This afternoon at Riverside Cemetery in Spencer I found a single male Red Crossbill, type 3. When I first saw it atop a spruce tree I thought it was a male Purple Finch but I stayed with it as it moved, calling to another spruce tree and started feeding on the small cones. I got it in good light and watched for many minutes as it fed. The bill, while crossed was quite small. It loosely associated with a flock of 11 Common Redpolls that moved in and out of its tree.
A diligent search was made west of Spencer and southeast of Milford for Snowy Owls today based on recent reports but none could be found. Sorry, Miriam. Yesterday was a beautiful day for the Winter Bird Fest at the Prairie Heritage Center in O'Brien county but we did not find any of the target birds this year. Still, we had good looks at N. Shrike, Pileated Woodpecker, robins, bluebirds, hawks and lots of Bald Eagles. A mild mid-winter day in the Waterman Creek valley is enough of a reward in and of itself! Lee A. Schoenewe Spencer --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/PayDues.aspx. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
