Today I guided a friend and her family around the bog, and we had some wonderful sightings. The wind was really kicking around, and the windchill was pretty brisk, which resulted in many birds hunkering down. Sightings overall were somewhat scarce today due to the wind, however there were many highlights. One of the biggest highlights was seeing the beautiful, fluffy, large-headed, yellow-eyed and ethereally-feathered GREAT GRAY OWL. Special thanks is given to my friend Dave Alexander for helping us find this bird... It's fun meeting up with friends in the bog!
Here is our list from today: Bald Eagle 2 Great Gray Owl 1 Downy Woodpecker 1 Hairy Woodpecker 2 Pileated Woodpecker 1 Boreal Chickadee 2 Red-breasted Nuthatch 1 Common Raven ~10 Blue Jay 2 Gray Jay 1 Pine Grosbeak ~30 I am so fascinated by Northern Shrikes. They live the high-metabolism & high-strung life of a songbird, but feed in a raptor-like fashion. Their physiology of Northern Shrikes is so interesting. Even in today's gusty and chilling winds, the one lone Northern Shrike was seen perched on the electric wire, bobbing its tail to maintain balance, and of course facing into the wind to stay warm so the wind wouldn't ruffle up the feathers. During this balancing act, it constantly kept a close watch on the surrounding area and the ground below, keeping watch for any little prey items. And these predatory songbirds still make it in the coldest of times. So cool :-) No photos were added from today's tour. Here is my Sax-Zim (2011) gallery. Enjoy! http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/saxzim_bog__winter_2011 Good birdwatching, Erik Bruhnke Duluth, MN NATURALLY AVIAN - Bird photography and guided birdwatching tours www.pbase.com/birdfedr [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
