSH WREN, VIRGINIA RAIL, YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, GREEN HERON.

An AMERICAN BITTERN is calling only 15 feet from Sparky…but he can’t find it…until he does find it! Always a red-letter day when one gets to see this skulky species.

Sparky also gets video and photos of Blue-winged Teal, Trumpeter Swans.

Ryan made these blinds based on the awesome design of MrJanGear floating hides. You can purchase these readymade at http://www.mrjangear.com.

You can see more of Ryan’s photos on Instagram at #ryan.marshik

Sparky’s Instagram is #Sparky_Stensaas

Night is as unexplored as the Furthest Wilds, and in this episode we dive headlong into this fascinating time of day at a fascinating time of year. On May 3 we join Head Naturalist Clinton on his Things that Go Buzz, Croak, Hoot & Bump in the Night field trip in northeastern Minnesota’s Sax-Zim Bog.

Beginning birder Evelyn flips over a log and finds a Blue-spotted Salamander! We also catch adorable tiny Spring Peepers and cold-impervious Wood Frogs. A late Rough-legged Hawk sits and poses for us.

Join us as we explore Gray Jay Way on a still evening. White-throated Sparrows have returned in force, and they are singing their territorial song “Old Sven Pederson Pederson Pederson!” (that’s what they sing in Minnesota anyway!).

We get updates from Sparky on Friends of Sax-Zim Bog’s Artist-in-Residence Program, find out about our Bog Buddy Blake’s new YouTube channel, and updates on some upcoming platform construction projects in the Bog.

Also…drumroll please….Who found the best piece of garbage during our April 24th litter clean up?? The tension is palpable! Hint: What do Bob Ross and Sponge Bob have in common?

Come along and join us for the fun!

http://www.saxzim.org

A quick outing to Southworth Marsh in a shoreline estuary in Duluth, Minnesota. Sparky starts out under the netting and photographs some epic Canada goose battles at 1/4000 of a second to freeze the action. He then gets flooded out and has to move position but is too lazy to put the netting back over himself. But it doesn’t seem to matter! A pair of American Wigeon glide right past.

Other highlights include courting “Yellow-shafted” Flickers, a balancing Belted Kingfisher, and the courtship flights of Redheads and Greater Scaup.

In this April 16th outing, Sparky only drives for 15 minutes and hikes for 10 minutes to reach a very cool duck and waterfowl photography spot in northern Minnesota’s Jay Cooke State Park. 

But he is shooting straight into the sun! How can he get good photos doing that?? Some cool creative bird photography results.

Highlights include a pair of courting Wood Ducks only 12 feet away(!), backlit Trumpeter Swans, a Pied-billed Grebe shaking water off its back nearby Belted Kingfisher, and a Blue Jay imitating a Broad-winged Hawk. A Muskrat floats by and Sparky spots a male Yellow-belled Sapsucker on the way out.

The best part? He makes it home for his 9am meeting!

Mammals take the spotlight in this early spring episode from Minnesota’s Sax-Zim Bog. Sparky encounters two charismatic weasel species in the Bog’s first unfrozen water of the year. 

The snow is mostly gone, but ice clings to area lakes and rivers, but Sparky finds some open water to check.

First he spots something on the ice at Sax WMA, which turns out to be a River Otter, but there is something wrong with this “mega water weasel.”

Later, while looking for early returning waterfowl at Stone Lake (Wood Duck, Canada Geese) he finds, and travels with, a fast-swimming Mink.

The day ends with a brief sunset encounter with a hunting Great Gray Owl.

Sparky shares his six favorite photos from the two days.

He also gives an update on upcoming spring and summer field trips in Sax-Zim Bog, and shares some details on Andy Forbe’s Big Green Year on behalf of Friends of Sax-Zim Bog.

Filmed March 17 & 22, 2025

Virtually Live 52 S5E7

Sparky makes a March 8 excursion into the boreal forest of Minnesota’s Superior National Forest. He finds a gorgeous male Spruce Grouse in a beautiful snowfall. Boreal Chickadees and a flock of Redpolls enliven the mostly quiet woods. 

Snowshoeing down a remote creek, Sparky breaks through the ice…Fortunately it’s only a couple feet deep! Will he survive?! Oh wait, I’m the one writing this, so I guess I did get out of that icy situation.

Animal tracking was awesome with the 2 inches of new snow—Moose, Lynx, Snowhoe Hare, Pine Marten, River Otter all left signs of their recent passing.

Sparky also stops for a cross-country ski a loop at the Flathorn-Gogek trails.

Our final stop is at Rich Hoeg’s feeders near Greenwood Creek where we find a pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches investigating a possible nest cavity.

A surprise Boreal Owl is the Superstar Bird of the Day!

Tired of running around Sax-Zim Bog chasing the most recent owl sightings with many others? Here are some simple quiet ways to enjoy some solitude in one of winter’s most popular birding and photography areas.

Mid-Trip Pivot to BIRDING Minnesota’s Big Bog Wildlife PHOTOGRAPHY

February 7-8

The prairies of northwest Minnesota’s Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge is a vast prairie restoration project…and in midwinter it can be a bit bleak. 

Sparky encounters a few cool species including Sharp-tailed Grouse and Northern Shrike but decides to do a MID-TRIP pivot and go to Big Bog Boardwalk even farther north. The mile-long boardwalk in Big Bog State Recreation Area is the longest of its kind. 

Sparky has to snowshoe to get there but finds MANY White-winged Crossbills feasting on Black Spruce cones, a Canada Jay gathering nesting material and he plays hide-and-seek with a Snowshoe Hare. 

But the fun doesn’t stop there as he finds a couple “Hoary” Redpolls and a very focused Pine Marten allows Sparky to join in in his hunt!

Then as a BONUS, Sparky stumbles upon a Great Gray Owl hunting in interesting backlight.

Side trips include birding a GHOST TOWN, finding a historic French Canadian settlement and cemetery, and “relaxing” in Key West.

January 3-6, 2025: Sparky finds and photographs FOUR species of northern owls during Friends of Sax-Zim Bog’s 2025 BRRRRdathon-World’s Coldest Birdathon. TWO Boreal Owls, TWO Great Gray Owls, Snowy Owl and Northern Hawk Owl! What a great event, and photos of the other teams are shared.

Bitter cold makes birding difficult as he tries to fat bike and bird on a remote forest road (unsuccessfully). But Sparky has more success along Lake Superior with a very late lingering Bufflehead. White-winged Crossbills appear along Gray Jay Way in Sax-Zim Bog. Other highlights include two “rough” birds…Rough-legged Hawk and Ruffed Grouse. Sparky also explores a bit of the 1010 acres Friends of Sax-Zim Bog recently purchased along Owl Avenue.

Sparky takes an early December spin around the Sax-Zim Bog to see what he can find. Redpolls and White-winged Crossbills seem to be everywhere! But he has to bushwhack in to the bog to find a very trusting Black-backed Woodpecker. Canada Jays are curious and give Sparky a close up look. A lingering American Tree Sparrow is also encountered.

Sparky updates all on Tiny Bird Art 2025, BRRRRdathon 2025, the new LIVE Bird Feeder Cam at the Welcome Center and much more.