I went out to the Sax-Zim Bog for a morning of birding on Sunday with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised at some of the sightings:
Rough-legged Hawk- 3- All along CR 133. Black-billed Magpie- 1- CR 155 (now CR 74?) west of CR 29. Northern Shrike- 2 - One on McDavitt Rd. and one on Sax Rd. Sandhill Crane- 2 - A pair flew over. Gray Jay- 6 - Arkola Rd. and McDavitt Rd. Boreal Chickadee- 1 - I finally saw one at the Admiral Rd. feeders after missing them my first 3-4 times at this location. Northern Harrier- 2 - Pair on Sax Rd. Eastern Bluebird- 1 Common and Hoary Redpoll- 60 (1) - There were a lot of Common Redpolls at the bog welcome center. One was lighter than the rest, had practically no visible streaking on the belly or the under-tail coverts and had a squished-in beak appearance. I believe it was a Hoary Redpoll but they do confuse me. I heard a Wild Turkey calling at the Admiral Road feeders but have no idea how it got there! I looked for the Black-backed Woodpecker on the south logging road off of McDavitt Rd. with no luck. It was a fun time to visit the bog with wintering birds mixing with early migrants. It was also nice to have tolerable temperatures without having to deal with any pesky insects or ticks. Side Note- I drove into Meadowlands thinking that was where the Friends of Sax-Zim Welcome Center was located and mistook the first building on the east side of town along CR 133 for it. This residential care home is called The Hummingbird and has a bird feeder out front- hence the confusion! I thought the real welcome center located on Owl Ave. was wonderful. Good Birding, Jason Caddy South Minneapolis [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
