Bentleyville Christmas Lights in Duluth, Minnesota

A few weeks ago, I met with my parents in Duluth, which is located half way between us.  We had a nice dinner at the Grandma's restaurant in Canal Park, and walked through the Bentleyville Lights show.

I've been driving past the light show on Highway 35 for many years, but had never had the chance to walk through.  It was definitely worth seeing this display up close, and I hope to make it a new tradition to meet up with family for this wonderful event.

If you go there, be sure to dress warm.  The winds coming off of Lake Superior can be chilly.  I walked out to my car after dinner, and was compelled by the wind to put on my insulated snow bibs over my other winter clothes.

The displays were a mixture of religious and secular, as well as themes of Duluth and northern Minnesota.  Some of my favorite things were the tributes to those who serve our country as members of the military or as emergency responders.

Below are a pictures of characters from the original Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer film, and a Nativity Scene:

Is that the spirit of Burl Ives?

Abominable Snowman, Elves, and Reindeer

Nativity Scene

Between many of the displays, there were tunnels of lights of various colors.  In the middle of everything, there was a giant Christmas light tree which was constantly changing color, sometimes with the beat of the music.  Many of the displays also had moving objects in them.  A took a short video of the Lift Bridge display with the Christmas tree in the background.

Tunnel of Lights

We got a bonus light show when a late-season ship went through the Duluth Canal.  It was neat to hear the ship's horn echo off the hillsides and buildings, and see the spotlights on the ship beaming through the darkness.  I could not see the name on the ship, but think it may have been one of the 1000 footers.

Ship under the Duluth Lift Bridge

Duluth Lift Bridge

The ship had arrivedin the furthest inland seaport in the world, Duluth, Minnesota.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Snowy Owl

I saw my first Snowy Owl in the wild today!  It was thrilling to see this great hunter of the tundra grace the shore of Lake Superior in Grand Marais, Minnesota.

Over the last week, I had heard several reports of this owl around Artist Point, and the Grand Marais Municipal campground.  After eating lunch with some old friends, we searched both locations for the bird.  We did not find it at that time, but did talk to another avid birder, and he told us where some of the recent sightings had been.  Shortly after that, I had to go to the radio station to do my first show.

About two and a half hours later, one of my friends called me, and said he was looking at the Snowy Owl at the D.N.R. boat landing.  When my dinner break came a half hour later, I went down to see if I could find it.  After a little searching, I saw it sitting on the ground next to the harbor.  It was eating a gull, but kept a close eye on me while I took a few pictures.  I have a 60 x optical zoom on my camera, so I was able to photograph it from a distance.

Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) - Grand Marais Harbor, Lake Superior, MN

This is an immature Snowy Owl.  They are the most likely ones to come out of the Arctic for the winter.

The darker bars are also an indicator of immaturity.  Adult male Snowy Owls can be almost pure white, and adult females are not as dark as the immature birds.

For more information about my birding, see John Silliman's Birding Blog.

Hawk Ridge

One of the best birding experiences in Minnesota is going to Hawk Ridge in Duluth during the fall migration.  Much of the flight of raptors is derived from using the updrafts coming off of the land to stay aloft.  Therefore, these birds migrate down the shore of Lake Superior, rather than over 3 quadrillion gallons of cold water.

Hawk Ridge is located on the Skyline Parkway in Duluth, a long way above the big lake.  You can find it on a detailed map of Duluth, or look up Hawk Ridge online.  Their website also has the detailed day by day raptor counts.

When I arrived at Hawk Ridge, there were cars lined up a long way back.  People stood along the road with binoculars looking skyward.  Skilled volunteers would point out groups of raptors to those of us who were not as experienced as they were.  The official counting crew was up on an elevated platform with spotting scopes and binoculars.  From time to time, they would send someone down to update the official count board.

Official Count Board

It was not uncommon to see 5 or 6 bald eagles fly over at the same time, often times accompanied by other raptors.  One of the most interesting things I saw was a young peregrine falcon chasing a bald eagle.  The falcon was a lot smaller than the eagle, but the bigger bird did have to make a quick maneuver to avoid the fastest bird in the world.

Bald Eagle Over Hawk Ridge

Migration starts over Hawk Ridge in mid-August, and goes through November.  In the autumn migration of 2017, there were officially 80, 130 raptors of various types that migrated over Hawk Ridge.  For the day to day, and individual bird species counts, see the link above.

In my 2 hours at Hawk Ridge, I saw 40 bald eagles, 1 peregrine falcon, 3 red-tailed hawks, and 5 broad winged hawks.  I was there on the Sunday after Labor Day, and hope to return about the same time next year.  This was a wonderful birding experience, and I would recommend it to birders of all ability levels.