[mou] Carlos Avery Na. Wildlife Refuge: Redpolls, Snow Buntings

[linda whyte]

In the wildlife management area on the south side of Co. 18 (Anoka
Co., I think), a flock of snow buntings passed over a marshy field. We
later encountered one of their kind in the sandy roadbed on the east
side of this area. It was most cooperative about giving us good views,
as it spent 20 minutes or more moving about the road and eating in our
proximity. Rob was able to get some nice photos.

On the west side of this area we found 2 Redpolls feeding diligently
on birch catkins, right above the road. Rob took about 30 photos, of
which, unfortunately, most were rear and lower-body views, though a
couple of them did show the facial features and red patch.

Over this same marshy field, a male N.Harrier was hunting for a brief
time, with lots of hovering. It abandoned the area when a human hunter
with two dogs showed up. Later, we spotted another harrier, a female,
doing low passes over a marsh on the northern side of the refuge. At
the time, we were searching for waterfowl; we were surprised to find
some shorebirds instead---a couple of greater yellowlegs, and
something mostly hidden in the grasses that looked like a snipe.

We were making our way south and west to exit, when a relatively
unfamiliar song drew our attention, leading us to a northern shrike.
It flew to a small, bare tree, where it seemed to be gleaning the last
bits of a meal off a tiny branch, then appeared to cope its beak. For
the curtain call, a flock of E. Bluebirds swooped about the road,
stopping to feed here and there--a colorful ending to a productive
trip.

Linda Whyte