Today is the first day of a birding trip to Minnesota. We took a shorter trip last year during the unprecedented owl irruption, but don’t expect such luck this year. We left Chicago yesterday after work, but spent the night in Wisconsin, making today our first in the beautiful North Star State.
While on route to St. Paul, a BALD EAGLE flew low across our path. It’s always easy to ID, so I don’t mind it flying in front of me while I’m going 75 mph. Still heading north, Pole saw another bird fly past. (I was too busy driving the car, so couldn’t get a good look.) At first she thought it was a Northern Harrier, but after carefully reviewing both the Peterson and Sibley guides, she decided it was a NORTHERN GOSHAWK.
It’s a tough call, but we were certainly north of a harrier’s range, and not seeing the damn bird, I can’t really say. And besides, adding a bird to your list is a sacred, personal thing that’s just between you and your field guide. More importantly, Pole is a better birder and good at quick IDs. The biggest pain is that it’s a rarity that I might not see this year. It was a lifer for Pole and would have been for me, too. Tarnation.
When we got up north, we decided to first explore Aiken County, which is west of Duluth. (I should say Pole decided, for I drive and she navigates.) The weather was miserable because it was in the damn 40’s. Instead of a winter wonderland, everything was muddy. A big disappointment, because I was so looking forward to freezing my ass off. Really.
Our first stop was the Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) where a ranger told us what birds were around. We checked out the refuge’s feeders where we saw a WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH and a HAIRY WOODPECKER. The feeders were outside a house that was probably a ranger’s residence. I always feel like a peeping Tom staring at someone’s house with binoculars and a scope. Still, it never stops me from doing it. If people don’t like it, they shouldn’t put out the feeders. The fools! Don’t they know what birders are like?
The catch of the day was certainly a flock of SNOW BUNTINGS we saw on County Road 5 south of Palisade. A lifer for both of us.
Last bird was a lovely SNOWY OWL near Tamarack. Our ranger friend gave us an email saying a snowy was spotted on Rt. 380 “8/10 th of a mile west of C.R.5, on a telephone pole.” I got on 380, hit the trip odometer, and .8 of a mile later — bingo — there it was on the pole. Gotta love that internet.