Hi My friend Russ and i spent the morning and part of the afternoon at the Island View Park near Clear Lake location in Sherburne County looking for the Mountain Bluebird reported earlier. We met several birders when we first arrived that gave us tips on where to look and then we met one man with a large camera when we first arrived by the river. He told us as the others did that this bird hangs out with several eastern bluebirds. We saw nothing for at least an hour then a man and woman couple waved us over to an area downstream of where we started and for twenty seconds or so we saw a silhouette of an eastern bluebird and a mountain bluebird and then ti was gone. We then met up with three other birders and talked to them for a while before splitting up with out seeing anything, or so we thought. I took a couple of bad photos through some branches that I now see was likely the Mountain bluebird. Russ and I then split up from the other birders and went back to where we started. After looking for another half hour i could see the other birders photographing something so we headed over to them opposite from the river or I guess you could say south and east a bit. As I approached the other birders they said that yes they had seen the mountain bluebird and were within twenty feet of it. One showed me an excellent photo. Next we definitely saw the mountain bluebird atop a large tree at the foot of the hill that lead back to the parking lot. I got a few photos this time before it took off again chasing an eastern bluebird . It was a lifer for me but it took us three hours to find it. My photos are not that great but still I’m delighted to get what I did. Unfortunately Russ only saw the silhouette of the bird and it was a long hike for him. Here are some photos from today. Thanks to all the birders who helped us out today. What a great hobby this is. Ron Taube Coon Rapids, Mn
Here are a couple of photos https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ <https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/>
