This week, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources announced the official designation of Keystone Woods Wildlife Management Area. The former Kelley Farm near Big Marine Lake is now open to the public — 1,820 acres of mostly grasslands with some lakes, wetlands, and forests mixed in.
“This is exciting not only for the ecological benefits that come with protecting more of the St. Croix Watershed, but for the increased outdoor recreational opportunities it provides to millions of residents within an hour drive of the Twin Cities,” said Sophie Vorhoff, Minnesota program director for Trust for Public Land. “Trust for Public Land has been working for decades to expand access to nature through the Keystone Woods area, and we’re grateful for our partnership with DNR to make it a reality.”
Two days after the announcement, I decided to go see it for myself. I received a warm welcome from the wildlife.
There are only two parking lots designated for Keystone Woods WMA so far. While it’s open to the public, many decisions about how it will be managed still need to be made. A public comment period is planned to start next month. So access is limited and there are lots of precautions in place to handle visitors while long-term management is decided.
I drove a couple yards down a rough gravel road to a parking lot and left my vehicle there. Another man had also just pulled in and he too had heard it was open and came to see for himself. He unwittingly played a key part in what came next.
The other guy started walking before me and headed west down a straight and sandy road. I was dawdling and ended up a couple hundreds behind him. As he approached a gate, he turned off the main road and struck out north through the grasses — and flushed a pair of birds that must have been roosting on the ground. What appeared to be raptors of some sort began soaring and flapping and diving and climbing. Then I lost sight of them, and I kept walking.
Another hundred or so yards along, I looked up and noticed there appeared to be two large birds perched on fence posts ahead of me. It was then that I realized the raptors had returned to the spot near where they had been flushed, and were watching my approach. It was also then that I realized these weren’t harriers or other hawks, but a species I never expected to see: short-eared owls (Asio flammeus). I started taking photos. This was a “lifer” species for me and, incidentally, the 150th species of bird I’ve observed in the St. Croix River watershed.
Short-eared owls are designated a “species of special concern” in the state of Minnesota, although the species is found around the world and has healthier populations elsewhere. The Department of Natural Resources says “all evidence suggests that the species has declined significantly in Minnesota in recent years.”
“The Short-eared Owl was once a common and widespread summer resident in Minnesota. Although little is known of its exact breeding range, the species occurred widely during the first half of the twentieth century and was frequently observed throughout the state, except in the northeastern and southeastern regions.
“Today, however, the Short-eared Owl is uncommon to rare in summer, with most records limited to the northwestern corner of the state… The species is also less common in winter and during migration than in former years.”
But here, just a few minutes after arriving at this new public land, this pair acted right at home. Short-eared owls are usually found in grasslands like this, where they can soar over the ground and perform acrobatic maneuvers to hunt voles and other prey. They use their exceptional hearing and eyesight to find their food.
Short-eared owls at Keystone Woods WMA. (Greg Seitz/St. Croix 360)
There were quite a few other people around at Keystone Woods right then. Multiple work crews were conducting clean-up at some of the former building sites on the property, while others were working on waterfowl habitat. There was the occasional sound of beeping backup alarms and the growl of machinery.
As I photographed the owls, a skidsteer approached, coming up the road from the other direction, the owls out of sight to the operator. Eventually, the machine spooked the birds and first one, then the other took off and flew south. The operator jumped out when he saw them fly and exclaimed that he’d been waiting to see short-eared owls all week and apologized for scaring them away. We reveled in the exciting sighting for a few minutes, and then went on our respective ways.
“An ecologically vulnerable species, the Short-eared Owl’s dependence on large, unfragmented grasslands is the most significant threat to its status,” wrote the authors of The Breeding Birds of Minnesota, a book released in April by the University of Minnesota Press. Thanks to the acquisition of the former Kelley Farm grasslands, a big chunk of unbroken habitat for these beautiful birds has been permanently protected.
Note: It is the peak of hunting season in Minnesota right now and Keystone Woods WMA offers new opportunities to pursue birds, deer, small game, and more — very close to where a lot of people live. It is very important that everyone trying to explore and enjoy this area is respectful of other users. In other words, birders please don’t go looking for these owls and get in the way of hunters with the same right to be there, and follow the American Birding Association’s Code of Ethics. Hunters, please share the property as well and help everyone stay safe and enjoy nature. Thanks!
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