I spent all day Saturday traveling the roads of northern Chisago and NE Anoka County west of HWY 35, seeing very little. I am convinced that the swarm of Great Grays is not yet in this region, but the good news is there is tremendous habitat here for them, especially north of Hwy 22 heading west from Wyoming. There is a loop that goes north on CR 75 around Ryan Lake Road that looks very much like the area around Oak Lake in Pine County where there have been so many seen in the last month. In Pine County the leading edge of the Owls seems to have moved south about 25 miles a week since December, so they may make it to Wyoming by, let's see, Mid February? This is all conjecture on my part, but they have been remarkably predictable and consistent so far. The one Hawk Owl seen in Chisago is also consistent with the sightings in Pine County, where Hawk Owls showed up several weeks ahead of the front line of the invasion. We need people to keep on checking the areas where they aren't and reporting, for it is as important as where they are seen right now. I did find a Great Horned Owl, 5 Northern Shrikes and two Rough-Legged Hawks. There are many swampy areas, some Tamarack and many areas of mixed pine and aspen, as well as jack pine. Good Birding.
Mark Alt=20 Brooklyn Center, MN=20 [email protected]=20 "I recalled that I had read somewhere that in the Middle Ages Hell was envisioned as a place without birds." Jim Harrison=20
