Friends of the Sax-Zim Bog

About

Among serious birders, the Sax-Zim Bog is a world renowned birding location in the winter, but it has plenty to offer in the spring and summer as well. This 400-square-mile area contains the remnants of the last glacial retreat, some 10,000 years ago. A unique habitat in the US, the Sax Zim Bog is home to boreal species that cannot be found anywhere else in the country.

Rustic trails and a new boardwalk near the Welcome Center make for short birding explorations that could also yeild sightings of orchids, butterflies, lichens, mushrooms, dragon and damsel flies, and much more. Wide stretches of open land surrounded by trees, plus a network of roads and feeders draw birds to this region. Many birdwatchers will find species from their life lists here.

In the winter months, the Sax-Zim Bog is an important wintering area for many Arctic Breeding species, such as Pine Grosbeaks, Common and Hoary Redpolls, Northern Shrike, Rough-legged Hawks, Northern Hawk Owls, and occasionally Boreal Owl and American Three-toed Woodpecker.

Most of these avian visitors will leave by the middle of March for their breeding grounds in Northern Canada. Many of the 2500+ human visitors during the winter come to see birds best found with snow on the ground, but can be found in the summer months as well. Birds like Great Gray Owl, Black-backed Woodpecker, Boreal Chickadee, Evening Grosbeak, and Sharp-tailed Grouse call the meadows, forests, and bogs home all year long.