Hello All, Sooner or later everyone has one of those mornings that brings a smile to your face no matter how bad your week is going=2E I had one such morning today=2E
I am so happy to be living in the wilds of northeastern Aitkin County=2E My wife, Cindy, and I are treated daily to the sights and sounds of birds that most birders would love to see even once=2E At our feeders this morning we had our usual flock of Evening Grosbeaks=2E Their typical habit is to spend some time in the treetops ringing our yard, vocalizing back and forth, before visiting the feeders=2E They must have a lot to say to one another as the sound of even a small group of 50 can be extraordinary=2E Their voices are so loud they can be heard behind the insulated walls of our house and they turn a simple walk to the garbage can into an auditory treat=2E They are becoming bullies at the feeder and this morning the group of about six Pine Grosbeaks seemed to be pushed to the edge of the platform=2E No matter, the bright rosy color of the male Pine Grosbeaks insure they will catch your eye no matter their location=2E Purple Finch, American Goldfinch, White and Red-breasted Nuthatches, and the usual woodpeckers rounded out the attendees at our morning buffet line=2E On my drive to the office this morning I found a large flock of Common Redpolls just south of our house=2E There were a couple of pairs of Pine Grosbeaks feeding on the roadsides and a group of Ravens visiting a local hunting shack were joined by an adult Bald Eagle today=2E=20 The drive to our office in McGregor takes us through spruce bogs, grassy meadows, and a lot of open country that a year ago held incredible numbers of Great Gray Owls=2E Last year it was pretty typical for Cindy and I to see 25 or 30 Great Gray Owls just on a trip to town for milk=2E This year the Great Grays have yet to descend to our part of Minnesota, but the last few days have brought a couple of other owls to the neighborhood=2E A Snowy Owl has been seen for the last week or so just south of Tamarack=2E This morning she was atop a large hay bale about 3/4 miles south of Tamarack=2E Closer to Tamarack, a group of three Sharp-tailed Grouse were eating buds from the crowns of some aspen trees=2E Yesterday morning I found a Northern Hawk Owl on 420th SW of Tamarack=2E Cindy couldn't relocate it last night, but she found another Snowy Owl=2E This morning the Northern Hawk Owl was hunting in the same area it was yesterday--about 1 mile west of Kestrel Avenue on 420th=2E Just west of the hawk owl, an incredibly showy dark morph Rough-legged Hawk was putting on a show=2E What a beauty! Just west of the 'leg', a Northern Shrike was surveying his brushy thicket kingdom from his treetop throne=2E The Snowy Owl that Cindy discovered last night was about two miles west of where she observed it at sunset yesterday=2E It was very flighty, leaving its roadside telephone pole for a distant hay bale as I slowed my car=2E The rest of my drive to work was spent enjoying he sun shining through my windows=2E All-in-all not a bad morning: 3 Sharp-tailed Grouse 2 Snowy Owls 1 Northern Hawk Owl 1 dark morph Rough-legged Hawk 1 Bald Eagle 1 Northern Shrike 50+ Evening Grosbeaks 10 Pine Grosbeaks 50+ Common Redpolls 8-10 Purple Finches 2 American Goldfinches Even in winter ya' gotta' love the northwoods! Kim Risen Tamarack, MN www=2ENatureScapeNews=2Ecom