Minnesota in Winter Jan 28-Feb 2, 2027

This tour focuses on owls, boreal birds, and winter finches with four full days of birding and is based from a lakefront hotel in Duluth. With Scott Barnes and Sean McLaughlin Thursday January 28--Tuesday February 2, 2027 GENERAL INFORMATION: While nowhere near the top of the average traveler’s list of winter destinations, Northeast Minnesota offers a remarkable amount of excitement for any birder at this season. The lively port cities of Duluth and Superior, Lake Superior’s picturesque North Shore, the famous Sax-Zim Bog, and the vast Superior National Forest all come together to present a unique blend of wildlife and general experiences that are not to be missed! Given the cyclical and irruptive nature of many of the birds we seek in these northern environs, the “list of possibilities” will be slightly different winter-to-winter and sometimes even month-to-month. Species we hope to find on this short tour include Great Gray, Snowy, and Northern Hawk owls, Spruce, Sharp-tailed, and Ruffed grouse, Canada Jay, Black-backed Woodpecker, Common Redpoll, Pine and Evening Grosbeaks, Boreal Chickadee, Northern Shrike, Black-billed Magpie, and Red or White-winged Crossbills. Rarer species that occasionally appear here include American Three-toed Woodpecker, Boreal Owl, Townsend’s Solitaire, Harlequin Duck, and Gyrfalcon. Mammals can also be a highlight, with possibilities including Porcupine, Snowshoe Hare, Pine Marten, Ermine, and if we’re very lucky – Moose, Gray Wolf, or Canada Lynx. GROUP SIZE: Travel during this tour will be in a passenger van with no more than 7 participants plus the leader. A second vehicle may take up to 5 participants and leader. ACTIVITY LEVEL: Easy to Moderate We will typically leave our hotel around 6-6:30 am, depending on how far we intend to travel to reach our first stop of the day. Sunrise is around 7:30am with sunset around 5:30pm here during late January, meaning days in the field will never be extremely long. Temperatures generally range from 0-30ºF but can potentially be a bit lower or higher than this at times; effects from windchill can be a concern in more open areas. Being prepared for the cold is key! Snow and sleet are the most likely precipitation types to be encountered. There will be extended time spent in the tour vehicles, with a couple of longer (~2 hour) drives possible. MEETING LOCATION: The tour begins and ends at our hotel in the Canal Park section of Duluth, Minnesota. TOUR PRICE: $3,295 based on double occupancy. Single supplement $300. Tour price includes transportation in Minnesota, 5 nights lodging, all entrance fees, and leadership. It does not include meals. A deposit of $500 will hold your space until November 30, 2026 when full payment is due. SEND DEPOSITS & OTHER PAYMENTS TO: NJ Audubon Eco-Travel, Attn: Jessica Schera-Scullion, 701 E. Lake Dr. PO Box 3, Cape May Point, NJ 08212. Please make checks payable to New Jersey Audubon. Visa, MasterCard and Discover are also accepted. PROVISIONAL ITINERARY: Day 1: Arrival to Duluth during afternoon. Arrangements for transportation to hotel, or participants with own transportation can go birding in the immediate Duluth area. Group meets at hotel at 6:00pm for introductions and then dinner. Days 2-5: Our daily schedule will be flexible on account of weather and road conditions, and the latest information on bird sightings. We plan to dedicate at least one full day to exploring Sax-Zim Bog and nearby environs, where many of the trip’s target species can be found. This will include visiting the Friends of Sax-Zim visitor center, traveling various roads that transect the bog and adjacent farmland, checking out a few feeding stations, and maybe even taking a few short walks to truly experience this amazing place. Some of the birds we’ll seek at Sax-Zim include Great Gray and Northern Hawk owls, Redpoll, Boreal Chickadee, Black-backed Woodpecker, Black-billed Magpie, Canada Jay, Ruffed grouse, Evening and Pine grosbeaks. Mammal sightings could include Porcupine, Pine Marten, Ermine, Snowshoe Hare, or with a lot of luck, a Gray Wolf or Moose. We’ll visit a local café for lunch. Another day will be spent exploring the Superior National Forest and parts of Lake Superior’s North Shore. On this day, we’ll leave a bit earlier to account for the 90-minute drive that is needed to get up into the forest. We’ll hope this early start gives us a good chance to find Spruce Grouse, and it’s also possible that Red or White-winged Crossbills, Black-backed Woodpecker, and other goodies may be about. We’ll also keep our eyes open for Moose and other mammals. We’ll then return to the lakeshore, with a few different options for the remainder of the day including the productive Two Harbors area. Ornamental trees and shrubs in small towns can attract frugivores like Pine Grosbeak or Bohemian Waxwing, and an occasional rarity. We’ll again seek out a local eatery for lunch. Other interesting species we hope to connect with include Common Goldeneye and Northern Shrike. During the rest of the trip, we will mix and match locations to give ourselves opportunities to connect with birds we previously missed, see some again or better, and to also allow for any weather-related issues we may encounter. We will also spend some time seeking out Snowy Owls at Superior’s small airport, watch for white-winged gulls at a couple locations including Duluth’s Canal Park, and just generally enjoy this beautiful, unique, and wild part of the country. Day 6: Departure from Duluth. No activities scheduled today. TOUR LEADERS: Scott Barnes began birding in the mid-1980’s and has been an avid naturalist ever since. Encouragement and learning came from his parents and many birders, including members of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club and staff of New Jersey Audubon. An interest in travel and natural history has led him from the Bering Sea to the desert southwest to the tropics of Central America in search of birds and other wildlife. Scott has compiled the Sandy Hook Christmas Bird Count for over twenty-five years, served for thirteen years on the New Jersey Bird Records Committee, led for See Life Paulagics tours for nineteen years, serves on the NJ Waterfowl Stamp Advisory Committee, teaches Beginner Birding Courses for Princeton Adult School, and is an eBird reviewer for NJ. Scott has led NJ Audubon tours in 23 states in the U.S., Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Spain, and Trinidad & Tobago. Scott has two previous tours to Minnesota in winter. Sean McLaughlin is a hawk watcher from Pennsylvania who has enjoyed watching birds migrate for over 15 years. A lifelong birder and naturalist, Sean has counted raptors at Stone Mountain and Tussey Mountain hawk watches in PA, before moving to Duluth on the shores of Lake Superior. He has led the count team for four seasons at Hawk Ridge and three at the West Skyline Hawk Count in Duluth, Minnesota, instilling a deep love for the Great Lakes. In Duluth, Sean also conducts morning flight counts of passerines and other migrants. Outside of the world of watching migration, Sean has studied American Goshawks in the mountains of Oregon, breeding birds in northern Minnesota, and instructed courses at Hog Island Audubon Camp. CANCELLATION POLICY: For cancellations more than 60 days before the starting date of the trip, deposits will be returned less a $50.00 service charge. Cancellations made 60 days or less before the starting date of the trip will be charged $250.00, unless the space can be filled (in which case the $50.00 service charge would apply).