[mou] Hedbom Forest Road

[Cindy Risen]

Hello All,

As the holiday weekend is upon us once again, I though I would update 
everyone on the status of birding along the Hedbom Forest Road in NE Aitkin 
County.

Today, Friday, there were two different Great Gray Owls seen. One on the 
western end of the 'woodpecker area' about 1.3 miles west of the St. Louis 
County line. The second was about 3 miles west of the St. Louis County line.

Both Black-backed and American Three-toed Woodpeckers continue to be seen 
on a daily basis. There are at least six Black-backed Woodpeckers and three 
American Three-toed Woodpeckers in the heavy Tamarack bog just west of the 
St. Louis County line. Looked for the heavily worked trees, with the outer 
barked stripped away revealing the reddish/orange inner bark. Walk into the 
woods moving slowly, stopping periodically to listen and watch for 
woodpecker activity. The Am. Three-toed Woodpeckers have exhibited an 
interesting behavior every day we've seen them. When we walk into the woods 
the Red Squirrels will scold and chatter at us. The Am. Three-toeds will 
stop working on the trees and will sit motionless for several minutes. 
After a short time, usually one to five minutes, one of them will begin 
working and, almost in unison, the others will join in. This means that you 
could be within a few feet of an American Three-toed Woodpecker and not 
even know it. It happened to us twice!

Both Red and White-winged Crossbills continue to be seen along the forest 
road daily. The White-winged Crossbills prefer the Tamaracks found on the 
eastern end of the road and the Reds prefer the Red Pines on the western 
end. However, both can be found almost anywhere along the road.

Pine Grosbeaks are seen daily, but most of them are fly-bys.

Evening Grosbeaks continue to be seen daily at our feeders in numbers that 
vary from 20 or 30 to more than 100, depending upon the day.

Snow Buntings have been numerous the last couple of days. Today I saw three 
flocks totalling about 100 birds between our house and Lawler.

Northern Shrike, Rough-legged Hawk and Common Redpolls are also easily 
found. I haven't seen or heard of a Hoary Redpoll report this week.

As the Hedbom Forest Road is NOT MAINTAINED, the recent snowfall will make 
driving more hazardous. Cell phone reception in the area is VERY spotty 
and, as the road cuts through the Savanna State Forest, there are no local 
residents you could ask for help. Be careful, go slow and allow plenty of 
space behind you when you stop or park.

I have updated our website with a few photos that Cindy and I have taken 
along the Hedbom Forest Road this winter. There is also a new, color coded 
map with a printable pdf to allow easy printing. The map details specific 
areas to look for woodpeckers, owls and the other birds we've been seeing. 
Look for the "Hedbom Forest Road" link with the photo of a Red-breasted 
Nuthatch on the upper, right-hand column on the front page of our 
website.  www.naturescapenews.com

Cindy and I will be doing the Rice Lake NWR CBC tomorrow, but we'll be back 
along the Hedbom Forest Road on Sunday. We'll report back then.

Good luck to all who visit. Let us know how you do.

See you in the field. Until then...Good Birding!

Kim Risen
Tamarack, Aitkin County
www.naturescapenews.com