Hello All, Every once in a while you have one of those birding days where everything=20 seems to perfect. You know the kind I mean. When you don=92t have to get up= =20 at 3:00 AM, you don=92t have to drive half-way across the state and the= birds=20 seem to go out of their way to show themselves. Cindy and I had such a day= =20 Saturday.
Too tired after returning from leading a birding tour to Chiapas, Mexico to= =20 participate in the Crosby CBC, Cindy and I decided to revisit what is=20 becoming one of my favorite birding locations in Minnesota. As we put the=20 finishing touches on our upcoming birding guide to Aitkin County, we=20 thought we would return to the Hedbom Forest Road to check out the=20 woodpecker activity we had found prior to my departure for Mexico. It=20 turned out to be the perfect day. Cindy even got great photos of=20 Black-backed Woodpecker that will appear in the guide! The Hedbom Forest Road is located in extreme NE Aitkin County. It passes=20 through a great variety of habitats and the eastern end has a wonderful,=20 dense Tamarack and Black Spruce Bog. I think that it will become known as=20 one of the best birding locations in Minnesota. During the year or so that= =20 Cindy and I have been visiting it regularly, we=92ve found an incredible= list=20 of desirable bird species, two first county butterfly records and the=20 always incredibly beautiful drive. For the day, we had (in no particular order): Great Gray Owl =96 2 birds who were hunting along the Hedbom Road stayed=20 active the hour and a half we were in the area. Extremely cooperative, they= =20 even perched directly on the road a couple of times. Black-backed Woodpecker =96 5 birds (2 males, 3 females) on the Hedbom Road,= =20 4 birds (2 males, 2 females) on the County Road 3 location previously=20 described by Warren Nelson and 1 female in another bog on the south side of= =20 CR 3 just under a mile farther west. American Three-toed Woodpecker =96 2 males were found along the Hedbom FR=20 (where we had a male Black-backed and male Am. Three-toed on the same tree= =20 only a foot apart at one point), the Am. Three-toed found by Warren Nelson= =20 was also relocated giving us three individuals for the day. This in a=20 county that had only two records prior to this winter! Common Redpoll =96 537 birds, many in large flocks, along the Hedbom Road.= =20 Feeding on the road at times. Pishing at every stop brought in more birds=20 from the alders. Hoary Redpoll =96 2 individuals, one in our first big redpoll flock at the= =20 west end of the Hedbom Road, the second was in an even larger flock (> 100= =20 birds) on the east end of the Hedbom Road. Pine Siskin =96 50 birds seen along the Hedbom Road, most mixed in with the= =20 large flocks of redpolls. Gray Jay =96 5 total, four of them along the Hedbom Forest Road. Other interesting species seen: Barred Owl =96 2 American Goldfinch =96 40 Red-breasted Nuthatch =96 11 Ruffed Grouse =96 2 Red Crossbill =96 6 White-winged Crossbill =96 13 Rough-legged Hawk =96 1 Bald Eagle =96 2 Brown Creeper =96 1 Pileated Woodpecker =96 2 Hairy Woodpecker =96 4 Downy Woodpecker =96 1 Good Birding! Kim Risen Tamarack, Aitkin County www.naturescapenews.com
