Hello all, Dedrick Benz and I had an interesting weekend up North. My target birds were the Iceland Gull that had been frequenting Agate Bay in Two Harbors and the Sharp-tailed Grouse in Sax- Zim. We spent Saturday and Sunday birding both locations with no luck. Not daunted (o.k. maybe a little daunted), we set out this morning before dawn for Sax - Zim and after a few loops around the bog, we lucked out and had a fun time watching the Sharp- Tailed Grouse dueling and dancing in the snow. They were at the more recently active lek 1.5 miles north of 133 on 29. We checked the more traditional lek with no birds present. Feeling optimistic, we zipped up to Two Harbors to check one last time for the gull and to our delight it was there showing us how different Iceland Gulls really do look compared to Herrings. Anyways, It shows that persistence does pay off sometimes.
Other notable birds of the weekend: Red - breasted Mergansers - 5 or 6 individuals at Burrlington Beach Long - tailed Ducks - 3 individuals at Agate Bay, Two Harbors Pine Siskins - Feeders in Two Harbors Snow Buntings - Large flock in the bog Common Redpolls - Large flock in the bog Black- billed Magpies - Just north of Meadowlands in the bog Rough - legged Hawk - Bog Chad Aakre Winona County _________________________________________________________________ Frustrated with dial-up? Lightning-fast Internet access for as low as $29.95/month. http://click.atdmt.com/AVE/go/onm00200360ave/direct/01/
