[mou] Golden-crowned Kinglet & probable No. Goshawk - Dakota County

[Richard J Specht]

Yesterday afternoon I was birding at the Lebanon Hills area on the west
side of Pilot Knob (where the Diamond T horse ranch used to be).  I saw a
golden-crowned Kinglet that appeared to be scrounging for food on the
ground at the bases of a large group of evergreen trees.  Most of the
trees had about a 2 inch circle of bare ground at the base of the trees.
It was displaying it's golden crown as it worked the tree bases and
periodically gave its call.

I also saw a large accipiter from a distance that was perched in a tree
and had a very prominent white supercillium.  It was brown and had a
whitish breast that had a lot of brown streaking.  I took some video of
the bird from a distance and it flew by me as I tried to get closer.

This afternoon, Jeanne and I went back to the same area and saw the bird
again, this time at a very close distance.  It flew in and landed about
50 feet from us for a few minutes before flying off again.  It was large
with a very distinct white supercilium, was overall brownish color,
whitish breast with very heavy brown streaking, and had a long tail. 
When it flew off, it had its tail fanned out.  

Both days the bird was on the west side of the large open field as you
walk down the first hill following the hiking trail from the bridge.

Rick Specht