[mou] Goshawk Hennepin Co. 11-27; shrikes in metro

[Chris Mansfield]

Thanksgiving day, Nov. 27 (apologies for the late report): juv Northern
Goshawk at Hyland Lake Park Reserve, Bloomington.  Seen just as the sun
was beginning to burn through the fog, 8:20-8:30 AM, when it flew in
and began hunting pheasants in the small field on the south side of the
main park entrance on E. Bush Lake Road.  It made short sallies from
its perch low in the shrubs at the top of the field.  I wish I'd been
doling out parking permits in the little shed on the entrance drive
because those would have been some unbelievable close looks.  I still
had nice looks from the bike trail about 150 feet away.  I couldn't
relocate the bird Nov. 28th despite three hours of searching.  There is
plenty of Gos food around, though; I counted nine pheasants in that
area alone.  Also several young Red-tailed Hawks in the park, and a
Northern Shrike, which was present both the 27th and 28th in the Sumac
Knoll camp area.

My earlier November (possibly repeat) metro shrike observations: 
Nov. 16 shrike sp. (backlit and rather distant) Cliff Road/SNA area of
Black Dog in Burnsville.

Nov 20. shrike sp. (again, too distant and ill-lit for species ID)
along the trail between the Old Cedar bridge and Hwy 77 in Bloomington.
 Was that Loggerhead still around then?

I haven't spent many winters in the metro area; are Northern shrikes
normally so common right in town?

Chris

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Chris Mansfield
Richfield, Hennepin Co. MN
bikebirder75@yahoo.com

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