[mou] (no subject)

[Cindy Risen]

Hello All,

Sooner or later everyone has one of those mornings that brings a
smile to your face no matter how bad your week is going=2E I had one
such morning today=2E

I am so happy to be living in the wilds of northeastern Aitkin
County=2E My wife, Cindy, and I are treated daily to the sights and
sounds of birds that most birders would love to see even once=2E

At our feeders this morning we had our usual flock of Evening
Grosbeaks=2E Their typical habit is to spend some time in the treetops
ringing our yard, vocalizing back and forth, before visiting the
feeders=2E They must have a lot to say to one another as the sound of
even a small group of 50 can be extraordinary=2E Their voices are so
loud they can be heard behind the insulated walls of our house and
they turn a simple walk to the garbage can into an auditory treat=2E
They are becoming bullies at the feeder and this morning the group of
about six Pine Grosbeaks seemed to be pushed to the edge of the
platform=2E No matter, the bright rosy color of the male Pine Grosbeaks
insure they will catch your eye no matter their location=2E

Purple Finch, American Goldfinch, White and Red-breasted Nuthatches,
and the usual woodpeckers rounded out the attendees at our morning
buffet line=2E

On my drive to the office this morning I found a large flock of
Common Redpolls just south of our house=2E There were a couple of pairs
of Pine Grosbeaks feeding on the roadsides and a group of Ravens
visiting a local hunting shack were joined by an adult Bald Eagle
today=2E=20

The drive to our office in McGregor takes us through spruce bogs,
grassy meadows, and a lot of open country that a year ago held
incredible numbers of Great Gray Owls=2E Last year it was pretty
typical for Cindy and I to see 25 or 30 Great Gray Owls just on a
trip to town for milk=2E This year the Great Grays have yet to descend
to our part of Minnesota, but the last few days have brought a couple
of other owls to the neighborhood=2E

A Snowy Owl has been seen for the last week or so just south of
Tamarack=2E This morning she was atop a large hay bale about 3/4 miles
south of Tamarack=2E Closer to Tamarack, a group of three Sharp-tailed
Grouse were eating buds from the crowns of some aspen trees=2E

Yesterday morning I found a Northern Hawk Owl on 420th SW of
Tamarack=2E Cindy couldn't relocate it last night, but she found
another Snowy Owl=2E This morning the Northern Hawk Owl was hunting in
the same area it was yesterday--about 1 mile west of Kestrel Avenue
on 420th=2E

Just west of the hawk owl, an incredibly showy dark morph
Rough-legged Hawk was putting on a show=2E What a beauty! Just west of
the 'leg', a Northern Shrike was surveying his brushy thicket kingdom
from his treetop throne=2E

The Snowy Owl that Cindy discovered last night was about two miles
west of where she observed it at sunset yesterday=2E It was very
flighty, leaving its roadside telephone pole for a distant hay bale
as I slowed my car=2E

The rest of my drive to work was spent enjoying he sun shining
through my windows=2E All-in-all not a bad morning:

3 Sharp-tailed Grouse
2 Snowy Owls
1 Northern Hawk Owl
1 dark morph Rough-legged Hawk
1 Bald Eagle
1 Northern Shrike
50+ Evening Grosbeaks
10 Pine Grosbeaks
50+ Common Redpolls
8-10 Purple Finches
2 American Goldfinches

Even in winter ya' gotta' love the northwoods!

Kim Risen
Tamarack, MN
www=2ENatureScapeNews=2Ecom