Six days below zero and the birds of Sax-Zim are doing just fine! We visit Mary Lou’s feeders and find over 40 Evening Grosbeaks! Sparky shares his BRRRRdathon: World’s Coldest Birdathon experience as he birds northern Minnesota’s Superior National Forest and Grand Marais. Highlights include multiple flocks of Bohemian Waxwings eating Mountain-Ash fruits.

Temperatures during the Polar Vortex of late January 2026 hit as low as Minus-37ºF but the Northern Hawk Owl along CR47 is doing just fine!

We also walk the Bob Russell Boardwalk and install a plaque for one of our Bog Buddies. Then we are off to Yellow-bellied Bog for a walk on the snowshoe loop to look for Snowshoe Hares.

The Welcome Center feeders host plumpfy Canada Jays, Pine Grosbeaks and Redpolls.

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.

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.

Lots of positive and exciting things going on in Sax-Zim Bog! Sparky spends some time with the Evening Grosbeak researchers David and Mallory as they track the birds with satellite transmitters.

We also enjoy one last look at the beautiful white male Snowy Owl that graced Sax-Zim with its presence for a few weeks before being hit and killed by a train.

Sparky interviews young brothers Ari & Asher from Tennessee about their trip, and also runs across Big Year birders Owen & Quentin whom share in a close Black-backed Woodpecker sighting.

And how about some hockey at the Zim Rec rink?

It’s been quite a winter here in northeastern Minnesota; tons of snow and long! How does Sparky keep his “photographic sanity”? A series of inspirational books saves the day and motivates Sparky to try some “out of the box” bird photography ideas. The books are the annually-published Bird Photographer of the Year compilations, and the creative images between the covers are truly amazing. 

So on two days in March Sparky tries some free-form creative bird photography…one session with Wild Turkeys in his backyard, and another shoot with Mallards in an unfrozen pond.

Did he succeed? Or was the whole thing an epic fail?

http://www.thephotonaturalist.com

http://www.sparkyphotos.com

Sax-Zim Bog: Hawk Owls, Evening Grosbeaks, Hoary Redpoll: Virtually Live 35 S3E10

In this episode of Virtually Live we celebrate with UMD Biology grad student Hannah Tuotonghi as she finally is able to put a satellite transmitter on an elusive Sax-Zim Hawk Owl! We also check in with David Yeany III (Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program) and Matt Young (Finch Research Network) about their Road to Recovery Evening Grosbeak research project. David shares some very cool maps from the banded birds.

Sparky guides Bog Buddies, Warren Woessner and Iris Freeman on an eventful half day trip…Highlights include dancing Sharp-tailed Grouse, a rare Hoary Redpoll and a sleeping Barred Owl that wakes up and starts to hunt.

Spruce Grouse have returned to Sax-Zim and Sparky searches for them along Sax Road. And later he bushwacks in to a bog to search for a Canada Jay nest.

zWe stop by the Welcome Center where some “junior” naturalists are enjoying the Evening Grosbeaks, and listen in on Head Naturalist Clinton’s Minnesota Master Naturalist class. Sparky also enjoys a hike at the peaceful Fringed Gentian Bog and Auggie’s Bogwalk.

Sparky answers your questions…

“How do I get my photos in the Calendar?”

“What Research Projects are you funding?”

More at http://www.saxzim.org

Snow Blind—Making a Photo Blind / Photo Hide out of snow for bird photography.

Sparky and Ryan put ancient skills to a modern use…A quinzhee is a type of snow shelter used by the Ojibwa in the North Woods and it is a perfect shelter for hiding the photographer.

Sparky’s kids also put in a cameo!

2011, 2013, 2023

More at http://www.thephotonaturalist.com

Photo Galleries at http://www.sparkyphotos.com

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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Peek-a-boo, I see you!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This picture really shouts, “North Dakota.” A land of open country, grasslands, empty spaces, and prairie birds such as this lone Sharp-tailed Grouse.

A River Otter sighting can brighten a gloomy spring day.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Just a tiny bit of rim light illuminates these Black-tailed Prairie Dogs at sunset in Teddy Roosevelt National Park. Moody!

Yellow bird amongst yellowish grasses in a snowy scene. An early-arriving Eastern Meadowlark is greeted by an April snowstorm.

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.

Just allow me one more “bird in frosty landscape” shot.

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.

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.

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