Out birding the last two days with Ron & Rosalie Johnson of Wisconsin. 12/30 Highlights: Sax-Zim Bog
- Northern Hawk Owl: just north of the intersection of CR 28 & CR 7 on CR 7. - Great Gray Owl: 1.5 miles east of CR 7 on CR 232 (Lake Nichols Rd) Its been over week since this bird was seen again. - American Three-toed Woodpecker (male) & Black-backed Woodpecker (male) 3.5 miles north of CR 28 on McDavitt Rd on the east side. - Boreal Chickadee (1) at the Admiral Rd feeder: 4.0 miles north of CR 28 - Evening & Pine Grosbeaks: Evening Grosbeak at the Abramson's feeding station on Little Whiteface Rd off CR 133. Pine Grosbeaks were flying off several roads in the bog but not seen at any feeders. - Hoary Redpoll: at the intersection of Correction Line Rd and CR 29 - Common Redpoll: Seen at most feeders and also flying off several roads in the bog. - (4) Northern Shrikes - Gray Jay along Owl Avenue and McDavitt Rd. - White-winged Crossbills at the north end of Western Avenue in Meadowlands. - Black-billed Magpie at the farmstead approx. one mile north of CR 28 on McDavitt Rd. - Snow Buntings several flocks along CR 7 from Arkola Rd to CR 87 (Zim Rd) 12/31 Highlights Isabella/Duluth/Superior, WI Landfill - Spruce Grouse: on Hwy 1 between mile post 303 & 304 in Lake Co. (female) - Varied Thrush: 2215 W 4th Street in Duluth. (male) Thanks Shawn for the posting!! The Varied Thrush was actively feeding as Shawn said in his post on the larger crab apple tree in front of the house. The Varied Thrush than will carry the apple to either the newly built stairs and eat the apple or fly to the neighbor's house to the east and feeding on the stone retaining wall. There is also a American Robin feeding on the apple tree too. Saw the bird at 12:30pm. -Glaucous Gulls at the WI landfill. There were at least 1500 gulls at the landfill. I also saw a 1st cycle Iceland Gull at the landfill among all the gulls. There are a lot of Pine Grosbeaks along Lake Co. Rd 2 and also along Hwy 1. We also saw numerous White-winged Crossbills along the same roads. There are by far more Pine Grosbeaks in northern Lake County than in southern or central St. Louis County. ** At the Sax-Zim Bog Winter Bird Festival meeting last night I heard that the man living at the corner of Stickney Rd and CR 28 had a run in with St. Louis Co. sheriffs this past November. Apparently some hunters on the nearby land shot their deer but the deer's body dropped on this guy's land. The hunters asked for permission to remove the deer and the man said "no". So that evening the hunters decided to retrieve the deer anyway and the man got out and shot rounds over the hunter's head as they tried to retrieve the deer. The hunters called 911 and police came and the man shot some rounds towards the police. They arrested the man and he spent time in jail and is now released from jail with time serve. I guess those shots towards the police was no enough to put him away longer than 2 months. I also heard a report from Steve Foss that he has been followed by the same man after briefly stopping in front of this man's house on the Stickney Rd. to look at birds. The man followed him for 4 miles before he decided to stop to talk to the man. The man wanted to know who he is and what Steve wanted and then he got in his truck and drove back home. ** Also got a report that a reliable Great Gray Owl has been seen for several days along CR 47 off CR 133. Drive south on CR 47 for 5 miles and CR 47 makes a 90 degree turn towards Alborn. There is a beaver damn at this corner and the owl has been seen quite a few times by the school bus driver. Mike Hendrickson Duluth, Minnesota Website: http://webpages.charter.net/mmhendrickson/ Blog: http://colderbythelakebirding.blogspot.com/ ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
