[TN-Bird] Another Minnesota Report

From: eyesew@xxxxxxxxx (Virginia Curtis)
To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2005 22:15:23 -0600
I returned from Minnesota Friday night after a whirlwind of travel and
birding that began with driving all night last Sunday and arriving in
St. Paul on Monday afternoon to look for the Gyrfalcon which has been
around Routes 55 & 42.  I found a group of local birders on Route 42 who
had the bird in a scope and had a good look at it and found that Wallace
Coffey had been there minutes before.  After getting a few hours sleep I
went to White Eagle Lake Tuesday morning where a couple had reported a
Varied Thrush coming to their feeder.  After waiting two hours in the
comfort of their kitchen and watching a couple of Brown Creepers attack
the suet cakes and Common Redpolls at the thistle seed, this gorgeous
female Varied Thrush showed up in a tree at eye level from the window
and I had great looks and got some terrific photos of this lifer for me.
Looked for Great Grays and Hawk Owls on the way to Duluth but found
nothing during the middle of the day.  Wednesday morning I was at
Sax-Zim bog at daylight and was greeted by a surreal scene of every tree
being coated with ice crystals and glowing in the morning sun and
immediately began finding the Gray and Hawk Owls - about a dozen of the
Grays and nine of the Hawk Owls.  It was a bit eerie to be the only
birder on McDavitt Road the entire morning but when I went into the
woods at the point 2.6 miles from Sax Road it was easy to hear tapping
and see the ice crystals falling from a tree with a beautiful female
Black-backed Woodpecker about 10 feet from the ground and only about 15
feet from the path in the snow.  After watching her for a couple of
minutes she flew east and I heard a softer tapping and another 10 feet
or so up the path was an even more gorgeous male Three-toed Woodpecker
which was initially about 10 feet from the path and then flew into a
tree right beside me and so low that I could have reached out and
touched him but froze in admiration.  After about 5 minutes I began
talking to him and he still stayed right there, so I hurried to the car
to get the camera I had forgotten in my haste to find the woodpeckers,
almost ran back on the slippery snow path and, as you might guess, he
was gone. Further looking on McDavitt produced 3 Gray Jays that seemed
unusually wary.  Drove up and down the other roads in the bog and found
nothing new except for a mature Bald Eagle right beside the road that
was absolutely unafraid as I took photos and told him that he deserved
to be our national symbol of majestic beauty and strength. Got back to
Duluth in the middle of the afternoon and went to Superior Point in
Wisconsin where I found a Sharp-tailed Grouse 30 feet up in a tree just
before getting to the water, which was almost totally frozen and had no
ducks or gulls.  Went back to the motel, checked MOU posts and saw the
one from Mike Hendrixson about the Boreal Owl on Route 61 and made a
rapid run up there and found this delightfully cute little owl sitting
right beside the highway.  He was so close I was afraid to get out of
the car so just enjoyed  him and got some decent photos in the dusky
light.  Thursday morning I was on Route 2 by daylight and found 2 Spruce
Grouse and several Pine Grosbeaks before getting to Route 1 and stopping
at the feeders at the Moose Head Cafe where there were more grosbeaks
and Common Redpolls and the one Hoary Redpoll others had been reporting.
Spent the rest of the day looking for Bohemian Waxwings but they eluded
me as they did in Michigan last winter.  It was a wonderful trip with
six lifers I had wanted to see for years.  If you are still indecisive
about a trip to Minnesota, I'd say go this week.  I drove 2800 miles to
spend 3 days birding and it was definitely worth it for me.

Tommy Curtis
Smithville, TN
DeKalb County

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[TN-Bird] Another Minnesota Report

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