Crane Lake Nature Blog

Blackburnian Warbler

One of my favorite places to bird is the Vermilion Gorge Hiking Trail in Crane Lake. The trailhead starts in the back parking lot of Voyagaire Lodge and Houseboats. Once you are out of downtown Crane Lake, the sound of bird song greets you as you walk into the forest.

Black and White Warbler

The first part of the trail takes you through some upland forest. Here there are young balsam trees that hold a variety of Wood-Warblers like the Black and White Warbler, but also Magnolia Warblers and Nashville Warblers. It kind of sounds like we’re down south with the names of some of the Warblers.

Northern Parula

As you walk along the path, you go down a set of stairs. This is a good place to overlook the forest below and if you’re lucky, you may find a Northern Parula foraging in the canopy of trees. The Northern Parula is another colorful Warbler. Their song is fairly easy to remember - it sounds like zippppppppppppppp! With the ending going higher. These spunky little Warblers are tiny at only 4.5 inches from tip to tail. They make up for it in their feisty ways!

Mourning Warbler

After you go down the stairs, this section of the trail is one of the best parts. Tall mature Aspen dominate while other conifers are mixed in. The brushy understory provides cover for many ground nesting birds. The Mourning Warbler nests on the ground, and they don’t feed that high up - they like to skulk around in the underbrush.

Canada Warbler

As you go further towards the Vermilion River, you come into some lowlands. Mountain Maple, or as locals call it Moose Maple, grows along the trail. This is where you might find the Canada Warbler. This Warbler also nests on the ground and they need heavy cover for the rearing of young ones.

Overall the Vermilion Gorge Trail has a variety of habitats and that adds to the diversity of birds that make the area their summer home. In addition to the many Warblers there are a variety of many other birds like Flycatchers, Thrushes, Wrens, and Sparrows. Why is the area so special? I think maybe one reason could be that when the birds are migrating north in the spring, they tend to follow rivers, perhaps like the Vermilion River. Sometimes when they reach a large body of water, they rest before going further. Some may say to themselves, hey this looks like a great place to spend the summer! And they are so right…

Common Loon

How about a big Crayfish?

Common Loon and crayfish

That should tie him over for a while!

Black-throated Green Warbler

Last summer I was hiking through a grove of Cedar trees and I noticed that there were Black-throated Green Warblers there. And then this summer while looking at Cedar trees, I found the Black-throated Green Warblers again. The bird guides talk about BT Greens inhabiting mixed coniferous woods, and while that is true, they seem to really like Cedars. 

You can walk among the Cedars in some places and their large size has shaded the ground so much that there isn’t any underbrush. You can walk about with ease - there’s not much for dead fall either. In the quiet of the Cedar woods the buzzy sound of the Black-throated Green Warbler comes through loud and clear as they sing their zee-zee-zee-zoo-zee song. 

Black-throated Green Warbler

The native Northern White Cedars, Thuja occidentalis, in our area are pretty special trees. I’ve heard that the groves of mature Cedar trees got started early in the 20th century and their start involved a very specialized climate. It was cool and wet. Since that time, that particular climate has not been duplicated and the sprouting and growth of new Cedar trees has been hampered by this. 

Moose

Last week while driving down the Echo Trail, I came across this young Moose. When I first came upon the Moose, I didn’t have my camera ready, so I pulled the car over and got my camera out. I was sure the Moose would have run into the woods by then. But he hadn’t! He was just plodding along the side of the road obvilious to what was going on.

I think he may have been a young one, maybe he (or she) had just been driven off by his mama if she was ready to give birth to a new calf. It seemed like a very naive Moose, not too familiar with moving vehicles and modern civilization. I wanted to pass the galloping Moose with my car, but I was afraid to. He finally turned around and went the other way. Thankfully there isn’t too much traffic on the Echo Trail, especially in the early morning when birders are out scouting!

Connecticut Warbler

Saturday I took a road trip to Big Falls and the Twomey Williams Forest Road. Wow! What a road! It goes right through the bog.

Connecticut Warbler

One of the top 10 birds that birders want to see is the Connecticut Warbler, Oporornis agilis. We are so lucky to have this unique Warbler here in Minnesota. However, the name is completely wrong, these Warblers are extremely rare in Connecticut, they are only migrants in that state. They should really be called Bog Warblers because that is the very specialized habitat where they occur.

West of Big Falls on the Twomey Williams Forest Road, there were several places along the road where Connecticut Warblers could be heard singing from the thick Spruce forest. I have also found Connecticut Warblers on the Echo Trail at Astrid Lake.

Connecticut Warbler eye-ring

This Connecticut Warbler was just getting ready to fly, it shows a good view of their yellow breast and prominent and “complete” eye ring. They have a gray hood and pink legs and their beaks are pink with a dark tip.

Connecticut Warbler

As far as Warblers go, the Connecticut Warbler is rather large in comparison to other Wood-Warblers. Connecticut’s are 5.75 inches from tip to tail with a 9 inch wingspan; compare that to the Northern Parula (another Warbler) at only 4.5 inches. The above photo shows their long legs. The Connecticut Warbler is known for walking along the tree branches as opposed to hopping, and they skulk through the underbrush and are very secretive. “Its secretive behavior and preference for breeding habitat in remote areas with abundant insect life has made it very difficult to study.” from The Birds of North America on-line. The Connecticut Warbler winters in northern South America where little is known about their habits. Unfortunately loss of habitat in South America is putting this very special Warbler at great risk, along with a number of other Warbler species that come up to Minnesota in the summer.

Gray Jay

Gray Jays are one of the wildlife “specialities” of Voyageur Country. These Jays seem to be very common to us, but they really only occur in the northern heavily wooded areas of the U.S. and Canada, and those woods have to have a strong coniferous, or evergreen, component. Folks from around the country travel to our area to add Gray Jays to their life lists.

juvenile Gray Jay

This year there seems to be an abundance of all-gray birds hanging out with Gray Jays. They are the juveniles! Young Gray Jays are a beautiful slate gray color and their beaks almost have a bluish cast to them. When the young ones are this age, they are pretty naive. They are curious and aren’t afraid of anything. It’s easy to observe them up close. The adult birds try to keep them under wraps, but that isn’t always easy to do with a hungry youngin’. The juvenile Gray Jay makes a clacking noise with their beak when they are begging.

Gray Jay, juvenile

I’ve been finding juvenile Gray Jays all over the place this year; on the Echo Trail, the Elephant Lake Road, and all around the Crane Lake area. One neighbor has told me that he has a family of 5 visiting his feeders, 2 adults and 3 juveniles.

young Gray Jay

Gray Jays are very unique birds in that they start nesting in the dead of winter - in March. They spend the fall and winter caching food in preparation for feeding young chicks in March and April when there really isn’t much food to be found in the forest. They are masters at storing food under bark and in other hiding places and then remembering where they put the food. The cold winter temperatures keep the stored food from spoiling. Gray Jays are very intelligent birds and their nests are so well hidden that one must be very lucky to find one. They will try to lead you astray if by chance you are trying to find a nest; the bird will avoid going to the nesting area while they are being watched. Gray Jays are very good parents and the female will sit on the nest while the male feeds her.

young Gray Jay flying

This young Gray Jay just launched himself off the branch. They’re still a little clumsy at this age when flying.

Another really interesting thing about Gray Jays is that after the nestlings are grown up and able to feed themselves, the dominant sibling will drive off their brothers and sisters to fend for themselves, while the dominant bird will remain with the parent birds. That is why you will most times see Gray Jays travelling in sets of 3 birds, very rarely will a flock include 4 or more birds. The orphan siblings will then go off on their own and maybe find some adoptive parents that didn’t nest to team up with.

Gray Jays can be very “tame” birds and they will hang out at campsites in the border country looking to steal food. They’re pretty much omnivorous which means they’ll eat anything. They seem to love white bread and they also like suet. At Nelson’s Resort, the Gray Jays have been offered various treats and they will even alight on your hand for a scrap of bread. We’ve found that they prefer white bread over wheat!

Thoughout history the Gray Jay has taken on several nicknames that I’ve tried to keep track of. One popular euphanism is Whiskey Jack or Whiskey John. That name is a rough corruption of the Ojibwa name for Gray Jay, wooeesketsan. Other names that this bird has gone by include:

• Moose Bird
• Carrion Bird
• Meat Hawk
• Camp Robber
• Lumberjack
• Timberjay
• Canada Jay

Next time you’re out in the woods listen for their call. They have a great variety of calls and notes, and it has been said that if one hears a strange call in the north woods it is safe to attribute it to the Gray Jay.