[mou] Bohemian Waxwings - Itasca

[shawn conrad]

Yesterday afternoon I saw a small flock of Bohemian Waxwings in a crabapple 
tree in Coleraine near the CR 10 detour.

This morning I found a larger flock of Bohemian Waxwings--maybe 100--by the 
Spur station in Bovey and a flock of maybe 40 flew over CR 434 near Trout 
Lake.

So far the finches have been slow in my part of Itasca County.  I hiked 
through about a mile and a half of spruce bog this morning without seeing 
ANY finches.  There are some Pine Grosbeaks and Pine Siskins around, 
redpolls in much smaller numbers than the last couple of winters, I've only 
heard one report of Evening Grosbeaks in the area, and I have yet to see 
either crossbill species around here this winter.  Maybe this cold weather 
will move them down.

Otherwise, Gray Jays have been abundant and nearly every clump of large 
tamarack shows signs of recent Black-backed/Three-toed Woodpecker 
foraging--there were 2 Black-backeds found in November.  I haven't seen any 
owls yet this winter, but a Snowy Owl was reported somewhere near Bowstring 
Lake last week.

Shawn Conrad
Bovey

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