Twice this week I came home from work to find my finch feeders and tray feeder empty. I have a lot of feeders and was wondering how the heck... This morning I witnessed the onslaught. Ron Erpelding and I counted over 200 redpolls in my yard and estimated the flock to be easily over 300 birds. Add in the 40+ siskins, 35+ house finches, and hand full of goldfinches and it was a spectacle I have never witnessed before.
So I went outside and spread finch feed all over the deck railings and deck, (so the birds would be more spread out) and started looking for a hoary. It took about 45 minutes before I found one. I have not seen many hoaries, and am thankful it was not one of those "maybe" birds. This gorgeous little guy had NO barring on the flanks. He had a soft, very muted pink wash on much of his belly, rump patch was white. The feather margins were also whiter than the other birds, even on the back. He had a noticeably longer tail, and something I did not see in any of the 7 books I looked at, the feathers on his legs came down farther towards the feet. I tried my best to make the beak "more stubby looking" but it seemed there was always food in it or hanging from it, so am thankful I did not need that trait as a clincher. A delicious bird! Second county record (only because some Janssen character found one last week). I saw it three more times in the next two hours. Randy Frederickson 416 19th St. NW Willmar 320 231-1291 P.s. And I cannot find a great gray owl in the county to save my soul!
