This morning I stopped at a few locations along the shorelines of Duluth and Superior. No Snowy Owls. Grassy Point in Duluth had zero birds, but there was a nearby construction vehicle that squeaked dead-on to a Purple Finch call note!
In Superior, Baker's Island was quiet. At the Superior Entry at Wisconsin Point, I had dozens of beautiful Common Goldeneyes, a few Herring Gulls, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, 2 Common Mergansers, 1 adult Bald Eagle that flew overhead, and this little lady below... I was leaning towards female Barrow's Goldeneye both in the field and with viewing the photos on the computer. Note the mostly-colored yellowish-orange bill, somewhat stockier, smaller bill, and a more round head. Any thoughts/feedback are appreciated! Photos are heavily cropped, but no lighting adjustment has been done. I scanned Allouez Bay thoroughly too, with no sightings of any Snowies. Thanks for any feedback you share with the goldeneye!Possible Barrow's Goldeneye http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/140210700 http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/140210702 http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/140210704 Herring Gull from this morning http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/140210706 Earlier this week, I took a three-day trip to southern Wisconsin. When I left my house in Duluth Sunday morning, the first bird species of my trip was a flock of Evening Grosbeaks in the front yard! Along the way home to Waukesha I had 3 Red-tailed Hawks, 1 Rough-legged Hawk, both Blue & Gray Jays, ~35 Sandhill Cranes, 1 Northern Shrike and of course both of the fun n' ruckusy corvids, American Crow and Common Raven. While in Madison, I visited the east side of Waunakee on Tuesday around mid-day to scan for the previously-reported Snowy Owls. No luck though. I also did some birdwatching around Vilas Park (Madison) on Tuesday afternoon afternoon with Jackie Edmunds, and saw many American Coot, Canada Geese, two Ring-necked ducks, two Ruddy Ducks, a few Mallards and several Gadwall. Some Ring-billed Gulls were around too. Earlier in the day I had a single Ruddy Duck among hundreds of Northern Shovelers and a few Hooded Mergansers on Lake Monona. Ring-billed Gulls and one Herring Gull was present. My traveling from Madison-up-to-Duluth trip list includes 1 Northern Shrike, 6 Red-tailed Hawks (1 adult dark morph), 5 Bald Eagles, Common Ravens, American Crows, and some European Starlings. Northern Shovelers http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/140210764 Ruddy Duck http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/140210774 Ring-billed Gull, stretching http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/140210766 Sunset at Vilas Park http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/140210782 One of my favorite shots from this past week... ducks in front of the state Capital http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/140210778 Adult dark morph Red-tailed Hawk http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/140210771 http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/140210772 http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/140210769 Rock formations while on the road http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/140210780 And to end the pictures, a fun raptor quiz for you. First photo is slightly cropped (distant raptor). Second shot is of the bird much more cropped. Enjoy! http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/140210773 http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/140210768 Sorry for the unusually long post :-) It's covering over half of a week! Good birding, Erik Bruhnke Duluth, MN *NATURALLY AVIAN* - Guided Birdwatching Trips and Bird photography www.pbase.com/birdfedr www.naturallyavian.blogspot.com [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
