Prime educational habitat

It’s 6 a.m. when 12 members of the Bird Club at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) pile into vehicles to carpool to Sax-Zim Bog, a 300-square mile habitat that’s known as one of the best winter birdwatching spots in the world. And it’s just 50 miles from the UMD campus.

“We’re going to the bog,” says Peter Mundale, a UMD student and club organizer. “It’s going to be great!”

This winter, northern Minnesota is experiencing an owl “irruption,” meaning there are a large number of owls flying south from Canada’s boreal forests in search of food. Among them is the great gray owl. Averaging over two feet tall, the great gray is the largest owl species by length in the world. Its alluring yellow eyes and large disc-shaped face draws the attention of birders and photographers from around the world. Sax-Zim Bog features prime habitat for these birds and is the go-to place for birders hoping to spot them.

The students arrive at the bog just as the sun crests the horizon. They drive slowly along a county highway, looking for “watermelons” perched on treetops. It’s not long before they spot something and pull over. They pour out of their vehicles and fix their binoculars, spotting scopes and telephoto camera lenses on the large object atop a small spruce.

“It’s a great gray!” someone says.

The group stands together, their sights focused on the elusive bird, their breath forming clouds of steam. The sun rises slowly behind them, casting long shadows across the snow-covered marsh. The owl periodically turns and tilts its head, listening and scanning the ground below for voles. Mundale explains to the group that great gray owls, like other owl species, have offset ears, allowing them to more precisely determine the location of their prey.

Suddenly, the owl springs from its perch. Its nearly five-foot wingspan is impressive as it flies to the top of a nearby tree, a new vantage for the hunt. The students gasp in amazement as they witness this special moment.

Emily Kells, president of the Bird Club, looks through a spotting scope leveled on top of a tripod. Through the scope, the bird’s features are more visible. Kells notes its gray body, mottled with brown and white, resembles the trunk of a spruce tree. Its yellow eyes look powerful below angled brows. The rarity and beauty of the bird is truly awe-inspiring.

Kells and Mundale are both biology students with ambitions to pursue ornithology research. Aside from managing the bird club, they’re both participating in the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP), a scholarship program offering students the opportunity to work on research projects alongside a faculty member. Kells is studying how purple finches utilize carotenoids, the pigments found in plants, while Mundale is comparing two different types of horned larks. It’s work that’s taken each of them into the field to learn how to capture and handle birds safely and how to process and analyze their samples back in the lab.

“Combining a future career and a current passion,” Kells said, “has been really exciting.”

And the Sax Zim Bog isn’t the only premiere birdwatching spot near UMD. Both students are also involved with activities at Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory in Duluth. The observatory is just three miles from campus along a bluff overlooking Duluth and Lake Superior. It’s one of the best sites to observe migrating raptors in the fall in North America.

Both Mundale and Kells are busy and agree that balancing their studies with other activities can be challenging, but having bird club activities to look forward to keeps them motivated. Kells credits the Bird Club with many of her friendships at UMD, “because we all share a common passion,” she said.

Back at the bog, the group of students hear of a boreal owl spotting near the Friends of the Sax-Zim Bog welcome center. They climb back in their vehicles, turn up the heaters, and head down a paved highway to a gravel road. They park behind a long line of idling vehicles. A large crowd of birders and photographers are congregating on the road ahead, their attention focused on something in the woods. The students shuffle out of their vehicles and catch up to the group.

“It’s on the tree right next to that aspen,” Mundale says as he points to the owl, perched just 20 yards away.

Unlike the great gray, the boreal owl is one of the smallest species of owl and more challenging to spot. They’re about the size of a burrito and weigh less than a can of soda. The students stand behind the group of spectators and admire the bird as it soaks up the early morning sunlight. The clack of camera shutters and whispers between spectators is more reminiscent of a red carpet event than a country road in winter.

“It feels fantastic,” Mundale says. “This is a bird we didn’t know we were going to be able to see today.”

Soon, the owl moves deeper into the woods and out of sight. The students decide now is a good time to head to the welcome center to warm up. Once inside, they pour coffee and sit on chairs and sofas in an open room with large windows and a vaulted ceiling. In the corner of the space, a few students warm their hands at a wood stove. They share the morning’s images with each other, replaying the excitement of what they witnessed.

It’s moments like these that Mundale and Kells said have made all the difference for them during their time at UMD. Moments that have built community and expanded their educational habitat.

“I don’t know if I would have become as passionate as I am about birds if it weren’t for the people at UMD,” Kells says. “I’m glad I ended up here.”