Nathan & I birded portions of Aitkin County & Crex Meadows (Grantsburg, WI) yesterday.
Highlight, of course, was the Glossy Ibis (second state record?) west of the town of Aitkin. Unfortunately we "whiffed" on the Hudsonian Godwit (seen minutes before) and Long-billed Curlew (not seen for a couple of days) in the area. We did work on our Aitkin County list for a number of hours, since we had only birded the area in the winter. We then drove to Crex Meadows (less than two hours away, and only slightly over an hour from our home in Princeton) to try for the Burrowing Owl. It had not been seen on Thursday, and we continued the trend during two different stops. Tough to imagine that bird would hang around the trail to the leks for long! We did enjoy Sharp-tailed Grouse, Red-necked Grebes, an American Bittern and an Osprey among more common birds. Many thanks to Kim Risen for his assistance & recommendations while we were up nort'! Nathan & Al Schirmacher Princeton, MN Mille Lacs & Sherburne Counties
