Went out on Christmas morning for my annual bird drive through the woods and bogs of St. Louis County while my wife visited with her relatives. The weather was mild and the birds were at times scarce. While I saw few mammals, the number of deer (5) was the most I could remember seeing up there. I found no raptors or owls. My relatives who spend much of their time outdoors had seen many eagles (although not in the last week or so) and also no owls. All of the birds were expected. The most notable were a Northern Shrike, a Magpie (NE of Meadowlands), Pine Grosbeaks (at several locations), and Evening Grosbeaks (found along Blue Spruce Road with Pine Grosbeaks).
Steve Weston on Quiggley Lake in Eagan, MN sweston2 at comcast.net
