From Dan Jackson:

Last weekend, 23 members of the Coulee Region Audubon Society went on a weekend birding trip to Duluth. The primary purpose of the fieldtrip was a visit to the Sax-Zim Bog which we did on Saturday. Although the wind was very strong on Saturday and that made the birding more difficult, we still did really well. The only real disappoint was that most of the group did not get a chance to see a Great Gray Owl. To make our situation more manageable, we split the group on Saturday. I led 12 people and Mike Hendrickson, a local guide, led 10. This helped out quite a bit and luckily both groups saw most of the same birds. We saw the following birds in the bog:

Boreal Chickadees
Black-backed Woodpecker (1 female)
Common Redpolls
Hoary Redpolls (1 bird at the Morse Feeder – my group had several looks that were too short because the Redpolls were really skittish)
Black-billed Magpie
Gray Jays
Ruffed Grouse
Evening and Pine Grosbeaks
Red-breasted Nuthatches
A dozen Rough-legged Hawks
Northern Shrikes
White-winged Crossbills
And other more usual birds

On Sunday, we birded north of Duluth and also some did some gull watching at Canal Park. The highlights were:

Black-backed Woodpeckers (2 males)
American Three-toed Woodpecker (1 male)
Pine Grosbeaks
Common Redpolls
Gray Jay
Northern Hawk Owl (at 30 feet)
Glaucous Gulls (at least 3 juveniles)
Iceland Gulls (a juvenile and an adult)
Thayer’s Gulls (a couple of juveniles and at least one adult)
Great Black-backed Gulls (a second cycle and an adult bird)

Just about everyone were able to see at least a couple of life birds and some added 10 or more. It was definitely a fun trip.

Enjoy the birds,

Dan Jackson, President
Coulee Region Audubon Society
La Crosse, Wisconsin