Spent Friday & Saturday birding in totally opposite areas of the state!
It started on Saturday, Oct 9, when my family and I went to Red Rock Prairie with hopes of Smith's Longspurs. Struck out there, but then we went to the previously reported location for great-tailed grackles around Cty Rd 86 and 730 St in Jackson County (thank you, Carol Schumacher.) Here there was a single male GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE and three females feeding on the ground alongside the farm pond. We also checked Spirit Lake for the black-headed gull, but to no avail. We drove home, slept, and awoke at 3:30 in the morning on Sunday, Oct 10. My dad and I left at 4:00 AM to head to Duluth (my mom stayed home, but she sure would regret it!). We stopped at 40th Ave W around 7:00, and at the NE end, there were 2 SHORT-EARED OWLS that I was able to flush. No scissor-tailed flycatcher, though. We then went to Park Point, where there was a single nonbreeding HORNED GREBE. It was then off to Hawk Ridge, where there were large kettles of RED-TAILED HAWKS, some SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS, and a single adult NORTHERN GOSHAWK. The fall colors were really nice, too. We returned to 40th Ave, but again, we could not find the flycatcher. Off to the Sax-Zim Bog, where we failed to find the previously reported northern hawk-owl. We then decided to come back to 40th Ave and give it one more try. I was sure glad we did! The SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER was very cooperative and allowed me to get really close and get some great views (and photos) of it. A very memorable experience! We used up a lot of gas, but in my mind, it certainly was worth it! Good luck everyone Keith Pulles, Wright County
