Before we headed out into the country, we made a short stop at Duluth’s Park Point, where saw some COMMON RAVENS. Our next stop was Aiken County (again). We were driving along Route 5, Pole poring over maps and guides, when I saw a flash directly in front of me. It was a BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE. I had only a short glimpse, but it was mostly dark with some white, and a long, long tail. Pole didn’t see it, and by the time she unearthed herself from her library, the bird had gone. We saw it in the distance with another, too far off to identify. Pole was disappointed and pissed to say the least, so I kept my mouth shut. When I first saw it, I yelled “Oh my God!”, so she knew it was a good one. It was spectacular in fact, but I was a gentleman and didn’t gloat.

According to the bird lists, there were several magpies in the area, so finding another for Pole was the priority. We drove around a little bit, and were lucky to see a NORTHERN SHRIKE on top of a tree. We had time to get a quick look with the scope. Like the magpie, a lifer for both of us, so Pole was happy again.

We then drove back to the spot where I saw the magpie, and this time, we tried a narrow dirt road running along a hedgerow. Sure enough, in the distance we saw some long-tailed birds, which then disappeared into the trees. A decent sighting, but not very satisfactory. Then we heard a strange call coming from the very spot they disappeared. I grabbed the Peterson Field Guide, found the bird, and repeated its call for Pole: “queg queg queg queg.” At first she thought I was joking because it was exactly the sound we heard. So we can scratch that animal off the list. As an added bonus, we saw a Red Fox trotting through a field as we headed out.

We had decided to quit a little early because we had to drive all the way to Gunflint Lake, about 150 miles away. I drove like a maniac, and it was no fun trying to pass huge logging trucks on a curvy, two-lane highway. I was in the middle of passing a minivan when Pole yelled out “PILEATED WOODPECKER!” I passed the van, and like an asshole, immediately pulled over. Then I had to make a U-turn. And then another. I pulled off the road, but the bird had gone. I didn’t linger, either, because the shoulder was small, and — you know — there were huge logging trucks.

A real bummer since the Pileated has been at the top of my list of wanna-sees forever. It was a lifer for Pole, and — bless her — she didn’t gloat, either. A dem fine woman, sir, a dem fine woman.