Day 1 - Sax-Zim Bog Winter Birding Festival

Hello from Duluth, Minnesota! This morning I caught the shuttle bus from Rochester to the Minneapolis/St Paul Airport where Lynne picked me up. It was the first time I had ridden the airport shuttle with another knitter! She was knitting up a pretty little pink scarf with a lovely angora/wool blend yarn.

This morning was really foggy, but the skies cleared up around 10 AM and it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. After lunch at Art's Cafe in Moose Lake, we were ready to head up to Hasty Brook. We arrived to find that Lynne's neighbor had the driveway all cleared out for us and the birds were there and waiting for the birdseed Lynne had brought along. Here's what I saw at Lynne's beautiful Hasty Brook retreat:

A sweet little Red-Breasted Nuthatch (one of my favorites!)

We were both thrilled to see these Snow Buntings fly by and then perch in a nearby birch snag. Can you see all three of them in this picture?

Pine Siskins were there too.....

Black-Capped Chickadees and Common Redpolls were also visiting the birdfeeders, but I wasn't quick enough to snap any photos of them.

Lastly, here are a couple views from the balcony of Lynne's Hasty Brook Retreat....

Isn't it beautiful? This is the second time I've been there and both visits have been during the winter. I hope I get a chance to visit again someday when everything isn't covered with snow! Thanks Lynne for sharing your beautiful Hasty Brook homestead with me!

Tomorrow morning we set off at 7:15 for our day-long birding tour of Duluth. Hopefully I'll have some good photos to share with you tomorrow night (and hopefully I'll be able to stay awake long enough to post them!) Stay tuned!