Here & Now Anytime This ‘fairyland’ bog is a beacon for winter birders – and a sponge for the climate
Mar 7, 2026
Sparky Stensos, founder of Friends of Sax Zim Bog and local birding guide, talks about winter birding at a famed Minnesota bog. He describes owl and rare boreal bird sightings. Conversations cover using acoustic recorders and AI to detect elusive species. They also highlight peatland ecology, sphagnum's carbon storage, and efforts to re-wet and restore the bog to help wildlife and climate.
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Sax Zim Bog Is A Global Boreal Bird Refuge
- Sax Zim Bog is a critical refuge for boreal birds in winter despite appearing as a scraggly taiga-like landscape.
- Birders worldwide flock there to see owls, rare songbirds from Canada, and old-growth stunted evergreens that host 4,000 species.
Warming Winters Undermine Boreal Bird Survival
- Boreal species at Sax Zim Bog are vulnerable to warming winters because cached food rots and reduces breeding-season resources.
- Alexis Grinde explains that this reduces productivity and causes population declines at the southern edge of ranges, prompting northward shifts.
Peatlands Punch Above Their Weight For Carbon Storage
- Sphagnum moss and peatlands at Sax Zim Bog are disproportionate carbon sinks, storing vast carbon despite covering ~3% of land.
- Restoring bog hydrology by plugging drainage ditches rewets peat, halting decay and recapturing carbon at large scale.