[mou] Pine County CBC

[Alt, Mark]

12 counters and 3 people at feeders turned in a strenuous performance on
a cold sleety snowy Monday on the 15th in Pine County.  Snow cover was
sparse, less than 3" in most spots, and the ice in the bog was
unwalkable, I broke through to the calf in one spot and walked with a
frozen boot the rest of the day.  The only new bird to the count (this
is our 6th year) was Golden-crowned Kinglet; Denny Martin and I each saw
several in our count zone, totaling 6 for the day in the region. Pine
Grosbeaks were seen in every feeder yard, along the roads, and in the
bog.  We counted 126 of these large fork-tailed finches, probably 100
were the goldish-grey immatures and females rather than the rosy adult
males.  They were placid and approachable in all areas, and were heard
softly calling several times, most were in groups of 5-8 birds.  One
Gray Jay did a fly-by east of Nickerson on the Net Lake Road., and 5
wild Turkey were spotted at a feeder near dusk. Snow Buntings were
conspicuous in their Absence, as were some Finches.  Purple Finches were
only seen in one location, Evening Grosbeaks in 2 spots, no Pine Siskins
at all, and only a single White-winged Crossbill was seen. The only
cones seen were on a few Norway Spruces around some farms for
windbreaks. House Sparrows are 5 times more numerous than ever before
counted - not good.  Rich Peet and I turned up a calling male Great
Horned Owl predawn.

Summary:
30 species;1256 individual birds

New for the count:
@ Golden-crowned Kinglet - 6

Record High counts:
@ Pine Grosbeak - 126
@ Hairy Woodpecker - 19
@Blue Jay - 150
@ Common Redpoll - 148
House Sparrow - 96

Seen Count Week:
@ Red-bellied Woodpecker
@ Barred Owl
@ Sharp-tailed Grouse
@ Brown Creeper
@ Snow Bunting
@ Rusty Blackbird

Birds seen in most abundance:
290 Black-capped Chickadees
150 Blue Jays
148 Common Redpolls
126 Pine Grosbeaks

Finds of the day:
1:  A feeder behind Duquette General store that gave us our only Tree
Sparrows,=20
	Juncos, and one of our 2 Evening Grosbeak sightings.
2: A home on Nicholson road with mountain ash trees in fruit - the only
ones ever found in this territory;=20
	This is where we got our only Purple Finches.

Counters:
Mark Alt
Tom Bell
John O'Reilly
Andrew Longtin
Rich Peet
Ruth Hiland
Dennis Martin
Herb Dingmann
Carol Schumacher
James Ryan
Steve Weston
Al Nelson
Vern Howell
Barb Miller

Mark Alt
Brooklyn Center, MN
mark.alt@bestbuy.com

"Birds and their songs are important to me, they add to my enjoyment of
life"=20