Birding at this time of year is a definite wardrobe challenge, but I was happy that I put my heavy coat, hat, and mittens to go out this morning. At Woodlake in Richfield I flushed up 2 different American Woodcocks, and the first one took me by surprise, and I almost jumped right out of my boots! The rich cinnamon color underneath, and the twittering sound the plain wings make on takeoff, and long bill was a great visual treat. I was watching for them after that, and the second one I got good looks at the back pattern.
I must have had 40 different Fox Sparrows in the binos looking for a Hermit Thrush with no luck. Then when I was just about up to the Nature Center looking at a pair of Sparrows that were under the feeders a Hermit Thrush popped up and bounced into the window. That crazy bird did it three more times, and kept his complete white eye-ring on me. I backed off and watched this warm brown Hermit Thrush with its black spots flick its redtail looking confused and a little dazed. Then I went over to Veteran's Park and walked the loop and saw 2 more American Woodcocks fly out. I also enjoyed that cute little Winter Wren with its short tail cocked up, chitting away working the brush piles. There are still tons of Fox Sparrows singing up a storm, but the Kinglet numbers dropped dramaticically from Wednesday. Conny Brunell Richfield, Hennepin Cty [email protected]
