I went birding today around Blue Earth County to see what effect today's unseasonably warm weather, not to mention the warmer fall overall, is having on the birds. There's something a bit disconcerting about it being almost mid-November while the outside temperature is somewhere in the mid-60's.
Yet despite this the birding was what I would expect for this time of year in south-central Minnesota. The only late bird I found was a Western Grebe on Madison Lake in northeast Blue Earth County. I also saw a Red-headed Woodpecker on Hwy.22 south of Mankato, but this species might be a permanent resident in these parts. Around Madison Lake near where I found the grebe, I also found a Rough-legged Hawk and a Northern Shrike. On the way back to St. Peter, there was a decent-sized flock of Snow Buntings flying across Hwy. 22 in Le Sueur County. And, at my house in St. Peter, there have been Pine Siskins flying around almost daily for the past month. Bob Dunlap, Nicollet County
