Alec, I spent the day birding Red Lake County in NW Minnesota. I will reply to the list as well in case others are interested in what I found. While I was birding I didn't realize I would be posting, so my directions are not as precise as they could be. Please note this was a one-time trip; I can't speak to the reliability of any of these birds.
Gray Partridge - 8 birds around 2:30 pm, east side of CR 112, immediately north of the intersection with 220th ST SW. This location is about a mile and a half SW of Red Lake Falls Sharp-tailed Grouse - 4 birds flew north across Hwy 2 at the Polk/Red Lake county line at 8:15 am. They settled in a strip of trees along the minimum maintenance road that is halfway between HWY 32 and CR 113, where I also saw a Northern Shrike. (It's directly in line with CR 112 on a map.) Also, a small group of Sharp-tailed Grouse were in Red Lake County off of CR 14, I can't say I recorded the exact location, but it was east of HWY 32 roughly 2-3 miles. I saw other random STGR throughout the day. Greater Prairie-Chicken - Birds on the north and south side of CR 23, about 1/2 mile west of the 90 degree bend on CR 1. This is a few miles west of Plummer in Red Lake County. Birds probably from the same lek were visible to the north from east of the intersection of CR 1 and CR 12. Wild Turkey - A few sightings during the day, but a group of 46 of them were in a field SW of the intersection of Polk Co 212 and 140th Ave SW. This is on the Polk/Red Lake line about 3.5 miles N of Hwy 2. The turkeys eventually crossed into Red Lake Co to the east. Snowy Owl - One (1st year.....male?) on the minimum maintenance stretch of 180th Ave SE about 1/2 mile south of CR 26, 2-3 miles NW of Plummer. American Kestrel - 1 adult male along CR 1 (very uncommon in winter that far north), a little over 1/2 mile east of Hwy 59, SE of Plummer. Townsend's Solitaire - 1 bird in Polk County in the town of Fosston. It was in a clump of red cedar and spruce trees, just across the street from the 3-way intersection of 6th St NE and N Brandt Ave. I saw another bird fly out of the trees that may have been a second Solitaire. Bohemian Waxwings - 5 birds in a crabapple trees at a residence about 1/4 mile west of the intersection of CRs 1 and 5, this is about 4 miles north of Oklee in Red Lake Co. White-winged Crossbills - 5+ birds heard and seen in the town of Red Lake Falls. Coming into town from the north on CR 13, they were at the park-like area on the east side of 13 between 6th St and 7th St NE. Other birds around the area were Black-billed Magpies, Common Redpolls, and a surprising number of American Robins, particularly in Fosston. I am not sure what part of NW MN you are planning to visit, but you would need to focus your time well to the north and east of the areas I birded if you are looking for owls, woodpeckers, and Spruce Grouse. If your trip takes you through Grand Rapids, there have been numerous Bohemian Waxwings in Grand Rapids, Coleraine, and a few in surrounding towns, though they can be a hassle to track down on any given day. Also, several small flocks of White-winged Crossbills were found on the recent Grand Rapids CBC, so time spent in the area may turn a few up. Good luck! Shawn Conrad On Sun, Jan 1, 2017 at 4:08 PM, Alec Anderson <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello Minnesota Birders, > > I was planning a short trip up to Northwest Minnesota this weekend with a > few target birds in mind and was hoping to get a little feedback about > where I could go to give me the best chance to see these birds. Spruce > Grouse, Black-backed Woodpecker/American Three-toed Woodpecker, Bohemian > Waxwing, and White-winged Crossbill are the most important. Other intel on > locations of owls(Hawk, Great Grey, Saw-whet, Boreal???) and > grouse(sharp-tailed, Greater prairie-chicken, gray partridge?) are also on > the list. Any information on these birds or anything else relevant would be > greatly appreciated. Feel free to back channel me or contact me however > you'd like. Thanks for any help you can offer me and have a happy new year! > > Alec Anderson > Prairie du Sac, WI > > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
