While on our 4 day hiatus to try and see 100 birds, John & Chris Hockema and myself found some unusual birds. It started on Jan. 1 with a SWAMP SPARROW in Whitewater WMA, along with a SONG SPARROW and RW BLACKBIRD. Later at Black Dog we located a BROWN THRASHER! We also found a Whooper Swan hanging out with the TUNDRA SWAN at Dangerfields. We ended the day at 52 species. Day 2 brought us to Grand Marais where we were joined by Josh Watson, we had a flock of 60+ LT DUCKS at Paradise Beach, around 50 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS in town along with another SONG SPARROW. While driving through town I spotted a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD at the corner of 3 & 4 St. We all had great looks at it. From there we drove down to the campground where there wasnt much happening. We decided to walk around near the Folk House where Josh had found a SMITH'S LONGSPUR on Dec. 17th! We walked around for a while with no luck, but soon a Longspur Sp. came flying over our heads. It kept flying though and we never could tell if it was a Smith's or not. Then a man came out and Josh asked him if he had seen the Smiths lately and the man told us it was here earlier this week when he was there. It hangs around the parking lot but could possibly fly to the campground area because that's where our Longspur flew from. So maybe it's still hanging around. 63 species at the end of the day. Day 3 brought us to N. Lake County where we struck out on a lot of things. We did find the 2 HARLEQUIN DUCKS and a GRAY JAY. 65 species. Day 4 we spent with Mike Hendrickson finding 4 species new for the year including BOREAL CHICKADEES at Owl Avenue and ST GROUSE. 69 species >From here Chris Hockema will continue to try and get to 100 around the cities and SE by the 9th.
Ben Fritchman Long Prairie, MN _________________________________________________________________ Enjoy a special introductory offer for dial-up Internet access limited time only! http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/dialup
