[mou] BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK
In May of 2003 my wife and I were startled to see what appeared to be a Grosbeak feeding on the ground beneath the sunny-seed feeder with the Rose Breasted grossbeaks - the problem was the breast color was like that of a robin. We have since determined that it was a Black-Headed Grosbeak. I know we are far to the east of it's range but are wondering if there were other reports of this bird (especially last spring). We saw it for several days but have not seen it since then. Alden & Margaret McCutchan
[mou] Mourning Doves - Goodhue County
On the ground beneath our thistle seed feeder now are five MOURNING DOVES - the first we have seen this season. We are on a farm between Cannon Falls and Kenyon. We also have PILEATED, RED BELLIED, HAIRY, AND DOWNY WOODPECKERS, A NORTHERN FLICKER, WHITE BREASTED & RED BREASTED NUTHATCHES, FIVE PAIRS OF CARDINALS, HOUSE FINCHES, an occasional PURPLE FINCH and COMMON REDPOLL plus the usual but interesting CHICADEES, DARK EYED JUNCOS, AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES, BLUE JAYS, AND HOUSE SPARROWS. At Christmas we looked out at our flowering crabapple tree to see a male RING-NECKED PHEASANT awkwardly perched in the tree eating the tiny frozen apples - probably as close as we'll ever come to a partridge-in-a- pear tree! Alden & Margaret McCutchan
[mou] Counting Birds
When mou net contributors get caught up in what and how to count in approve= d ways, I am reminded of Mary Oliver's lovely poem: Snowy Night =A0 Last night, an owl in the blue dark tossed an indeterminate number =A0 of carefully shaped sounds into the world, in which, a quarter of a mile away, I happened to be standing. =A0 I couldn=B9t tell which one it was =AD the barred or the great-horned ship of the air =AD =A0 it was that distant.=A0 But, anyway, aren=B9t there moments that are better than knowing something, and sweeter?=A0 Snow was falling, =A0 so much like stars filling the dark trees that one could easily imagine its reason for being was nothing more =A0 than prettiness.=A0 I suppose if this were someone else=B9s story they would have insisted on=A0 knowing whatever is knowable =AD would have hurried =A0 over the fields to name it =AD the owl, I mean. But it=B9s mine, this poem of the night, and I just stood there, listening and holding out =A0 my hands to the soft glitter falling through the air.=A0=A0 I love this world, but not for its answers. And I wish good luck to the owl, =A0 whatever its name =AD and I wish great welcome to the snow, whatever its severe and comfortless and beautiful meaning. =A0 ~ Mary Oliver ~ =A0 =A0
[mou] Feeder freeze frame
Birding Friends - Help me understand a just-happened event around our feeders. With a light snow in the air the feeders have been crowded all morning. All at once five downy woodpeckers and a single goldfinch on a small tree outside our viewing window stopped all motion and held a rigid position for 6 or 7 minutes. During this time none of our 12 other regular visitors came to the feeders. Almost as suddenly the feeding resumed. I suspect a shrike or hawk may have been in the area but could not see it. We'd enjoy your interpretation . We observed it yesterday also but not as carefully.
[mou] Northern Flicker
After -22 degrees in our valley on Friday it was a big surprise to see a Northern Flicker join the Downies, Hairies, and Red bellied woodpeckers on our bag of suet this AM. Western Goodhue County, Little Cannon River, South of Sogn.
[mou] Sogn Valley
MOU netters - Sogn Valley is ten miles from Kenyon, Cannon Falls, Nerstrand, Dennison, and Wanamingo - beautifully located at the center of Nowhere, Goodhue County and half way between Rochester and St. Paul. Excuse my omission & thanks for the reminder. Alden
[mou] Farm yard visitors - Sogn Valley
BLUEBIRDS in small flock moved through early in the week. Other sightings of interest included a BROWN CREEPER (10/30 - rare here), many RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, several FOX SPARROWS, a young HARRIS' SPARROW, RED BELLIED-WOODPECKERS, a SAVANNAH SPARROW, many DARK-EYED JUNCOS, CARDINALS, etc.. We enjoy the mou-net and have signed up for PROJECT FEEDERWATCH. Thanks to all of you. Alden & Margaret
[mou] Juncos everywhere
Juncos, White Thoated Sparrows, & Eastern Bluebirds activate our Sogn Valley farmyard this morning. Alden
[mou] feeder notes
mou net - We are enjoying Red-breasted nuthatches again this year near the Little Cannon river. They were not seen last year. Also a fair number of White-throated sparrows moving through. The bald headed cardinals (mites) are recovering slowly. Gold finches doing their amazingly rapid transition to winter plumage.Alden
[mou] mou - Steele County, Mn Whooping Crane still there
At 7:15 PM today THREE cranes flew in a tight grouping from the NW into the small pond north of Steele County Highway 19 near the NW corner of Rice Lake State Park. One was an adult whooping crane with all the proper markings. We could see no white on the other two. They appeared nearly as large as the whooping crane but with only 8x40 binoculars the markings of these two were difficult to discern (at approximately 200 yards). They appeared to be roughly the size and coloring of adult sandhills. The whoopimg crane left the other two after alighting near the shore and walked slowly along the NE shore of the pond before returning to the others. There was no ripple on the water so the beutiful whooping crane with it's reflected water image was spectacular! Do whoopers and sandhills fly closely together in tight formation? Could these be unusually marked juveniles? My friend and neighbor Mary Doerr and I await your responses. We watched these spectacular birds from highway 19 for about half an hour - an experience we will not forget. Alden McCutchan Kenyon, MN
