Science & Research Projects in Sax-Zim
American Kestrels in Sax-Zim: Nest Boxes, Banding, Tracking
See photos and research results here…
Evening Grosbeaks & their Road2Recovery
See photos and research results here…
Northern Hawk Owls—Where do they come from? Where do they Go?
See photos and research results here…
Golden-winged Warblers—Abundant! Should be Minnesota’s State Bird!
See photos and research results here…
Connecticut Warblers—Singing All Night? Don Kroodsma’s recordings
See photos and research results here…
Connecticut Warblers—From Sax-Zim to the Amazon! We Tracked one!
See photos and research results here…
Northern Shrikes—From West or East of Hudson Bay?
See photos and research results here…
Why Care about Bogs and Peatlands?
Great Gray Owls are symbols of the bogs of northern Minnesota. Birders, photographers and videographers travel from all corners of the globe to our boreal forests to find, watch and photograph our bog birds. But most residents of our state are unaware of the quantity of life in the peatlands and the international attention its resident critters draw.
And the best ambassador of bogs has to be the “Phantom of the North”—the Great Gray Owl—which needs bogs for all aspects of its life. But Black Spruce bogs—and peatlands in general— are unknown, ignored, or scary places for most folks. And because of this, most think of bogs as dark, dank, mosquito-ridden swamps. But the reality is that they are places of light, delicate wildflowers, rare orchids, fascinating mammals and of course, home to millions of breeding birds—owls, warblers, flycatchers (and, yes, mosquitos). But even the hated mosquito has its place—it is the foundation of the northern forest food pyramid.
Bogs cover millions of acres across northern Minnesota, Canada and Alaska in North America and they are under increasing pressure due to logging, especially for pulp and paper. This environmental factor does make an educational film even more timely and important. We protect and care for what we know.