[mou] Lake Superior Boat Trips

[Mike Hendrickson]

These Lake Superior Pelagics are open to MOU members as well as non-MOU 
members.  Right now all the trips are 2/3 filled and If I do not get enough 
participants the fees will go up to cover the costs of the boat fee.  If you 
have a sense of discovery and see what birds are to be found on Lake 
Superior then these trips will fill that void.  Right now the cost for the 
trips is $40 per birder.  I had to raise the fee to insure us these trips 
will happen.  Right now I have about 12 birders on each boat trip.  I do not 
want to cancel these trips as these trips will hopefully open some new doors 
in the migration of some hard to find birds like Sabine Gulls, Artic Terns, 
Red Phalaropes and other artic species we hope to find on these boat trip 
trips.

So please if you are interested in these trips please sign up asap

Here is some more information to read and why I am so excited about these 
trips.

** I would appreciate it if a birder who is subscribed to WisBird forward 
this offering to the Wisconsin birders as they might be interested in these 
trips as well

I got a call from Captain Dan Rau of the LL Smith Research Vessel.  We have 
confirmed the following dates for the 2006 Lake Superior Pelagic trips on 
Lake Superior.  Capt. Dan inform me that the prices have gone up from last 
year. This price increase is due because of the increase in fuel prices. 
These are 4-5 hour boat trips and we do a lot of roaming around on Lake 
Superior chumming and scanning for birds on the western tip of Lake 
Superior.  The crew of the LL Smith are really interested in birds found or 
seen on Lake Superior.  Capt Dan will turn the vessel around if we see 
anything of interest to insure all those on board get a good look of any 
birds that needs second looks.   The boat can handle 28 birders.  The price 
will rise if I do not get enough birders on board to pay for the LL Smith 
expenses.  Like last year I will supply coffee and some breakfast rolls. 
The only requirement I ask is that all participants must bring a bag of 
popcorn to fill a large trash can for chumming.  If you want to see what the 
LL Smith looks like I have photo taken by Laura Erickson on my website under 
"Lake Superior Birding" page. http://webpages.charter.net/mmhendrickson/

LL Smith is a good size vessel with a a lot of room on the stern and bow for 
standing or sitting.  There is also a balcony seating above the main deck of 
the LL Smith which offers wonderful views of Lake Superior.  Our travels on 
Lake Superior depends on wind conditions.  There are two routes we take. One 
route is clockwise where we head along the northshore to Brighton Beach and 
cut across Lake Superior till we are about even with the Superior Entry (tip 
of Park Pt.) and head thru the entry and turn around in the St. Louis Bay 
and head back thru the entry and come down Park Pt and back under the Lift 
Bridge to our loading dock.  The other route is to come out of the Lift 
Bridge (Canal Park) and head 4-5 miles out into Lake Superior and cut across 
to the Superior Entry and back down Park Point to our loading dock.

**Target birds **

-Harlequin Duck
-Surf Scoter
-White-winged Scoter
-Black Scoter
-Long-tailed Duck
-Red-throated Loon
-Pacific Loon
-Red Phalarope
-Parasitic Jaeger
-Long-tailed Jaeger
-Pomarine Jaeger
-Franklin's Gull (casual on Lake Superior)
-Little Gull
-Sabine's Gull
-Black-legged Kittiwake
-Thayer's Gull
-Iceland Gull
-Glaucous Gull
-Great Black-backed Gull
-Black Tern (uncommon on Lake Superior)
-Forester's Tern (uncommon on Lake Superior)
-Artic Tern

Of course there will be other waterfowl seen on these trips as well as 
gulls, soaring raptors, shorebirds and possibly some landbirds.  Very little 
is known about what birds are possibly using the western tip of Lake 
Superior as a staging area for resting or feeding before making the long 
journey to Hudson Bay or beyond.  These pelagics will help add data to see 
if Lake Superior could be a staging area for some artic species of birds. 
When a birder scans Lake Superior horizon from the beach of Park Point,  we 
determine the farthest you can see birds is about 2/3 or a mile out.  These 
pelagics the LL Smith will be 4-5 miles out from the beaches of Park Point. 
Last year the Red Phalarope and the Sabine's Gulls were 3.5 miles out from 
the airport located on Park Pt.  There would be no chance for any birder to 
view these birds from the beach.  This to me is significant and could 
possibly open a new chapter of bird migration on Lake Superior.  So come and 
help me discover Lake Superior.

I will take the first 28 birders on any of the pelagic trip offerings below. 
So please sign up ASAP.

June 3rd: A great time to view large flocks of Bonaparte Gulls and terns. 
Amongst these flocks we will search for Artic Terns, Little Gulls, Sabine 
Gulls.  This time period will be peak times for Red-throated Loons in 
breeding plumage.  This loon is seen regularly each late spring on Lake 
Superior.  We keep an eye out for Pacific Loons as well as there are several 
records of spring sightings of Pacific Loons on Lake Superior.  28 birders 
max.

September 9th:  This pelagic trip will concentrate on Sabine Gulls as this 
is a peak time to find one or several on Lake Superior. Also jaegers species 
especially Long-tailed Jaeger will be on our radar!  We will also keep an 
eye out for Little Gulls as Bonaparte's Gulls will be arriving around this 
time period. Max 28 birders

September 23rd:  This pelagic falls in line with the Hawk Weekend at Hawk 
Ridge.  After the pelagic trip you can head up to Hawk Ridge and scan for 
raptors. Sort of like surf and turf.  As September rolls in more interesting 
birds can be found on Lake Superior.  Small headed gulls like Sabine's and 
Little Gulls will be our targets as well as Jaeger species, Artic Terns and 
other tern species, Red-throated loon,  and Pacific Loon.  Large headed 
gulls will begin to arrive on Lake Superior as well, like Thayer's Gulls, 
Franklin's Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, or a early Glaucous Gull. Max 28 
birders

October 7th:  One word--Red Phalarope.  This shorebird of the artic makes 
its decent into the great lake regions this time of year and hopefully we 
will find one.  The whole spectrum of gulls, terns, jaegers and other sea 
birds will be on our target screen.  Waterfowl like Harlequin Ducks, 
Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks or possibly a Eider species all are reasonable to 
find at this time of year on Lake Superior. Hopefully the Lake Gitchi Gumi 
gods are with us! Max 28 birders

Hope to see you all on these Lake Superior Pelagics

Michael Hendrickson
Duluth, Minnesota
Minnesota Birding Treks
http://webpages.charter.net/mmhendrickson/