[mou] Birding around

[Steve Weston]

birds at our feeders:
Pileated Woodpecker regularly stops at our suet.  You can feel it pounding 
on the suet.  Sounds more like a hammer than a woodpecker.
Northern Flicker probably coming everyday.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker: at least the second appearance this winter. 
Plummage is intermediate between juvenile and male.  Red markings apparrent, 
but bird is very brown.

Last Wednesday I found a large flock of Cedar Waxwings in Eagan near Lone 
Oak and Lexington.  Perhaps this is the flock that we found a month ago near 
Pilot Knob and I-494.

On Saturday I found Northern Shrike on Lexington at the ball fields near 
Diffley (Eagan) and another along Cedar Avenue (about 185th)  in Farmington. 
A Great Horned Owl was on a nest (possibly with its mate) at Cedar Ave. and 
Dodd Road (Lakeville).  This is at least the third year she is using this 
nest.

Today (tuesday) I drove to Granite Falls finding large flocks of Snow 
Buntings some with more than a couple of hundred birds mostly in Renville 
County.  Most of the flocks appeared to be only Buntings, but I did find a 
couple of Lapland Longspurs.  I also had a couple of small flocks that were 
probably also Longspurs.     The only raptors were Red-tailed Hawks, which 
were more plentiful than I expected with seven observed.  I found two pairs 
associating.  I found more Crows than I expected with several small flocks.

Steve Weston on Quiggley Lake in Eagan, MN
sweston2 at comcast.net