Imagine exploring the Mississippi backwaters by boat in search of
Prothonotary Warblers, back from their long tropical journeys. Hop
aboard and ride the rails through the Tiffany Bottoms floodplain
forest, an open railcar birding trip you will never forget! Visit
with live birds of prey and the people who work to preserve them! We
are proud to offer an exciting weekend of quality programs and events
and invite you to explore our wonderful communities along the way.
The Detroit Lakes area is in the heart of a transition zone of
tallgrass prairie, northern hardwood, and boreal forests. As a
result, birders can find an impressive variety of species in a small
geographic area. Learning, socializing, and birding opportunities
through workshops, exhibitors, banquets, and fieldtrips!
Field trips along Lake Superior from Grand Marais to Grand
Portage, along the North Shore Highlands, and to the end of the
Gunflint Trail. The North Shore of Lake Superior and Gunflint Trail
provide a wide diversity of forest types and therefore, a great
number of bird species. Forest and terrain varies from a great body
of water, to a deciduous (birch and aspen) forest, to a maple forest,
conifer mix forest with inland lakes, and finally, the boreal forest
with inland lakes. And, to add to forest diversity, much of the
Gunflint Trail area was affected by a massive "derecho" windstorm in
July of 1999. The affected forest has been treated in many areas by
logging and/or prescribed burns, and some of the blowdown areas
remain intact. Past festivals found 100 different species.
The combination of the best chance for sought-after regular
species with the lure of a dazzling array of rarities seen over the
past years makes the North Shore of Lake Superior the
"birding-place-to-be" in October! Field trips locating the migrating
birds from Lutsen to Grand Portage.
