Today was the last official day of the tour, and we spent it through the Superior National Forest, Twin Harbors, and Sax-Zim Bog. And while it was the only day the whole week we didn’t see an Owl as a group, there was a special treat at the very end of our day.

Because we’d seen SO MANY of the birds on The List, we headed up to the Superior National Forest to try finding a Spruce Grouse (after stopping to enjoy the sunrise at Lake Superior). No luck, but the drive was a lovely winterland of scenery. And we even caught sight of a handful of Pine Grosbeaks out in the wild! Always more satisfying to see in the wild rather than at a feeder!! They were also right at the roadside, so we got to see them pretty close from inside our car.

So, due to the cold temps (it was somewhere around 7 or 8 degrees up in the forest), the car windows would frequently frost ON THE INSIDE. I can’t believe how many times I had to use my room key card to scrape off ACTUAL ICE from inside a car! Nutso.

It was DANG COLD today, due to some no fun winds. But we actually walked a little into the snowy forest to look for that Grouse. It was brief, but I so enjoyed the moment of being IN NATURE in comparison to all the driving and stops at bird feeders. And it turns out the local Spruce trees there made their own funny noises, which reminded me of our local eucs and THEIR funny noises.

We made a brief stop at Split Rock Lighthouse. Just to enjoy the lighthouse and views of the massive lake. And I got to indulge in some non-birding by admiring some lichen on nearby rocks. One of which was something I don’t recall seeing anything like before. Chocolatey brown cups. Rock Tripes, perhaps?

Also caught sight of two Blue Jays there. So pretty. And a couple nests. That maybe belong to Blue Jays?

Someone from our group thought that some tracks he saw in the parking lot might be from the Grouse we were looking for. So I took photos and Google Lensed it and learned that you can easily tell tracks between a Crow’s and a Raven’s! Ok, so there are three toes in the front of a foot track for both birds.

If the front middle toe leans on the right toe, it’s a Crow. And if the front middle toe leans on the left toe, it’s a Raven. Ta-da! I truly hope this knowledge becomes useful someday!

Our next stop was at Betty’s Pies. For the bird feeder there (where the celebrity Boreal Chickadee was hanging out at) and lunch and PIE. Ok, so eating lunch while watching so many Black-capped Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches and a Redpoll (that I shockingly remembered from seeing before) and a Hairy Woodpecker flying about right outside our window was super fun.

And BONUS was the PIE. The place had something like twenty different flavors. And my choice (the “Great Lakes Crunch”) was a crazy variety of all kinds of berries you wouldn’t expect. And it might’ve been the best slice of pie I’ve ever had. Highly recommend!

On we went back to the SZB one last time. And we got to see a couple of the birds we’d seen previously but wanted to see again over at the Admiral Road Feeders. Right upon arrival, a couple Canada Jays flew in. And we got great looks. Our last sweet American Red Squirrel of the trip was there. A couple of Pine Grosbeaks came in. And likely that same Western Meadow Vole did his usual dashing in and out for the neglected seeds on the ground.

I honestly can’t believe how dang cute Voles are.

The Black-capped Chickadees (ever present) would come in and out from across the road to the tantalizing peanut butter at the feeders. We got to just stand there and have them zip in and out just past us.

On our way back from the Welcome Center, a BOBCAT crossed the road a bit ahead of us. I was in the back (but not the backseat row) this time, and I got to see it way in the distance. No good looks at it whatsoever, but it definitely looked like a Bobcat to me. So cool!

And then it was time for our last Owl Prowl. And we prowled the roads, looking for the Great Gray Owl.

Took a lot of looking and no reward.

But as the light was really starting to fade, our guide shouted and stopped the car. He and one from our group in the front seat saw it fly off from a perch (on a thin tree with no branches, totally out in the open) and into the forest.

We all got out and looked. And it was gone. Didn’t come back out again that we could see. And then it was too dark to look anymore.

So, yeah. I didn’t get to see the Great Gray on this trip. But I was in the presence of one! And know where it was, which is a location our guide had often seen it in. Disappointing? Sure. But I wouldn’t have been able to get good looks. With it getting so dark, it would have been tough to enjoy too much had it come back out.

And after seeing SO MANY AMAZING THINGS this week, I could not complain the slightest. In a place with such inclement weather, and with wildlife in general, we were DANG LUCKY in so many ways on this trip. I had a fantastic time. I looked forward to each and every day with excitement. So much so that my group started to refer to me getting excited about everything many times.

What can I say. Put me in nature, and I turn into my giddy inner child.

I saw so many more wonderful things than just the incredible Owls. And our guide was so great. And our group was so nice and friendly and not just looking to check things off a list. And I got to see how truly remarkable the Sax-Zim Bog is. Such a bounty of magical creatures there. It was all so amazeballs that I just might come again someday!