The PhotoNaturalist

In this episode of Shooting with Sparky, he goes out to the Minnesota-South Dakota border to try and photograph shorebirds, grebes and ducks by kayak. Salt Lake Wildlife Management Area is Minnesota’s ONLY alkaline (salty) lake. Due to the alkaline nature, it breeds millions of brine flies and brine shrimp, which the grebes, phalaropes and other shorebirds love to feast on.

But first Sparky birds Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge where TWO Say’s Phoebes had been reported, a western bird that is rarely seen in Minnesota. Sparky finds both and has some great photo opportunites.

He also enjoys a patch of Prickly Pear Cactus (Did you know Minnesota has cactus? THREE species!). Other Big Stone highlights include the aerial flight of Common Nighthawks, singing (croaking?) Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Clay-colored Sparrow, and a acrobatic pair of Painted Turtles! [Sparky also gets a lifer jumping spider! (Marpissa pikei…Pike’s Slender Jumper) but it didn’t make it into the final cut :(]

On to Salt Lake! And the major revelation of this trip was that shorebirds don’t recognize a human in a kayak! Sparky was able to float right up to foraging Dunlin, Semipalmated Plovers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Pectoral Sandpipers, and Sanderlings. But the best photo opportunities were with the foraging Wilson’s and Red-necked Phalaropes, two stunning species that are shorebirds but don’t feed like them. They swim like a duck, plucking brine shrimp or brine fly larvae from the lake.

And in another interesting turn, they suddenly all started going into hyper courtship mode. In phalaropes the female is more colorful than the male, and she initiates courtship, battling with other females for the more drab male as a mate. After she lays eggs in a nest, she flies off and the male is left to incubate the eggs and take care of the young. Fascinating!

Warbler Wednesdays in Sax-Zim Bog are a many-year tradition. These field trips often yield fantastic looks at some of northern Minnesota’s 25+ species of breeding and migrant warblers.

Sparky highlights some of the finds on two Warbler Wednesdays including Canada, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Pine, Magnolia, Mourning and Golden-winged warblers to name a few.

We also check in on spring highlights of our Friends of Sax-Zim Bog trail camera project, “A Year in the Life at a Sax-Zim Beaver Pond.” Meet Hank and Ginger the Timber Wolf pair that make this part of the Bog their home. Also a surprise cameo by a mom Black Bear with THREE bundles of joy.

Sparky encounters Larry and Patty from Maine along Taiga Boardwalk, and we hear about their exciting Sax-Zim Bog trip.

Then as Sparky is wrapping up the day, a TRIO of MOOSE (!) wander across his path.

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!

April 4-5. 2025

In part 2 of my “Grouse to Goose” birding and bird photography trip in western Minnesota, I head south to the west central part of the state to find at least ONE Greater White-fronted Goose. But along the way, and despite the spring snow, I encounter multiple cool birds—Lapland Longspurs in near breeding plumage, dancing Sandhill Cranes, a “Gray Ghost,” and the World’s Largest Greater Prairie-Chicken!

Excited to finally get to one of Minnesota’s best birding sites, North Ottawa Impoundment in Grant County, my day is nearly ruined as I get mired in mud while pursuing a daytime-hunting Short-eared Owl.

But then a massive flock of Greater White-fronted Geese arises in the distance…3,000?, 5,000? Quite a sight, and success in my search!

Sparky heads to northwest Minnesota after an early April snowstorm. He has reserved a Sharp-tailed Grouse blind and is excited to photograph them dancing on top of the snow. But, alas, disappointment. The sounds of the courtship displays are amazing as usual, but he can’t really see them dance!

Sandhill Cranes and a bobbin of Robins in a ghost town save the day.

Daunted (is that a word?), Sparky sets a goal for the rest of the trip. See if he achieves it in Part 2.

April 3, 2025

A spring snowstorm blankets the Sax-Zim Bog in white. How did the migrant birds fare? Sparky finds some Hooded Mergansers, Fox Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbirds. Open water on the edges of Stone Lake are occupied by patient Canada Geese and Trumpeter Swans waiting for the ice to melt so they can claim the best territories.

He also shares why one bird’s name should be “Canadian” Tree Sparrow instead of its current name.

Finally we head over to Mary Lou’s to enjoy the cacophony of bird calls, gawk at the Battle Royale between feeding siskins, and witness the only bird with a green bill in the North Woods.

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