The Fox Sparrow is a rather large Sparrow and unfortunately, this bird only visits Crane Lake on its’ way to Canada for the summer.
Fox Sparrow
This bird is a beautiful reddish brown, like a Red Fox, and they also have a very lovely song.
Juncos have moved into the neighborhood.
Junco
Most Juncos will move through the area on their way to their breeding grounds in Canada.
Dark-eyed Junco
A few Juncos do stay to nest here, they can be found out in the boreal forest near to the Canadian border.
Junco, slate-colored
There are 6 sub-species of Junco in the United States. The one most likely to be encountered in Minnesota is the Slate-colored Junco. The others occur in the western part of the country.
female Junco
Junco carrying nesting material
Osprey nest
The pair that nests at the Voyageur statue pond have returned from their southern wintering grounds. They are late this year – usually they have returned by April 15th. They will have to get busy!
Many waterfowl are anxiously awaiting open water. One bird that can’t wait for open water is the Trumpeter Swan.
Trumpeter Swan Nest
The Trumpeters will return to defend their nesting site. Often times the water will still be frozen ice and the mated pair will rest and sleep on the ice.
Common Grackle
Another early arriver is the Common Grackle. Their raucous behavior is exemplified in the Spring when love is in the air.
Common Grackle
Their iridescent feathers stand out in the right lighting conditions.
An interesting tidbit about the Common Grackle is that the males fly holding their long tails diagonally during the spring breeding season only – other times during the year they hold their tail normally.
Red-winged Blackbird
One of the first songbirds to return to the north is the Red-winged Blackbird. Many will come in to feeders when they first get back.
This year, not many insects have hatched out and many of their ponds and sloughs are still frozen.
Southern Minnesota experienced a blizzard this past weekend, up north we escaped the really heavy snow, but on Sunday night we did receive 6 inches of snow.
Common Redpoll, male
I remember years ago, the park ranger at Voyageurs National Park told me that Redpolls are a sign of Spring. I have always kept that comment in the back of my mind and have compared it with reality every year since. Most of the time, in the fall, when the Redpolls come down from Canada they get counted on the annual Christmas Bird Count. But, they usually aren’t coming in to the bird feeders – they stay up high in the Birch trees eating the seeds. Most of the Redpolls continue to migrate south – out of northern Minnesota.
Common Redpoll
Through out the winter, as their natural food source diminishes, the Redpolls start coming to the feeders.
Common Redpoll
And today, they are mobbing the feeders – a huge flock of 100 Redpolls are descending on the bird feeders. I guess it might be a sign of spring, now we need to get that snow melted!
Another early arriver is the Turkey Vulture. Although I wonder how they handle the cold weather when they have a bare head.
Turkey Vulture
But they do have wings, and maybe the smart ones fly back south when we experience weather like we did this past weekend.
American Robin
The bird that most people associate with Spring is the American Robin.
Although in other parts of Minnesota, if there is a food source, some Robins have been staying around in the winter. Robins switch over to fruits and seeds in the winter when insects aren’t available.
The Latin name for the American Robin is Turdus migratorius.
The first word is Turdus and that is the name for the family group Thrush. The American Robin is a Thrush. The species name is migratorius and that refers to a migratory bird.
Roughly translated, that would be a migrating turd. Ha! just kidding.
Saw-whet Owl
One Owl that is an abundant breeder in northern Minnesota is the diminutive Saw-whet Owl. They are moving back to northern Minnesota in droves now. If you go out in the evening, you might hear what sounds like heavy equipment backing up with their warning beeper going off. That is pretty much what a tooting Saw-whet Owl sounds like.
