Meet the Winterberry Bog—Dahlquist/Walker Memorial

WINTERBERRY BOG ribbon-cutting today! Thanks to Tim and Judy Walker of New Hope, Minnesota for their generous donation to make the preservation of this 40 acre Black Spruce and Tamarack bog possible. Tim and Judy are to the left of the sign in these photos. We also had a BOREAL Chickadee baptize the site with an appearance just as we are beginning the ceremony… everybody got great looks. Also in attendance were board members Gene and Julie Ollila and Ben Yokel and Sparky Stensaas, executive director. We did a symbolic ribbon cutting with an Aspen branch and a pair of Fiskars loppers 🙂 This 40 acre bog is at the northwest intersection of Murphy Road and CR 52/Arkola Road west of Cotton.

A note from the donors….

“We live in New Hope, a suburb of the twin cities, are both retired and have four children and three grandchildren.  Judy is the birder and Tim enjoys getting a good photograph.  We will be expanding our birding at the Sax Zim Bog beyond winter birding to warbler Wednesday’s this May.  Five family members, parents, siblings and a cousin have died over the past few years.  This, along with our constant observation of the destruction of habitat, drove our decision to help Friends of Sax Zim Bog purchase forty acres.  The purchase of this land will preserve habitat and serve as a memorial Bog for our families.  We thank Friends of Sax Zim Bog for this opportunity.”

—Tim and Judy Walker

There are many species of Russula, but this patch of Russula emetica is quite striking.

This 40 acre parcel is about 25-30 acres bog with some upland aspen. It has some amazing fungi growths in the Sphagnum moss! This is the Hollow-foot or Hollow-stemmed Suillus (Suillus cavipes). 

Beneath the mature Black Spruce is a park-like understory of deep sphagnum moss hummocks.

Aerial view of the 40 acre Winterberry Bog at the northwest intersection of CR52/Arkola Road and Murphy Road. The northeast corner of this tract touches the southwest corner of our Indian Pipe Bog.

Judy and Tim Walker (left) join board member Julie Ollila for the “ribbon-cutting” ceremony. An aspen branch substituted for the ribbon and a pair of Fiskars loppers stood in for the giant gold scissors.

Tim and Judy Walker (left of sign) with Friends of Sax-Zim Bog board members L-R Julie & Gene Ollila, Ben Yokel

Thanks to Tim and Judy Walker of New Hope, Minnesota for their generous donation to make the preservation of this 40 acre Black Spruce and Tamarack bog possible.

The beautiful sign was handcrafted by Bemidji, Minnesota signmaker David Wagner (wagnersigns.com)

A lone Boreal Chickadee surprisingly made a visit to the Winterberry Bog just as we were about to start the ceremony! This is a rarely seen species of deep, dark spruce bogs so it was a real treat to see one out in the open. I guess you could say that the Boreal Chickadee christened the new FOSZB bog!

An early fall view of the Winterberry Bog at the northwest intersection of Arkola Road and Murphy Road west of Cotton, MN

Namesake of the Bog….Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) in fall

Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) in late fall. The berries are eaten by several bird species including the Evening Grosbeak (as pictured on the sign)