Program: Sax Zim Bog, by Mark Hainen. The Sax-Zim Bog is prime habitat for bog specialists including the Great Gray Owl, Black-backed Woodpecker, Boreal Chickadee, Canada Jay, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, and Connecticut Warbler. One can find grassland species like LeConte’s Sparrow, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Sedge Wren, Bobolink, and Brewer’s Blackbird during the summer months, with Northern Shrikes, Rough-legged Hawks, and sometimes Snowy Owls using those same habitats during the winter.
Mark Hainen is a birder/nature photographer who birds the majority of the year in Michigan and Ohio, particularly at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory at Magee Marsh. He spends 3 months each winter in Central Florida and has enjoyed birding the Lake Apopka North Shore for the past 8 years. Mark is an official Observer for the Detroit River Hawk Watch and one of its photographers. He makes an annual trip to Northern Minnesota’s Sax Zim Bog during February to see and photograph Great Gray, Northern Hawk and Boreal Owls. He wades into chest deep marshes, crawls on hands and knees and hikes miles for an opportunity to see and photograph nature. Several of his photographs have been published and have been recognized by local, regional and national organizations including The National Audubon Society, Orange County Audubon Society in Florida, Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and The Detroit River Hawk Watch.