I apologize for the belated report, but I very briefly observed a Townsend's Solitaire at Lake Vadnais on January 10. Ezra Hosch also saw it on January 18th. Although I had no prior knowledge about one being seen there, I looked at eBird reports and saw one reported in early December.
It's not a reliable bird, given that there are so few reports from such a well-birded area. I happened to see it fly through some tall spruces and land at the tippy top of one, where it only perched for about 45 seconds before flying across the lake. It was about bluebird-sized but all light gray, thin bill with wide base, and long-ish tail that it flicked. Lake Vadnais has hosted solitaires in the past. I would say that any conifer is a good spot to check, although in previous years folks have seen it in the red cedars (junipers). Good birding! Alyssa DeRubeis Fayetteville, AR ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
