Other creatures such as this porcupine, were also up in the trees!
I especially loved the colorful red birds such as this Pine Grosbeak.
This may be the worst photo of all, but we DID see a Ruffed Grouse as it was getting dark.
Somehow these red squirrels are much cuter than the fox squirrels in my yard.
Sometimes you have to hike miles in snowstorms to find Great Gray Owls, but we only had to go less than 1/2 mile to get this one! 
Any owl is a great find, but this is the Northern Hawk Owl, delighted us by hunting from a perch and catching this Meadow Vole. We watched him stash it away in a pine tree to eat later.
This is what happens when you take 200 photos of the same bird, eventually you get one of him "blinking."
We saw tons of Pine Siskens.
The Common Redpols were especially beautiful in the snow.
This was my first time to find a Bohemian Waxwing - well actually we found about 600.
This terrific Snowy Owl had been "tagged" with shoe polish so it could be id'd from afar. 
I learned Lake Superior has 10% of the earth's fresh water! 
I am already thinking I need to see this place in the fall!
We were amazed to find a Mountain Bluebird wintering here.
The bald eagles were pretty much everywhere.
This has to be one of the most wonderful feeder scenes I have ever seen. How many species can you count?
Another Snowy Owl!
These Red Crossbills were HIGH in the pines and not for long. 
Another life bird for me was the Boreal Chickadee, a beautiful little guy who loves to eat peanut butter.
There were trees full of Evening Grosbeaks.
And you could see both Evening and Pine Grosbeaks chowing down at feeders together.
This Red Breasted Nuthatch was also fond of the peanut butter our guide set out for them.
How is a Gray Jay supposed to wipe his face after eating peanut butter?
Ahhhhhhh - the cooperative Great Gray Owl. This owl is perfectly camouflaged for the forest.
We spent some time at a harbor in Duluth, this tallest gull is a juvenile Great Black Backed Gull.
We spent a chilly morning looking for Spruce Grouse, and this one displayed for us - or was it for the 2 females in the tree?
We had a great time watching the Black Backed Woodpecker.
How I wish I could walk down this trail again! We found wolf tracks here, apparently it was chasing a snowshoe hare.
I honestly did not get cold!
Back to the Duluth harbor for Herring Gulls...
...an Iceland Gull,
...Thayers Gulls,
...another view of the Iceland Gull!
This is a flying Herring Gull.
While we were Gull watching, I could not help but notice a wedding party being photographed! This bride didn't even flinch in the cold...
...and we watched in amazement as these brave Polar bears jumped in!
This was painful for me to watch, in my cozy warm down coat.
YIKES! These are tough folks!
The field had frozen frost !
What beauties these Common Redpols are!
We searched for the American 3-toed Woodpecker to no avail. Meanwhile I had to admire the hardy ferns popping up in the snow. Spring is coming!
We had distant glimpses of the Sharp tailed Grouse! 3 species of Grouse on one trip is amazing.
On the way home, my sister and I took a detour towards Minneapolis, and noticed this giant Walleye along a frozen lake.
Ice fishing is one sport I do not think I could enjoy!
It looked like a tent city out there, cars, trucks, and even cross country skiers.
We were delighted to find this field of Trumpeter Swans!
Our bonus bird of the day was the Horned Lark, singing in the fields.
We had a fabulous trip, saw amazing birds and scenery. Winter birding is just too much fun!
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