I found a Northern Shrike hovering yesterday in Rosemount and started thinking about how certain birds are easy ID's if you recognize their flight.
Northern Shrikes will fly very fast almost effortlessly with short glides. Often they fly low, approaching their perch from below. the similarly colored and sized Blue Jay flaps furiously non-stop as it travels in a straight line. Rough-legged Hawks also will hover. They will hunt on the wing on frigid days that find the Red-tails sitting. Red-tails hover usually only momentarily, and usually before they plunge after prey. American Kestrels can often be found hovering along the road perching on the invisible support of their wings. Some observations from CBC's: Pine Siskin numbers are down. At one spot I counted 50 (conservatively) Siskins two years ago, 20 last year, and could only dig up 4 this year. Tree Sparrows: In previous years I have found flocks sometimes with over a hundred birds. This year I am finding them feeding alone or in the company of one or two of their kind. They are often mixed in with juncos. Steve Weston on Quiggley Lake in Eagan, MN swest...@comcast.net ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
