[mou] New Year's Birds

[Dave Bartkey]

Hi everyone!
  I spent the day birding the county with Forest Strnad and Troy Flicek completing the trifecta. We ended up with 32 species on the
day. Highlights were clearly waterfowl as we saw 2 female Wood Ducks, 1 male Gadwall, 1 male American Black Duck, 2 female Northern
Pintails, and our ol' reliable Mute Swan. Not to mention many Mallards and Canada Geese. Other interesting birds were 1 Rough-legged
Hawk, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1 Belted Kingfisher, and a couple of Red-headed Woodpeckers.

   Before going out, I had made a list of birds I had expected to see. We missed out on American Kestrel, Wild Turkey, Northern
Flicker, Northern Shrike, and Snow Bunting. And believe it or not, we didn't have a Pheasant or Starling until the very last minute!
We also tried again, in vain, for the Northern Saw-whet Owl which has been seen off and on at River Bend Nature Center. That thing
must know when I'm coming!

Hope you all had good days also!
Dave Bartkey
Faribault,MN
cerulean66@charter.net