[mou] Pine County W.W. Crossbills, warblers (Long)

[Alt, Mark]

The Pine County Birding festival again had a great visit to the
Nickerson Bog. I led a group of 10 birders to my favorite area for
birding in the state, the Nickerson Bog up in the NE corner of Pine
County. We stopped east of Kerrick where the road runs right through
where the Tamaracks thin out, where sphagnum is blanketed with the
violet of Bog Rosemary, the white of Labrador Tea and Cotton Grass. From
one spot we were treated with the songs of 4 Lincoln's Sparrows on
territory. Kim Risen pegs the description of this song as "a musical
House Wren". There is the rushed phrasing of a wren, yet the voice is
that of a musical sparrow. The song has a quality that makes it hard
for me to learn and hard to pick out of a background when ten species
are singing, yet it is clear and beautiful and defines this bog-habitat
as much as a Common Loon defines boreal lake country. 
We headed north to Nickerson, where we stopped under tall Red Pines, and
were rewarded with great looks and listens of a male Pine Warbler, then
headed east towards Net Lake, into the dense Black Spruce and Tamarack
portion on the north end of Nickerson Bog,  very reminiscent of Owl
Avenue in St Louis County. A Barred owl flew up from the road as we
arrived; we were all taken in by its dark staring eyes. It was a
windless morning and we could clearly hear the high calls of
Blackburnians, even when far back from the road. Blackburnians give two
calls, an up and down call mimicking a Black and White, the other a high
trill that ends even higher, with the timbre of a tenor trying to hit a
high note when they should have taken a breath. We got great looks at
Blackburnians; we found 8 singing on territories, each seeming to set
the top of the trees ablaze with its orange chest and throat. A single
Cape May was heard from deep in the Black Spruce tract, yet in typical
fashion, he was not able to be seen. A singing Golden-crowned Kinglet
earned our attention, starting its song out like a kinglet and ending it
with the tones of a chickadee. I guess I have never heard them singing
on territory before. 
Yellow-bellied Flycatchers uttered soft per-wee calls and a chebek very
similar to Least Flycatcher yet softer - Least, Alder, and Willow
Flycatchers announced themselves all day in all habitats. We did not
find any Olive-sided Flycatchers, though we had seen 7 in the same area
two days before. Are Olive-sideds late migrants that were passing
through? We got a fleeting glimpse of a Gray Jay, we missed the family
that usually is found here, and while searching, we were came upon a
family group of White-winged Crossbills feeding atop the spruces! There
were 7 birds, 1 male in hot pink with contrasting racing stripes on his
wings, a drab female, and 5 striped juveniles, appearing fully grown but
marked up like giant Pine Siskins. Their bills were put to good use
prying open tiny spruce cones, but they mostly sat atop the trees,
mostly inactive, clucking softly - kek-kek-kek. I am told that there is
only 1 nesting record for this species in MN, so it is both significant
and probable that these birds nested here - which county? Carlton or
Pine? We saw them on both sides of the road,...flip a coin. 
One spot held many wildflowers: Bunchberry Dogwood, Canada Mayflower,
Columbine, Wood Anemone, and Boreal Trout Lilies form a lush carpet of
blossoms. As we stood looking up, searching for a serenading male
Rose-breasted Grosbeak, a bird zipped by us into a thicket, soon to put
on a real show for us - a Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding on Boreal
Trout Lilies. The basic configuration of a Trout Lily is for the flowers
to be pointing straight down, as if the weight of the flower was too
great for the slender stem. The Lily is only about 10 inches tall, so
when the flower bends and opens, it is now only 5 inches above the
ground, facing straight downward. There were thousand of these lilies
within 100 feet of us, each flower as big around as a quarter, with its
petals folded back like an Asiatic Day Lily, a soft creamy yellow color.
The hummingbird moved from flower to flower, hovering, its tail touching
the ferns and forbs below it, its head pointed straight up into the
Trout Lily Flower as it fed. The hummer would slowly fly laterally to
the next flower, raise its head up like a howling wolf, then slowly it
would fly upward the inch or so it took to engage in feeding. It would
sip or lap nectar for 2-3 seconds, then lower itself to make a slow
hovering move to the next flower, 4 inches away. This subtle slow
deliberate pattern of movement was so unlike the rapid slashing flights
I am familiar with, I really appreciated the opportunity to study the
bird.
We were on a roll now as we headed deeper into the bog, where we saw and
heard Nashville, Black and White, Mourning, Yellow-rumped, American
Redstart, Chestnut-sided, and Yellow Warblers. At the bridge over the
Nemadji River flowage, 3 Golden-winged Warblers gave us good looks and a
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher flew sorties out in the open near the bridge.
We had a great day in the bog, with birds and the wildness of the place
taking up all of our attention. So much to see, so much to take in, good
birding, indeed.

Mark Alt
Brooklyn Center
Hennepin County