Sax Zim Bog 2012

A few years ago I got "frost-bitten."  By which I mean, I fell in love with winter birding in the far north.  Winter can be a very harsh, desolate time.  But a winter landscape can be beautiful.

My interest in winter birding has been fed by exposure to the Sax Zim Bog, after attending a winter birding festival there in 2009.  The bog is northwest of Duluth, Minnesota, and it is a very cold place in winter. You can feel the warmth being sapped from your feet, even through heavy wool sock and sturdy hiking boots. 

But it is a magical place to see northern specialties like Pine Grosbeak, Boreal Chickadee, Gray Jay, Hoary Redpoll, Evening Grosbeak, Northern Hawk Owl, and Great Gray Owl.  I've seen all these species at Sax Zim Bog on different trips. 

Below are a handsome a couple of arctic breeders who came "south for the winter": a Rough-legged Hawk and a Norther Shrike.  Also, I found this sleepy resident Porcupine curled in a tight ball high in a tree. 

No owls on the trip this year, but some fine encounters nonetheless, including a Black-billed Magpie (at the eastern edge of their range) and a magnificent Northern Goshawk.  I'm looking forward to the next trip.