In the wildlife management area on the south side of Co. 18 (Anoka Co., I think), a flock of snow buntings passed over a marshy field. We later encountered one of their kind in the sandy roadbed on the east side of this area. It was most cooperative about giving us good views, as it spent 20 minutes or more moving about the road and eating in our proximity. Rob was able to get some nice photos.
On the west side of this area we found 2 Redpolls feeding diligently on birch catkins, right above the road. Rob took about 30 photos, of which, unfortunately, most were rear and lower-body views, though a couple of them did show the facial features and red patch. Over this same marshy field, a male N.Harrier was hunting for a brief time, with lots of hovering. It abandoned the area when a human hunter with two dogs showed up. Later, we spotted another harrier, a female, doing low passes over a marsh on the northern side of the refuge. At the time, we were searching for waterfowl; we were surprised to find some shorebirds instead---a couple of greater yellowlegs, and something mostly hidden in the grasses that looked like a snipe. We were making our way south and west to exit, when a relatively unfamiliar song drew our attention, leading us to a northern shrike. It flew to a small, bare tree, where it seemed to be gleaning the last bits of a meal off a tiny branch, then appeared to cope its beak. For the curtain call, a flock of E. Bluebirds swooped about the road, stopping to feed here and there--a colorful ending to a productive trip. Linda Whyte
