6 Top Spots to See Migrating Birds from Late August–October

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory—Northeast Minnesota, Duluth

Hawk Ridge is one of the best places in North America to spot broad-winged hawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and bald eagles as they hug the Lake Superior shoreline traveling south. An average of 76,000 raptors fly over each fall. Some of the largest populations of migrating common nighthawks in North America have been observed here and since 2007, Hawk Ridge has conducted systematic fall counts of all migrating birds to complement their long-standing work on raptors.

Visit the Hawk Ridge website or Facebook page for more information.

Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge—Greater Twin Cities, Zimmerman

Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge is one of the region’s largest staging areas for sandhill cranes with up to 11,000 individuals roosting at the site to feed, rest, and build energy reserves before their migration to Florida. Peak viewing is typically during the third week of October.

Visit Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge for more information or download the Sandhill Crane Fall Migration brochure.

Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge—Northwest Minnesota, Marshall County

Located within the Prairie Pothole Region, the refuge has a diverse mix of habitats including extensive marshes, ponds, and shallow lakes that provide vital food, rest, and shelter for migrating birds, especially waterfowl. View large numbers of migrating swans, blue-winged teal, sandpipers, and plovers as well as bald eagles and red-tailed hawks hunting on the refuge from late September to early November. Viewing platforms, trails, and roads provide accessible vantage points.

Visit Aggasiz National Wildlife Refuge for more information.

Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge—Twin Cities Metro, Bloomington

The Minnesota River Valley provides important habitat for birds flying south. Look for waterfowl, raptors, and songbirds like white-throated sparrows, yellow-rumpled warblers, and American robins. Shorebirds including sandpipers and plovers can also be spotted.  

Visit Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge for more information.

Blue Mounds State Park—Southwest Minnesota, Luverne

Take advantage of the park’s unique tallgrass prairie and cliff landscape which attract a variety of wildlife and makes for great birdwatching during fall migration. Spot migrating raptors like northern harriers, red-tailed hawks, and American kestrels and grassland specialist songbirds like meadowlarks and vibrant Eastern bluebirds.

Visit Blue Mounds State Park for more information.

Frontenac State Park—Southeast Minnesota, Frontenac

Located near the Mississippi River with bluff top overlooks, you’ll be in prime position to see a variety of birds using this critical flyway, including bald eagles, ducks, swans, American robins, and white-throated sparrows. 

Visit Frontenac State Park for more information.

Lac qui Parle State Park—Western Minnesota, Watson

Located in western Minnesota among the prairie potholes, the park is a biodiverse landscape with abundant wetland and water habitat for birds to rest and refuel during their flight. It’s an excellent location for fall bird migration viewing, especially huge numbers of Canada geese and other waterfowl like mallards, blue-winged teal, northern pintail. The offers well-maintained viewing areas and observation points that support birders of all abilities.

Visit Lac qui Parle State Park for more information.

Image Citations & Credits

Photo montage created by the Minnesota Land Trust. Images include Henslow’s sparrow © kgcphoto via canva.com; Golden-winged warbler © Carol Hamilson via canva.com; Common loon © jiristock via canva.com; Common tern © OKU via canva.com

“This rigorous accreditation process ensures that our organization is safeguarding the trust placed in us by the hundreds of families who have completed conservation easements on their family land across our state,” said Kris Larson, Executive Director of the Minnesota Land Trust. “The promise of the Land Trust is the promise of forever – and this process ensures that we will be here to ensure that the places that matter to all Minnesotans will be protected forever, now, and for the future.”

Minnesota Land Trust provided extensive documentation and was subject to a comprehensive third-party evaluation prior to achieving this distinction. The Land Trust Accreditation Commission awarded renewed accreditation, signifying its confidence that the Land Trust’s lands will be protected forever. Accredited land trusts in the United States now steward almost 20 million acres – the size of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.

“It is exciting to recognize the Minnesota Land Trust’s continued commitment to national standards by renewing this national mark of distinction,” said Melissa Kalvestrand, executive director of the Commission. “Donors and partners can trust the more than 400 accredited land trusts across the country are united behind strong standards and have demonstrated sound finances, ethical conduct, responsible governance, and lasting stewardship.”

Since 1991 the Minnesota Land Trust has worked to protect the natural lands and waters of our state, primarily working with local families to protect their land through conservation easements. The only state-wide land trust in Minnesota, the Minnesota Land Trust has protected over 60,000 acres of land, and 1 million feet of shoreline on Minnesota’s lakes, streams, and rivers.

The Minnesota Land Trust is one of 1,363 land trusts across the United States according to the Land Trust Alliance’s most recent National Land Trust Census. A complete list of accredited land trusts and more information about the process and benefits can be found at www.landtrustaccreditation.org.

About the Minnesota land Trust

The Minnesota Land Trust is a membership-based non-profit organization. Its mission is to protect and restore Minnesota’s most vital natural lands to provide wildlife habitat, clean water, outdoor experiences, and scenic beauty for generations to come. The organization has completed more than 600 conservation projects statewide, permanently protecting more than 60,000 acres of natural and scenic land and more than a million feet of fragile shoreline.

A conservation easement is a voluntary, legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust or other qualified agency that permanently limits certain uses of land in order to protect its conservation values. Landowners continue to own and enjoy the land and pay property taxes. Once created, the conservation easement is binding on all future owners of the property. More information on Minnesota Land Trust can be found at www.mnland.org.

About the Land Trust Accreditation Commission

The Land Trust Accreditation Commission inspires excellence, promotes public trust and ensures permanence in the conservation of open lands by recognizing organizations that meet rigorous quality standards and strive for continuous improvement. The Commission, established in 2006 as an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, is governed by a volunteer board of diverse land conservation and nonprofit management experts. For more, visit www.landtrustaccreditation.org.

The construction and demolition process can be highly wasteful. People are often unaware of its imprint until they experience the industry first hand. Regan Nix, co-founder of BPC, saw an opportunity in a time of world recognition of climate change. “It is happening before our eyes, there is no denying it. Our moral values guided us to start acknowledging this both personally and as a business by taking steps to save and restore land, build consciously, and waste minimally. At this critical time of the earth’s welfare, no small venture is too small. All actions to heal are impactful.”

Natural landscapes like prairie and forests can act as carbon sinks, capturing and restoring emitted CO2, and mitigating the impacts of climate change. And the impact of natural lands is striking – recent data show that as much as 37% of the mitigation required to reach global climate change goals could be achieved through natural climate solutions like land protection and restoration.

That’s why BLUE-PENCIL COLLECTIVE has decided to commit 1% of their project sales, as well as an additional donation for each new client referral, directly to the Minnesota Land Trust.

“If we’re going to move the needle on climate, as well as protect the places in our state of greatest conservation value, we need to accelerate the pace of our work,” says Kris Larson, executive director of the Minnesota Land Trust. “With their commitment to support our work, BLUE-PENCIL COLLECTIVE is helping us do just that.”

With Minnesota as the team’s birthplace, BLUE-PENCIL COLLECTIVE takes pride in their community and roots. The Trust’s dedication to protecting Minnesota’s great outdoors intrigued BPC as a way to intertwine a passion for their native homeland with their broader sustainability goals. “After researching many conservation organizations, we were immediately drawn to Minnesota Land Trust due to their commitment, personality, vision and history in our beautiful state. Their story was so relatable and close, it seemed the perfect partnership to kick start our global sustainability goals right outside our back door,” says Kasey Johnson, Co-Founder at BLUE-PENCIL COLLECTIVE.

As part of its 10-year Conservation Agenda, the Minnesota Land Trust is addressing climate change by increasing conservation and restoration of natural landscapes, habitats and biodiversity. But given the urgency of climate change, the pace of this work must continue to accelerate. With over 40 projects in the works following a record-breaking 2018, the time is now to make a difference in our state.

For more information on how your business or organization can support the Minnesota Land Trust, please contact Alex Tsatsoulis, development director. Thank you to BLUE-PENCIL COLLECTIVE for supporting the mission of the Minnesota Land Trust!

Minnesota Forests Overview

According to the 2017 USDA Forests of Minnesota Resource Update, approximately 17.7 million acres (35%) of Minnesota’s total land is forested. While forests predominate in the northern and eastern part of Minnesota, forest and woodland areas can be found statewide.

Given the high percentage of forest in our state, forest health is a topic of interest to many of our landowners. Unfortunately, the prolific nature of our forests is connected to a flux of forest pests and diseases. In this article, we will address two of the pests currently impacting Minnesota forests: Oak Wilt and Emerald Ash Borer.

Oak Wilt: Overview

Oak leaves with discoloration symptomatic of oak wilt disease.
Photo credit: D.W. French, University of Minnesota, bugwood.org

Oak wilt is a plant disease caused by an invasive fungus, which can invade the plant’s water-transfer system (xylem) underground, or through sap beetles above ground, who can transfer fungi spores through their eggs when moving from tree to tree. Currently oak wilt affects oak trees primarily within southeast and east-central Minnesota. Nationally, oak wilt has been documented in 24 states, with a concentration in the Midwest. Although this disease can affect most of our native oak species, northern red oak and northern pin oak are the species with the greatest risk of infection.

Detection

One of the first signs of oak wilt, is a reddish-brown discoloration along the midvein of leaves. This discoloration may spread across the entire leaf, and infected trees may begin dropping their leaves soon thereafter.

Treatment/Prevention

Unfortunately, oak wilt is fatal for trees within the red oak family (northern red oak and northern pin oak). For oaks within the white oak family (white or burr oak), progression of the disease is more gradual, often allowing time for intervention by tree care professionals.

The best strategy to preserve healthy oak trees, is to prevent the spread of the fungus itself. The University of Minnesota Extension recommends not pruning or harvesting oaks in oak wilt counties between April and mid-July to avoid fungi transmission. They also recommend you remove or treat diseased specimens in a timely fashion, in order to minimize disease spread through insects. Lastly, don’t move logs or firewood from infected trees to areas where oak wilt isn’t present. If you suspect your trees may be infected with oak wilt, consult the University of Minnesota Disease Clinic, your local DNR office, or an experienced tree care professional.

Emerald Ash Borer: Overview

photo credit: South Carolina Forestry Commission

Another pest currently affecting forests in southeastern Minnesota, the Twin Cities metropolitan area, and Duluth, is the Emerald Ash Borer (“EAB”). EAB is an exotic insect originally native to Asia, known for its deadly effect on ash trees throughout the U.S. The first documented appearance of EAB in Minnesota, was in 2009 in St. Paul. A year later, EAB was located in greater Minneapolis and other locations in southeastern Minnesota.  With nearly one billion ash trees estimated in Minnesota, EAB poses a significant threat to forests statewide.

Life Cycle      

Starting in the late spring, adult EAB will emerge from infected trees to feed, and lay eggs within bark crevices of ash trees. After the eggs hatch, hungry larvae tunnel through the cambium (inner bark) of the tree, disrupting important vascular tissue in charge of exchanging nutrients and water from the roots throughout the tree. The larvae will feed on the cambium for one to two years before creating a shelter cavity and transforming into its pupal stage in the spring. Ultimately, the larval life stage of the EAB is the most destructive to ash trees overall.  In early summer, pupae transform into adult beetles, and escape the cambium by chewing d-shaped exit holes in the bark. As an adult, EAB measures approximately 1/3” to 1/2” long, and has iridescent emerald- copper green coloring throughout its body. A copper colored patch behind the head may also be present. Adults live for a total of three to six weeks.

Detection

The most common symptom of EAB damage, are the d-shaped exit holes created by emerging pupae in spring. These holes typically measure approximately 1/8” in size. Another tell-tale sign of EAB, is s-shaped tunnels underneath the bark. These markings are caused by the larvae zig-zagging while feeding on the cambium. Once trees have started to display symptoms of EAB, they can die within one to three years.

Treatment/Prevention

A “gallery” of s-shaped tunnels beneath the bark of an ash tree is one tell-tale sign of emerald ash borer. Photo credit: Forest Service, USDA.

The most effective method for controlling EAB, is prevention.  As with oak wilt, refraining from transporting firewood (ash, oak, or otherwise) from outside your immediate area is a simple way to keep forest pests from spreading. Although ash trees may be effectively treated with insecticides in the early stages of infestation, this option is often not economically viable in many situations. Instead, many owners may opt to remove and/or replace diseased trees with other DNR recommended species. Contact your local tree care professional for more information on safe removal of EAB infected trees. In addition, the State of Minnesota has undertaken biological control measures to control EAB spread at a landscape scale. This control method involves the release of three species of stingless parasitic wasps that attack EAB eggs/larvae.

For More Information and Resources:

To obtain assistance with evaluating the condition of the forest on your property, a great first step is to consult with your local MN Department of Natural Resources office.  There are also several great online resources related to the detection of forest pests, management of infected trees, and recommendations for the selection and care of replacement trees.  These resources can be found on webpages maintained by the MN Department of Natural Resources, the MN Department of Agriculture, and the University of Minnesota Extension.

Prior to undertaking any action, we also encourage landowners to review their conservation easement and contact the Land Trust with any questions regarding their plans to remove and/or replace trees.  In addition, be sure to provide the required notice and obtain Land Trust approval as stipulated in your easement.

The trees recommended for replacement can be found at: https://extension.umn.edu/tree-selection-and-care/recommended-trees-minnesota .

Sources:

https://extension.umn.edu/plant-diseases/oak-wilt-minnesota#symptoms-of-oak-wilt-1258960

http://www.myminnesotawoods.umn.edu/oak-wilt/

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/treecare/forest_health/index.html

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/forestry/urban/community_eab.html

While some of our volunteers have backgrounds in conservation and natural sciences, many of the people who work with and support the Minnesota Land Trust are simply passionate about conservation and have an intense interest in the natural world. Now, thanks to smartphones and the internet, you can collect observations during your time outdoors that can help advance our understanding of the processes, interactions, and species that “compose” nature. By tracking and observing nature around you whenever you’re outside, you can help contribute to the fast-growing field of Citizen Science. While there’s no hard and fast definition, Citizen Science is the idea that people without scientific backgrounds can contribute valuable data and observations to academic-grade datasets, which are used to benefit the broader scientific community and world.

So whether you’re sharing observations about natural features on Land Trust protected properties as a monitor, cataloging plants you’ve never seen before, or helping do bird counts — your contributions are teaching us more about the world around us.

Resources to guide your journey

Where citizen science really shines is through the crowdsourcing of data gathering using smartphone apps and the internet. These apps enable users to connect to a wide network of scientists and natural resource professionals who can harness the data to track trends including migratory bird patterns, spread of certain (can you say invasive?) plants, and other trends and processes in the natural world, that couldn’t be observed without the millions of observations and data points that citizen scientists contribute every year. Even Land Trust staff rely on these apps in the field to identify flora and fauna when working outdoors.

Get started today with one of the resources below:

iNaturalist – One of the world’s most popular nature apps, iNaturalist helps you identify the plants and animals around you. Try Seek for a kid-friendly option.
eBird – Explore, share, and track birds and hotspots near you and wherever you go, all based on the latest sightings from around the world.
Minnesota Wildflowers – Identify wild plants that grow in Minnesota, both native and non-native.
Merlin Bird Photo ID – Use a picture to quickly identify birds.

Katherine on Farm Island Lake, MN

In ninth grade as a part of a religion course at my school, I was asked when religion is most present in my life. Although the two words are frequently considered to be synonymous, I do not consider myself a religious person, but rather a spiritual person. So I revised the question to ask where or when I feel connected to something greater than myself in a spiritual sense. Nature was the obvious answer. It is when I am surrounded by trees, mountains, prairie lands and other natural landscapes that I feel as though there is a greater force than humans, the essence of spirituality.

However, I do not feel that this is the case for most young people these days. I have been fortunate enough to travel to different locations around the world all for the sake of hiking and being in nature. When I mention this to my classmates or other teenagers the usual response is to ask why I would do that when I don’t have access to my phone. I tell them that life is much simpler without a phone and you get to be in the moment and experience the things that are around you. There is the occasional teenager who shares similar experiences and we proceed to swap hiking stories; however, the majority opt not to leave the safety of their home for two weeks in the woods (not to mention cell service is terrible in the woods.)

From my observations, kids are choosing to stay inside more, shutting themselves in their rooms, only to be on social media where they craft unrealistic expectations of life. It would be wrong of me to criticize this, however, when I do this myself. No one is immune to technology, not even adults who also fall into this generalization. The question then becomes, how do we get kids outside and more importantly how do we get kids to want to go outside and enjoy nature?

Rangárbing Ytra, Iceland

Meeting kids where they are, and marketing the outdoors as a shareable, “Instagram worthy” opportunity could be one solution. Teenagers and kids these days can be concerned with the aesthetic of the outdoors more than the actual experience of outdoors, particularly if they haven’t had much experience exploring outside. Even if they’re just there to take pictures to share, just the act of getting out into nature is one small step forward. By marketing nature to teenagers, it will get kids outside and who knows, they may even put their phone down inbetween photos and feel something greater than themselves. Or perhaps they won’t, but proceed to tell their friends about how great a photo they got at a park. One of them could have that epiphany, life changed forever.

That type of engagement isn’t necessarily a heavy lift for conservation organizations either. For example, one photo-based social media platform that the Minnesota Land Trust could explore is Snapchat. This is a platform that mostly younger kids, teenagers, and millennials are using. Snapchat is more casual, and volunteer land monitors could use it to post pictures to a Land Trust Snapchat Story when they’re out in the field.

Additionally, I would suggest conservation organizations refine their social media accounts and direct them to the average age of their users. For example, Facebook generally has an older use base, whereas Instagram is mainly a younger demographic. Therefore, Facebook and Instagram posts should be different in message and content. The most popular conservation accounts on Instagram post beautiful pictures and are usually accompanied by a caption about the location of the photo. The trick with the caption is to keep it short and sweet. Perhaps link the Minnesota Land Trust blog in the biography of the account where the link pertains to the latest picture and the link is updated with every post. However with Facebook, the pictures needn’t be the main focus, and you can be more focused on getting a message across with longer captions that go into more detail.

Don’t get me wrong, there are teenagers and kids out there who love to be outdoors. But the fact of the matter is, they are a minority amongst those who are on their phone and have a fear of the lack of cell service in outdoor areas. There are ways to get kids outside, and enjoying nature; however, conservation organizations have to work to meet them where they are, and not just rely on traditional methods.

A “Vernal Pool,” You Say?

Forested vernal pool. Photo credit: Distant Hill Gardens.

Vernal pools (also known as ephemeral pools) are seasonal wetlands that provide essential habitat for wildlife, serving as the primary breeding ground for several species of amphibians and invertebrates, and important foraging habitat for many reptiles, mammals and birds. They can be found in a number of locations, including fields, marshes, ditches, river floodplains and gravel pits, but are most commonly found in isolated depressions within forests. Despite being an overlooked habitat type, vernal pools are abundant—it is estimated that more than 250,000 are located statewide.

One of the main reasons vernal pools succeed as breeding habitat is due to the fact that they are typically isolated from other waterbodies and are dry during long periods during the year. Consequently, they are free of fish—a significant predator of eggs and larvae. In addition, vernal pools are typically characterized by the presence of certain species. In Minnesota, common inhabitants include: blue-spotted salamander, wood frog, western/boreal chorus frog, and fairy shrimp. Vernal pools are also recognized as important habitat for the state threatened Blanding’s turtle.

Locating Vernal Pools on Your Land

Wood frog with egg mass. Photo credit: John White.

The best time of year to search for vernal pools on your land is during mid to late spring once the snow has melted and the ground has begun to thaw.  Because springtime reptile and amphibian movement is strongly correlated with weather conditions, keep an eye on the forecast during this time—prolonged air temperatures above 40°F and warm rains will trigger arousal from hibernation. Before heading into the field, a great way to prepare for vernal pool identification is by spending some time familiarizing yourself with the species that inhabit vernal pools including their appearance at different life stages (e.g., egg, larval & adult).

When heading out to look for vernal pools, dress accordingly with rubber boots or waders and don’t forget to use your ears! Listening for chorusing wood frogs in early-spring can be a great way to lead you in the direction of a potential vernal pool (tip: Google “wood frog chorus”- a YouTube video is the first result and provides both the sound of wood frogs calling and a good depiction of a forested vernal pool).

Do bear in mind that adult amphibians usually do not linger in vernal pools for very long after breeding, so be prepared to look for eggs, larvae and juveniles as well. Fairy shrimp are small crustaceans (0.5–1.0 in. in length) and tend to blend in, especially in pools with a leaf litter substrate, so be patient and still in your observations. Finally, always be mindful that, while some temporary disturbance is inevitable, strive for minimal disruption of the pool and minimize handling of animals.

I Think I Found a Vernal Pool, Now What?

Blue-spotted salamander. Photo credit: NHFG.

From a stewardship perspective, there are a number of habitat management best practices to consider when managing land where vernal pools are present:

• When conducting any work near vernal pools, operate equipment only when soils are frozen (winter) or very dry (summer) to avoid creating ruts and skid roads that collect or change the flow of water. These disturbances can influence the timing of wet/dry periods in a vernal pool, altering the species that can breed there.
• Avoid overharvesting in or around vernal pools. Removing the shade of the tree canopy can heat up the air, soil and water in the pool, change the period of time that water remains in the pool, and influence which species can survive there.
• Consult a licensed forester (and your easement!) before conducting a timber harvest on your property. Understand and follow all laws pertaining to tree harvesting near wetlands and waterbodies.

For More Information and Resources:

For those interested in obtaining assistance with wildlife habitat management specific to your own land, be it vernal pool-related or otherwise, consult with your local DNR or SWCD office. For more information regarding vernal pools and specific management strategies, there are a number of great resources available online from the following groups: the Massachusetts Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension.