I was looking forward to this route when I first looked at its
location in my MN DeLorme. The starting point was a dead-end
Superior National Forest Road on the doorstep of Voyageurs National
Park. Looking at names of some of the lakes near the route made one
think of animals (e.g., Pelican, Black Duck, Chub, Bug, Bluebird),
but it was the 2 Moose Lakes that grabbed my attention most. I've
dreamed for a long time of seeing a moose while doing a BBS.
The species list for the route was decent also, with 71 tallied in
1993, the only year the route has been run. I only came up with 61
under good weather conditions although it rained much of the night.
Thirteen of these species were not seen in '93, and the route has
great potential. New species for the trip included Ring-necked Duck,
Common Merganser plus Gray Jay. When I first heard the jays, I
thought of my comment that Dennis K. still laughs about. During a
Riveredge Bird Club field trip to the "North Woods," I stated with
much authority that if one heard something loud in the woods of
northern WI that you couldn't identify, then it is a Gray Jay. An
adult and immature then flew across the road. Later, I tallied 2
more.
Perplexing from the '93 list was the 9 Tennessee Warblers. I know
this song "cold," and I know that I didn't hear 9 this year. I heard
0, zero, none! Red-eyed Vireo (64) and White-throated Sparrow (55)
were the most abundant species.
And, oh yes, I'm still dreaming.
