THE BIRDING BOAT TRIPS FOR 2007 IS DONE FOR THE SEASON. THANK YOU ALL PARTICIPANTS FOR SIGNING UP AND FILLING UP ALL THE FALL BOAT TRIPS!! WE SAW PARASITIC JAEGERS ON 2 OF THE 3 BOAT TRIPS!! WE ALSO SAW GREATER BLACK-BACKED GULL AND A LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL DURING THE SEPTEMBER FIELD TRIPS! OVERALL I FEEL THE BOAT TRIPS ARE A SUCCESS AND I WILL BE ANNOUNCING THE BOAT TRIPS FOR THE 2008 SEASON SOME TIME IN JANUARY OR FEBUARY 2008
Sometime ago during the 1980's Kim Eckert organized a Lake Superior boat trip by renting out the LL Smith Research vessel for a few hours during the fall season to see what birds could be found way out from the beaches of Park Point and along the Northshore of Lake Superior. I guided one of these trips and found a Thayer's Gull, Harlequin Duck and a Snowy Owl roosting on the breakwall at the tip of Minnesota Point. Then in 2005 Tom Auer put together two MOU Lake Superior boat trips during the fall season to see what birds could be found and on one of the trips the crew found two Sabine's Gulls and a Red Phalarope. Finally I decided to make these Lake Superior boat trips a annual event by working out a schedule with Captain Dan Rau of the LL Smith Research Vessel where birders can join myself for four hours searching the western tip of Lake Superior for actic species during the spring and fall migrations.
To get to the Army Corps of Engineers, get off I-35 on Lake Avenue Exit. Follow the exit till you come to a "T" and take a right on Canal Park Drive/Lake Ave. Go one block and take a right at the next stoplight on Railroad Street. Go one block and take a left at the stoplight on Lake Avenue. Drive along Lake Avenue over the Lift Bridge for two blocks and take a right on 9th Street. The Army Corps of Engineers building is directly in front of you. Park in front of the brick building and look for me.
Bring binoculars, any type of snacks & beverages even though I will provide coffee, water and snacks for the trip. Bring a rain coat in case the forecast is for a light drizzle, warm hat and gloves, warm coat, reference books, camera if you wish to take photos and MOST important POPCORN! We need Popcorn for chumming
Do not bring a scope for safety reasons.
As soon as the LL Smith approaches the Lift Bridge I will start chumming with popcorn and lure in the gulls. The most common gulls that will be with us for the whole journey will be the Ring-billed Gulls and Herring Gull. With these gulls we hope to attract other gulls like Sabine Gulls, Bonaparte's Gulls and Little Gulls and most importantly scan the back of the gulls for jaegers.
The route is to head along the Northshore of Lake Superior for 14 miles (Lakewoood Rd/Lakewood Pumping Station) and then turn and head due south towards Wisconsin south shore for 5-6 miles. We will then turn and head due west and head for the Superior Entry Way, which is the area where Wisconsin Pt and Minnesota Point are seperated by a canal. We will search this area and chum it hard as hundreds of gulls roost on the breakwalls along the canal. After spending sometime searching through all these gulls, we will head along Minnesota Pt/Park Point back to Canal Park and go under the Lift Bridge to our dock.
All cancellations are announced that morning and that decision will be made by Dan Rau the LL Smith captain. We will not go out of the winds are stronger than 20mph or if the swells are rather high and dangerous. In case of a cancellation I will lead birders to some areas for lake scanning along Park Point to scan for birds. This is free of charge since you came a long way to visit Duluth and see birds!! We did this one time in 2006 and we saw several Parasitic Jaegers zipping by us along the beach.
