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Archive 2024 · 2024 Sax Zim Bog Trip + Thermal Monocular Testing
  
 
nmerc_photos
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p.1 #1 · 2024 Sax Zim Bog Trip + Thermal Monocular Testing


didn't see any Sax Zim Bog threads, so figured I'd dump some info in here from my first trip

the Sax Zim Bog is well known as THE place to go for northern owls, finches, warblers, and other boreal birds

encompassing more than 300 square miles of Minnesota, it is a great place for many different types of wildlife

my journey was just a short, 2 day trip - driving up from Lansing, Michigan. It was about a 12 hour drive through the UP of Michigan, and to the bog

we stayed in Duluth, but in the future may opt to stay in an AirBNB near the bog, or Alesches' Acommodations

Hotel - AmericInn by Wyndham, Duluth

  1. 2 star hotel for about $160/night for 2 queen beds, included breakfast
  2. room was large, clean, oversized TV, strong flow in shower
  3. best breakfast we ever had from a normal hotel

we made sure to bring snacks (sandwich materials, chips, nuts, chocolate covered raisins) to eat in the car during the day. with accommodations in Duluth, 1 hour each way from the bog - we would spend all day in the bog

Time - Friday, January 5th & Saturday, January 6th 2024

  1. at this time in January, it was light enough for pictures around 7:30AM and too dark for pictures around 5:30PM
  2. temperatures were very mild, between 25F - 40F for the duration of the trip
  3. Friday did not have many other photographers (20 or less), while Saturday easily had 50-100 different vehicles
  4. in the future, we will never go to the bog on a weekend again


Planning Resources

  1. although our trip was mainly dictated by available time off from work, we did monitor animal/bird reports up to the day of the trip
  2. facebook has several good groups - "Sax-Zim Bog", "Friends of Sax-Zim Bog", "The Beautiful Sax-Zim Bog and Amazing North Shore"
  3. there is also a telegram group (similar to discord) "Sax Zim Bog Sightings" with 1137 members at time of posting - that posts live sightings
  4. prior to the trip, I took telegram coordinates from every sighting over the previous 8 weeks, and saved them on my google maps. this gave us locations that we could GPS to during the day, and increased odds of seeing specific creatures (great gray owl, barred owl, great horned owl, northern hawk owl, ermine, pine marten, bobcat, wolf, etc.)
  5. make sure to also download offline maps of the bog ahead of the trip - as cell service with Verizon was extremely spotty


Gear

  1. unfortunately, they day before this trip I dropped one of my Z9's while it had the 400mm f2.8 tc attached, so I had to send the body in for repair. I did bring the lens, with no apparent damage
  2. for the trip, I brought my Mr Jan Boris IV bag with 1x Z9, 1x 400mm f2.8 TC, 1x 800mm f6.3
  3. I also brought a 1.4x and 2x TC but did not use either
  4. I ended up using the 400mm exclusively, and found that often 400mm was at the longest end I would want to use. in the future, I will bring a 70-200mm f2.8 as well
  5. the best tool that I brought was my new thermal monocular - the Pulsar Telos LRF XP50, as I will demonstrate - this was an essential part of the kit for finding wildlife


Clothing

  1. if you are not from a cold weather climate and don't have experience with snow, here are my suggestions
  2. Waterproof/insulated jacket - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OA2NCVI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  3. Waterproof/insulated pants - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HFXXVMR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  4. Rechargeable hand warmers - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J45G5BQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
  5. Photography gloves - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KMC3114/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  6. Hat - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LQFXN56/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  7. Boots - https://www.amazon.com/Salomon-QUEST-Hiking-Olive-Safari/dp/B08LK635PP/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1UWATRMTUJMEF


General Strategy

  1. for the most part, wildlife can be found anywhere in or around the bog
  2. if you are looking specifically for Great Gray Owls (as many do) we found the best times to be right at sunrise and sunset
  3. GGOW activity was best from 7AM - 10AM and 3PM - 6PM
  4. during this trip, the majority of sightings were near Admiral and McDavitt Rd
  5. once peak GGOW activity time was over, we would watch the feeders, welcome center, or drive around with the thermal looking for other activity


Sightings
Over our short trip we saw:

  1. 7 unique Great Gray Owls
  2. 50+ Rough Legged Hawk
  3. 20+ Ruffed Grouse
  4. 10+ Bald Eagles
  5. 10+ Black-billed Magpies
  6. 5+ Snowshoe Hares
  7. 1 Wolf

We did not see, but others around the same time period saw:

  1. Pine Marten
  2. Ermine
  3. Bobcat
  4. Otters
  5. Barred Owl
  6. Great Horned Owl
  7. Northern Hawk Owl
  8. Red Fox

















Edited on Jan 10, 2024 at 08:26 PM · View previous versions
Jan 10, 2024 at 07:21 PM
nmerc_photos
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p.1 #2 · 2024 Sax Zim Bog Trip + Thermal Monocular Testing


Thermal Monocular - Pulsar Telos LRF XP50

  1. I will probably make an additional post somewhere with this info, but this turned out to be the most important part of my birding kit, and will probably continue to be impactful moving forward
  2. I had seen someone else use a thermal on a blog on youtube:

    " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Video
  3. after doing research I pulled the trigger in early December and mainly used it for Great Horned Owls and Short Eared Owls locally
  4. the general idea is that it allows you to track heat
  5. my dad would drive the vehicle 30-55MPH (whatever was appropriate) and I would lean out the window and scan with the thermal
  6. several times we would see hares, grouse, or owls that we could've never seen with the naked eye - especially at speed
  7. the only downside I have found so far is that is has a rather narrow field of view (FOV). it would excel someplace open like Yellowstone, but was a bit too tight for the quarters we were in. I will be looking to purchase an additional thermal with a wider FOV in the future


Pictures

#1 - group of photographers watching an owl
#2 - Great Gray Owl perched
#3 - Great Gray Owl obscured by branches
#4 - Great Gray Owl perched
#5 - Ruffed Grouse
#6 - Snowshoe hare
#7 - Bald Eagle
#8 - 10 Ravens, Bald Eagles, and Magpies in the woods near a wolf + deer carcass









































Edited on Jan 10, 2024 at 08:14 PM · View previous versions
Jan 10, 2024 at 07:21 PM
nmerc_photos
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p.1 #3 · 2024 Sax Zim Bog Trip + Thermal Monocular Testing


Pictures from the Trip






  NIKON Z 9    NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens    400mm    f/2.8    1/1000s    3200 ISO    0.0 EV  






  NIKON Z 9    NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens    400mm    f/2.8    1/2000s    1800 ISO    0.0 EV  






  NIKON Z 9    NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens    400mm    f/2.8    1/2000s    9000 ISO    0.0 EV  






  NIKON Z 9    NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens    400mm    f/2.8    1/1000s    1100 ISO    0.0 EV  






  NIKON Z 9    NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens    400mm    f/2.8    1/2000s    640 ISO    0.0 EV  






  NIKON Z 9    NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens    560mm    f/4.0    1/1250s    800 ISO    0.0 EV  
Jan 10, 2024 at 07:21 PM
OwlsEyes
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p.1 #4 · 2024 Sax Zim Bog Trip + Thermal Monocular Testing


It looks like you had a good time and was able to get a taste of what the Sax-Zim has to offer. The owl on the lichen-rich branch and snowshoe hair are lovely shots.
I live in MN and typically visit the area 2 to 3 times a year. The owl populations vary from year to year and really depends on what is happening in Canada. There are resident owls that live throughout Minnesota's north woods that extend from Lake Superior through Voyageurs NP.
This year it is likely that most of the owls people are seeing are from the year-round resident population, as there has been little talk about an invasion from the north. On a good year, you can find the owls on the edges and see a variety of species that include: Great Grays, Snowy Owls, Hawk Owls, Boreal Owls, and Barred Owls. While great horned owls can be found in the bog during the spring and summer, I don't love to see them there as they tend to push the other species away.
This region is a unique spot in MN and with the exception of caribou, nearly any boreal species can be seen if you are in the right place at the right time.
Visitors should pick their time carefully, as it has become a destination for photographers and birders. My first visit was in the winter of 1992 and back then I would trap local rodents and feed the owls to study their flight (part of a research project). I had one day when a hawk owl took nine voles from me and cached 8 of them in various trees... I, of course, am not recommending that you feed the owls, but back in the day it was just me and my research partner. These days, if you go on a weekend, it might feel a little bit like Yellowstone or Grand Tetons with cars stretched throughout the rural and unpaved roads.

cheers,
bruce
Jan 11, 2024 at 02:23 PM
rdcny
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p.1 #5 · 2024 Sax Zim Bog Trip + Thermal Monocular Testing


Bruce - how well do the Great Grey Owls and No Hawk-owls respond to sound? Many owl species (eg Barred and Great Horned) will come flying in if hearing a conspecific. How well do these two species respond to squeaky mouse calls? Long-eared Owls can be very responsive...

I live further south so don't have much experience with these two Boreal owl species...

and yes the bird world has changed. In the mid-1980s to late 1990s we would regularly get 10-25 Northern Saw-whet Owls overwintering in a park near me. Very few people went to see them! Today with Twitter and eBird the entire northeastern USA might head to that location...though we no longer get saw-whets at that location (deer have moved into the park and wiped out the understorey...and there are no plantings of dense young pines..
Jan 13, 2024 at 07:50 PM
scottsoutter
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p.1 #6 · 2024 Sax Zim Bog Trip + Thermal Monocular Testing


Thanks for taking the time to write down such detailed logistics!
Jan 18, 2024 at 05:56 PM





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