Pine County never fails to amaze me with its diversity of habitat and relative seclusion. Peter Neubeck and I led a group to the Nickerson Bog area of Pine County on Sunday, after scouting the trip on Saturday. Highlights were a pair of GRAY JAYS along Net Lake Road, numerous BLACKBURNIAN WARBLERS singing from the spruce tops, impossible to find singing BAY-BREASTED WARBLERS in the really thick stuff, a pair of MOURNING WARBLERS on territory, Numerous calling GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLERS, and LINCOLN'S SPARROWS in the bog. Boreal Trout Lilies, Columbine, Labrador Tea, and Lupine adorned the meadows and road edges as we traveled.
We found a dead LONG-EARED OWL east of Kerrick and I understand this is listable! Stop for road kills, birders!!! It was found around 11 am and its eyes were still moist and clear, It seems this bird may have been hunting in the daylight, perhaps as a sign of hungry owlets nearby. A distressing thought, but the bog here is slow going if you are walking, sinking in 2 feet with every step, so we were unable to explore the area to check. A RED-EYED VIREO was calling from a high dead branch and surprised us all with its imitation of a Broad-winged Hawk's shrill whistle. It was a truncated version, but the tone and pitch was perfect. We heard it thrown in with the rest of the bird's repertoire, piercingly belted out every two minutes or so. A pair of OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER zoomed around us at one point, obviously on territory, with an ALDER FLYCATCHER calling and perched in plain view for comparison, with wild strawberry as the primary ground cover, good to eat even if you do get the sand mixed in with each bite. . It was great days for us, making each stop seem far too short. Good Birding to you all. Mark Alt Brooklyn Center, MN Hennepin County
