[rba] [mou] Clay County Spotted Towhee

[rba at moumn.org]

Hi,

At about 11 AM Wednesday, a female Spotted Towhee made an appearance of
about five minutes immediately behind my house at 1625 3rd St. S.,
Moorhead, Clay County.  This is a species that seems to show up about once
a year or so on the Fargo side of the border but that I've never managed
to see before on the Moorhead side.

I was unable to relocate the bird on Wednesday despite several tries later
in the day, but it appeared again, this time for about twenty minutes, at
9 AM Thursday.  If anyone is interested in trying for it, they're welcome
to come by, but be aware that the adjacent streets are a chaos of
construction and the closest places to park are along 16h and 18th Streets
S. just west of 4th Ave. S.  You can access 16th St. and 18th St. by
leaving the interstate at the last Minnesota exit before crossing into
North Dakota and driving north a few blocks on 8th Avenue (Route 75).  Our
house is a light-brown two-story on the Red River set back a hundred feet
or so from 3rd Avenue.  Your best bet for watching the area where the bird
has made its two appearances (between the bird feeders and the patio) is
to walk along the north side of the house, continue down the hill, and
look back from the bottom of the slope.  You're also welcome to try from
the porch swing, but the bird may be too skittish for observation from so
close.

Since I've only seen the bird twice in two days, I suspect it's not worth
a long drive.  I will, though, post additional sightings, if there are
some (and the bird may turn out to be a little easier to see than I
suspect).

If any Fargo/Moorhead birders (or anyone else) would like to help document
the bird, I'd appreciate the assistance.  I have at least one photo so
far, but it's a pretty pathetic image.


Bob O'Connor



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