Hello All, As the holiday weekend is upon us once again, I though I would update everyone on the status of birding along the Hedbom Forest Road in NE Aitkin County.
Today, Friday, there were two different Great Gray Owls seen. One on the western end of the 'woodpecker area' about 1.3 miles west of the St. Louis County line. The second was about 3 miles west of the St. Louis County line. Both Black-backed and American Three-toed Woodpeckers continue to be seen on a daily basis. There are at least six Black-backed Woodpeckers and three American Three-toed Woodpeckers in the heavy Tamarack bog just west of the St. Louis County line. Looked for the heavily worked trees, with the outer barked stripped away revealing the reddish/orange inner bark. Walk into the woods moving slowly, stopping periodically to listen and watch for woodpecker activity. The Am. Three-toed Woodpeckers have exhibited an interesting behavior every day we've seen them. When we walk into the woods the Red Squirrels will scold and chatter at us. The Am. Three-toeds will stop working on the trees and will sit motionless for several minutes. After a short time, usually one to five minutes, one of them will begin working and, almost in unison, the others will join in. This means that you could be within a few feet of an American Three-toed Woodpecker and not even know it. It happened to us twice! Both Red and White-winged Crossbills continue to be seen along the forest road daily. The White-winged Crossbills prefer the Tamaracks found on the eastern end of the road and the Reds prefer the Red Pines on the western end. However, both can be found almost anywhere along the road. Pine Grosbeaks are seen daily, but most of them are fly-bys. Evening Grosbeaks continue to be seen daily at our feeders in numbers that vary from 20 or 30 to more than 100, depending upon the day. Snow Buntings have been numerous the last couple of days. Today I saw three flocks totalling about 100 birds between our house and Lawler. Northern Shrike, Rough-legged Hawk and Common Redpolls are also easily found. I haven't seen or heard of a Hoary Redpoll report this week. As the Hedbom Forest Road is NOT MAINTAINED, the recent snowfall will make driving more hazardous. Cell phone reception in the area is VERY spotty and, as the road cuts through the Savanna State Forest, there are no local residents you could ask for help. Be careful, go slow and allow plenty of space behind you when you stop or park. I have updated our website with a few photos that Cindy and I have taken along the Hedbom Forest Road this winter. There is also a new, color coded map with a printable pdf to allow easy printing. The map details specific areas to look for woodpeckers, owls and the other birds we've been seeing. Look for the "Hedbom Forest Road" link with the photo of a Red-breasted Nuthatch on the upper, right-hand column on the front page of our website. www.naturescapenews.com Cindy and I will be doing the Rice Lake NWR CBC tomorrow, but we'll be back along the Hedbom Forest Road on Sunday. We'll report back then. Good luck to all who visit. Let us know how you do. See you in the field. Until then...Good Birding! Kim Risen Tamarack, Aitkin County www.naturescapenews.com
