Recently I lead a small group of nature enthusiasts on a trip to Northern Minnesota to see and learn about black bears and boreal birds. Picture twelve adults trapped in a small bus with yours truly driving pointing out birds, animals and plants along the way. Two days of non-stop educational fun.

Traveling with a group can always be a bit tricky but many in this group has traveled with me many times before making my job easy and enjoyable. For example, everyone showed up extra early and we were on the road driving north even before the official meeting time on the first morning. Now if that doesn’t say something special about a group than nothing does.

After the usual stops along the way we finally stopped for some serious birding and botanizing. Even though it is getting towards the end of August we still were able to find some decent birds. While driving through a boggy area we came across an adult Merlin (Falco columbarius) sitting at the top of a Black Spruce tree. Everyone got great looks at this falcon of the boreal forest. When it flew off we could clearly see its blue back indicating an adult male.

Merlins are closely related to the much more common American Kestrel (Falco sparverius). However they don’t live in the same habitat. For example the kestrel is a falcon of wide open spaces while the Merlin lives in thick conifer forests. Also the kestrel is a colorful bird while the Merlin is rather dull. The Merlin mainly hunts birds for a living while the kestrel is fond of insects and small mammals.

Back in the bus and we were heading down the road again. Our next stop was a board walk through a northern bog. We were fortunate enough to find a number of warblers. At this time of year identifying warblers is a bit tricky but we managed to see several Black and White Warblers, Nashville Warbler and a member of the thrush family called a Veery.

Back in the bus and we were off to the bear sanctuary where up to 50 bears can be found feeding at this time of year. We weren’t disappointed. Once we were safely on the observation deck we could count between 40 and 45 bears. These included mothers with this years cubs along with mothers with last year cubs. Baby Black Bears stay with their mothers for 2 years. Mothers only give birth once every other year.

On the other side of the deck were all the big males. Some of these big boys were pushing 800 and 900 pounds. In late summer all bears enter into an eating stage called hyperphagia. They eat for up to 20 hours a day, resting only now and then. An adult bear can eat 15,000 to 20,000 calories a day and drink up to several gallons of water.

Large amounts of water are needed to process the huge amounts of food and also rid the body of built up nitrogen waste. All of this drinking means that the daily output of urine is 1-3 gallons. As we watched you can see the bears urinating right where they are standing while eating.

The objective of hyperphagia is to put on as much weight before entering into hibernation. It will be their stored fat that gets the bears through 6 months of not eating or drinking during the winter.

After our evening of bear watching we hit the hotel and got of the next morning for a drive through the Superior National Forest. We drove the echo trail which is a 52 mile dirt road to Ely Minnesota to visit the American Bear Center where again we learned more about Black Bears.

Our drive back home gave everyone a chance to reflect on our new found knowledge of bears and boreal birds. Until next time…

Stan Tekiela is an author / naturalist and wildlife photographer who travels the US to study and photograph wildlife. He can be contacted via his web page at www.naturesmart.com