This AM I birded the Hyland Lake area between the north shore of the lake up to the Osprey tower. I observed a Shrike that I'm calling a Loggerhead on eBird, but it is still bugging me a little. I wanted to call this a Northern at one point. I observed the bird in good light at a distance of about 50 meters through the scope. It was facing me the entire time (about 1 minute). Very fine barring on the breast was clearly evident, such that at lower magnification, the breast appeared gray and contrasted with the much whiter throat. A white line above the black mask was easily seen over the eyes and it extended in front and over the top of the bill, forming something like 'spectacles'. The lower mandible, however, was all dark. Overall head shape and 'demeanor' of the bird more suggestive of a Loggerhead, being rounded and more 'gentle looking' but I don't like using this as field mark. Adding to the confusion, I've read that the lower mandible on the Northern is not pale at the base during breeding season, and given the way in which other 'winter birds' are staying on a bit longer here in the Cities with the odd weather, maybe it isn't too farfetched that a Northern is still here... I'd seen them all winter at the same location.
After I got home I thumbed through all my guides and was interested to see that on page 484 of the Stokes Guide, it shows a Loggerhead with white that clearly connects over the bill. I'd thought this was a definitive mark on a Northern but apparently not. Also perused the following page: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/loggerhd.htm which has some nice photos of specimens showing the within-species variability. The breast and throat of the juvenile Loggerhead shown there looks exactly like what I saw today. So I'm thinking perhaps this is a one-year old bird that has not yet lost the barring on the breast? Anyone see this on Loggerheads in the spring? Hyland Lake continues to hold a lot of birds, though the mix seems to have changed a bit. I did not see any Readheads or Ruddys today, but there are now many patches of open water on the far side which I did not exhaustively scan. In addition to the typical duck mix, there were about a dozen Common Loons (calling), five Red-necked Grebes, and a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers. Good birding, -Michael ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
