On Christmas morning, I dragged myself out of bed and, despite my cold, headed out from Floodwood to Sax-Zim for my 15th annual Christmas morning bog drive. With excellant postings from Sparky on the earlier CBC, I was well prepared to plan a productive route. A visit to the sumptuous feeders on Blue Spruce rewarded me with Pine and Evening Grosbeaks, Common Redpolls, and Pine Siskins. The feeders and ribs on Admiral were amazing. As I watched a couple of Gray Jays, who probably were nesting nearby, both Boreal and Black-capped Chickadees, Common and Hoary Redpolls, Blue Jays, and Downy Woodpeckers flew in. Most interesting was the behavior of the Boreal Chickadee, who spent most of the time flitting around the feeder without ever stopping to feed. I wished I had my camera, which was disabled by a dead battery. He gave me the finest views I had ever had of this comparitively shy bird. On my drive I found the Hawk Owl on Stickney by CR28 and saw many Ravens. I missed the Great Grays and the White-winged Crossbills.
Interesting was the report from my brother-in-law in Floodwood that a Boreal Chickadee had been a common visitor to his feeder. Others on the roads professionally around Floodwood have seen no winter owls in that area. My son inquired what gift he could buy me. I expressed an interest in the currently available O'Brien book on shorebirds. Failing to find that in stock at Barns and Noble, he got me a book that may change my birdwatching: "Extradorinary Chickens". Steve Weston on Quiggley Lake in Eagan, MN [email protected] ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
