[mou] Townsend's Solitaire

[Dave Bartkey]

Hi everyone!
  I spent the day birding Houston and Fillmore counties with John Hockema and Chuck Juhnke (my fellow SEMOCAN brethren) and had good
birding and great fun!

  Just south of the Lanesboro Fish Hatchery, we found a Townsend's Solitaire! Also in this area were a few Robins, a Northern
Flicker and lots of Cedar Waxwings. The place was hopping! To get to this area, follow the dirt road, south, out of the fish
hatchery. The road will fork, but follow it to the right. Then you will come to a 4-way intersection. Go straight, and just about
100 yards past will be cedar trees on both sides of the road and an open creek on the right. This is where the bird was. We had some
great, long looks at the bird and were also able to see it's buff-colored wing patches as it flew overhead.

  We explored Houston county for a few hours also, and toward the end of the afternoon, when the sun had been out for awhile warming
things up, we saw our first of two Golden Eagles. The first one we saw was in northern Houston county, almost to the Winona county
line, north of the town of Houston. I don't remember the name of the road. (Sorry) The second was in southern Winona county, pretty
much straight north of where we saw the first, but a few miles north. I would suggest driving around this area and just scan over
hilltops for raptors, as John said the whole area is good for Goldens.

  Other highlights today included several Pileated Woodpeckers, one Red-headed Woodpecker, a couple of Kestrels, a dark morph
Rough-legged Hawk, and lots of Purple Finches. The hawk and finches were at Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center.

  Capping off the day was looking through John's spotting scope at Silver Lake Park in Rochester at Saturn. We were even able to
make out the rings! John and Chuck may have seen better views of the planet as they were setting up Chuck's scope as I left for
home.

  It was truly one of the funnest times I've ever had birding and I want to thank John (The Wren) and Chuck (The Thieving Magpie)
for a great day full of birds and even more laughs! I hope all my info was correct you guys!

Good birding!
"Great Horned" Dave Bartkey
Faribault,MN
cerulean66@charter.net