Tag Archives: Great Gray Owl

Top 5 Birds to Find at the Sax-Zim Bog

When fall draws to a close and winter takes its icy hold of the Northern United States, a new set of birds move in. While some of these birds aren’t as picky about where they spend their winter, others can only be found in a few select places: Especially the birds of Canada’s Boreal forests. One of the most well known places to find these birds, is the Zax Zim Bog. Located in northeastern Minnesota and boasting over 300 square miles of land Sax-Zim Bog contains a variety of different habitats, including deciduous forests, open meadows, lakes, rivers, and of course bogs. Out of all of these, it’s the tamarak and spruce bogs that are the biggest draw for the rarest boreal birds. Although there are many unique and exciting birds that call Saz-Zim home, 5 of them stand above the rest as signature species of the bog. Here are the top 5 birds to find at the Sax-Zim Bog.

5. Boreal Chickadee

Boreal Chickadee

At number 5 on our list is the Boreal Chickadee. Boreal chickadees look very similar to black capped chickadees but with a brown cap, smaller white cheek patch, and cinnamon color on their sides. It isn’t their coloring that puts them in the top five but rather their elusive nature and scarcity. Boreal chickadees are harder to find than other chickadee species as they are generally less willing to come out in the open and prefer living in habitats that are less accessible. In fact, Boreal chickadees can typically only be found in the most northern states in the US and primarily reside in Canada and Alaska. In Sax Zim, these crafty birds sometimes come to feeders but they can also be found by driving the roads and listening for their raspy call. Even though tthe sax zim bog is one of the best places to see this species they can still be extremely hard to get a look at. 

To see Boreal Chickadees in action, check out the videos above and below.

4. Black-backed Woodpecker

Black-backed Woodpecker
Black-backed Woodpecker by Matthew Thompson

Coming in at number 4 in our countdown is the black backed woodpecker. The black-backed woodpecker is a medium sized woodpecker with a namesake black back, white stripe on it’s face and black barring on it’s white underside. Males also have a yellow patch on their head. Black-backed woodpeckers look for forests that have recently been burned where they will then stay for a number of years as they feed on wood boring beetle larva. Much like the Boreal Chickadee, the Black-backed woodpecker’s range is mostly in Canada but does extend south into the lower 48 states in the far west and far east. In the Midwest, Nothern Minnesota is one of the few places to reliably find this species. 

There is also another similar looking Woodpecker that can occasionally be found in Sax Zim, The American Three Toed woodpecker. The american three toed woodpecker doesn’t always inhabit the bog and can be found in the western united states with more regularity than it can at sax zim. For that reason, the black backed woodpecker gets the nod on our list over the American three-toed.

3. Northern Hawk Owl

Northern Hawk Owl

While there are many rare birds that can be found in the sax zim bog, none generate more fanfare than the owl species. The first of them on our list is the Northern Hawk Owl at number 3. The Northern Hawk Owl is a medium sized owl with a brown back, barred chest, and black markings around their light gray face. This species typically resides in Northern Canada but occasionally makes it’s way south where it turns up in Boreal forests of the Northern United States. Northern Hawk Owls are diurnal and can be found perching up on the tops of trees in open woodlands as they survey the landscape, making them somewhat easy to locate if they are in the area. The Habitat in the Sax Zim Bog is perfect for these raptors and is one of the best places to find them. 

2. Great Gray Owl

Great Gray Owl

The second owl on our ist us the great gray owl. The great gray owl is an unmistakable bird with a large facial disk, and overall gray color with white and brown accenting. Like the Northern Hawk Owl, this species is also at home in Canada and Alaska but does move south during winter, traveling greater distances when food is scarce. The great gray owl is one of the tallest owl species in North America but n spite of their large size they can be extremely difficult to to spot given their camouflage. The best time to find these birds is dawn and dusk while they are hunting most actively but they can also be seen perching up in trees during the daytime. Great Gray Owls prefer coniferous forests with open meadows and bogs where they can perch near the forests edge and hunt for small mammals. 

1. Boreal Owl

Boreal Owl
Boreal Owl

At the top of our list is a bird that to many is the holy grail of sax zim bogs owl species. The Boreal owl looks like a pint sized version of a Northern Hawk owl with the same brown back, brown and white underside, and black around their facial disk. The Boreal owls range spans from Alaska accross the continent to eastern Canada and only dips into the US in a few places such as some of the western states. In the midwest, Northern Minnesota and Sax zim in particular are some of the only places to find them. However, Boreal Owls are not a sure thing at Sax Zim and years go by without the species being seen there. Another thing that makes the Boreal owl such a coveted species is that even if they are around, they aren’t easy to find. They are nocturnal hunters and usually roost in a different location each day, for that reason, pinning down the exact location of this bird can be a difficult task. 

Visiting the Sax Zim Bog is certainly a memorable experience for those that make the trip  . Not only is the scenery beautiful, but the birds that inhabit the snowy forests and meadows are among the most sought after in the entire midwest. This stellar combination makes the sax zim bog one of the hottest destinations to bird in, during the coldest time of the year. Do you agree with our list? Leave us a like and a comment below.

Top 5 Birds to find at the Sax Zim Bog

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Sax Zim Bog 2018

Derek and I traveled to the legendary Sax Zim Bog for a weekend of birding with Bill, Alex, Barry, and Rob. The day started at 9pm on Friday when we met up with Bill and Barry and began the seven hour drive northeast.

Upon arriving we met up with Rob and Alex and waited for first light to signal the start of what would be one of the best birding days any of us had ever had. The action started almost immediately when we went to McDavitt road. We quickly spotted the silhouette of a Great Gray Owl (a bird most of us had never seen in real life). After watching the owl fly from tree to tree we moved on to check other stretches of road before day officially broke. We found another Great Gray but the lighting was still too dim to get a photo with any detail.

As the sun rose high enough to give better views of our surroundings we headed to a known Sharp-tailed Grouse lek. On our way we encountered several American Crows, Common Ravens and a Northern Shrike perched high up in a tree. On a road a bit closer to the leking site we encountered another Great Gray Owl and a Ruffed Grouse.

At the field where the Sharp-tailed Grouse were performing their courtship dance, several cars were already parked along the road side. We could see the grouse far out in the field but noticed that some of them were under a feeder closer to the road. These birds offered great looks as they fed. In addition to the grouse, Black-capped Chickadees and Common Redpolls were also visiting the feeders.  On the other side of the road a Pine Grosbeak was calling from the top of a tree.

American Three-toed Woodpecker
American Three-toed Woodpecker

From the lek, we moved on to Warren Nelson Memorial Bog to search for woodpeckers. We walked on a trail worn in the snow by numerous people searching the forest. After walking a short distance we noticed a bird high in the tops of the pines. It turned out to be a Gray Jay, one of the most inquisitive birds in the forest. We pressed on and heard tapping on trees from time to time but couldn’t seen to peg down where it was coming from. With the cold starting to get to us we were about to turn back when Derek decided to go a ways further. He was able to locate the American Three-toed Woodpecker working its way up a tree. As we looked at it, three more Gray Jays flew in and watched us curiously. Shortly after, Rob was able to find a Black-backed Woodpecker on the trail and pointed it out to us.

After a quick lunch we went to Mary Lou’s feeding station where there were Common Redpolls, Black-capped Chickadees, Pine Grosbeaks, and Evening Grosbeaks. The Evening Grosbeaks gave us great looks but the Pine Grosbeaks stayed relatively far away. From there, we went to the visitor center where we were able to pick out one Hoary Redpoll in large flock of Common Redpolls. On the way to the center we had a lucky sighting of a Black-billed Magpie flying over the road.

 

P1350387
Boreal Owl

 

Feeling good about finding most of the birds we were looking for, we cruised along roads where Northern Hawk Owls had been seen. After an unsuccessful drive down Stone Lake Road, we saw cars parked along the roadside with people outside taking pictures. We rushed over to the group who was looking at a very well hidden Boreal Owl. We did our best to get a clear shot of the small bird through the thicket of branches it was nestled in.

After that, we went back down McDavitt Road where a different Hawk Owl had been spotted. We once again struck out but were able to find a very cooperative Great-gray Owl that perched on top of a tree and gave us fantastic looks before eventually flying further into the woods.

Northern Hawk Owl
Northern Hawk Owl

Later, we made one last effort to find a Northern Hawk Owl. We looked as hard as we could, checking the tree tops until the sun started to set. We gave up and started heading back to our hotel when we noticed the bird sitting on the peak of a deciduous tree. We excitedly got out and started taking pictures. All of the sudden, the bird took off and flew in a low bush across the road significantly closer to us than it had been before. After getting even more photos we were ecstatic about all of the different species we had seen. The only target bird we still needed was Boreal Chickadee. For that, we knew we would have to go even farther north. Overall, most of us ended up with several life birds and all had an incredible day birding.