One fun hobby that’s can be done here it to watch the many birds since the Sioux Narrows area has many birds that are visible if you just sit quietly on the lake shore or from a boat. The Lake of the Woods is home to approximately 280 birds. Some of them live here during the summer. Others use this region as one of their stop-overs and they migrate on their bi-annual journey from one part of the world to another. What can one see?

Well, if you were to sit quietly and look at the area where the water meets the shore with a pair of binoculars it might be possible to see Piping Plovers. These small delicate looking birds, have been considered as ‘endangered’ species’ since 1986 but they are often visible in this region walking on sandy beaches looking for food, crustaceans and marine worms, in the zone of water which hits a sandy area where the waves gently lap into the shores. These birds are sandy colored, the size of sparrows who nest and feed along sand and gravel beaches.

It’s possible see great blue herons, who wading birds from the heron family (Ardeidae) for those of you who want technical information. However, it’s usual to just to see one at a time but not two. These birds are considered the largest birds of the heron family in North America. They have blue-gray feathers, black flight feathers, redish-brown thighs and their faces are almost white in colour with a pair of black plumes which start just above their eyes to beyond the back of their heads. They are particularly majestic birds which have a tendency to not move for a while, so they seem to almost disappear into the background, while forage (look for food) on their own. Herons swallow their food whole and eat creatures such as small fish, small birds, rodents, reptiles, and insects. You can often see them looking for food at the water’s edge or in shallow water at any time of the day but particularly at dawn and at dusk. They’ll sit there patiently looking for something to eat and hence you might not see them until they move suddenely to grab what they’ve seen to eat.

It’s also possible to see and even hear loons. These birds are called “Loons” in North America and ‘Divers’ in Europe. What is striking about these birds is their eerie and haunting calls which is often heard around the lake as they call to each other. They are readily recognizable by their black plumage with white feathers on the neck and back, white belly, and their spear-shaped bill. They are excellent swimmers but they can’t walk on land and they try to avoid land and only use it when they are nesting. Hence their nests are very close to or beside the water’s edge. This a very good reason to reduce your speed and slow down if you’re driving a boat and coming close to the shore’s edge. If you rush into the shore and you don’t turn down your speed you could only damage the prop of your boat but swamp the nests of any birds who have their nests close by. A pair of birds will to use the same nest repeatedly and hence they return repeatedly to the same place.