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I birded central and northeast Minnesota this past weekend. Here are some of the highlights of what I saw. I birded Aitkin Co. and Sax-Zim on 3/12. Searched several times for the BOREAL OWL on 210 just west of McGregor but struck out every time, possibly due to the presence of a GREAT GRAY OWL instead. Drove over to Aitkin and hit CR1, Hwy 169, CR18, CR5, and the roads around Rice Lake NWR. Found 22 GREAT GRAY OWLS, 7 NORTHERN HAWK OWLS, 3 NORTHERN SHRIKES, and 3 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS. Sax-Zim had 1 GREAT GRAY OWL, 10 NORTHERN HAWK OWLS (7 between Stone Lake Rd and Arkola on CR7), 3 SHARP-TAILED GROUSE (Owl Ave), 2 GRAY JAYS, and 1 PILEATED WOODPECKER. I birded Highways 2 and 1 in Lake Co. on 3/13, mainly looking for SPRUCE GROUSE. Found a pair of them in the road just after the Sand River on Hwy 2 then rounded a curve near MM302 on Hwy 1 and found a spectacular male strutting in the road. I stopped and he flew over and almost landed on my truck! He proceeded to strut his stuff then I noticed there were 8 more grouse in the tree next to my truck. It was quite a sight. Also saw RED CROSSBILLS along Hwy 2 and GRAY JAYS & a PILEATED WOODPECKER along Spruce Rd. At the feeders at the cafe in Isabella there were around 100 COMMON REDPOLLS (no Hoary though). I also stopped by Two Harbors on 3/13 to search for the HARLEQUIN DUCKS and found one male along the breakwall. On 3/14 I stopped by Forest Lake and saw the NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL that John Wallner has been hosting for a while now. Thanks John! Also this morning I searched all over for the GYRFALCON in Dakota Co. but couldn't find it or any groups of waterfowl. Good birding... Jay Gilliam Norwalk, IA -------------------------------1110849102 Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <HTML><HEAD> <META charset=3DUS-ASCII http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; cha= rset=3DUS-ASCII"> <META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2745.2800" name=3DGENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fffff= f"> <DIV>I birded central and northeast Minnesota this past weekend. Here=20= are some of the highlights of what I saw.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I birded Aitkin Co. and Sax-Zim on 3/12. Searched several times f= or the BOREAL OWL on 210 just west of McGregor but struck out every time, po= ssibly due to the presence of a GREAT GRAY OWL instead. Drove over to=20= Aitkin and hit CR1, Hwy 169, CR18, CR5, and the roads around Rice Lake NWR.&= nbsp; Found 22 GREAT GRAY OWLS, 7 NORTHERN HAWK OWLS, 3 NORTHERN SHRIKES, an= d 3 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS. Sax-Zim had 1 GREAT GRAY OWL, 10 NORTHERN HAWK= OWLS (7 between Stone Lake Rd and Arkola on CR7), 3 SHARP-TAILED GROUSE (Ow= l Ave), 2 GRAY JAYS, and 1 PILEATED WOODPECKER.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I birded Highways 2 and 1 in Lake Co. on 3/13, mainly looking for SPRUC= E GROUSE. Found a pair of them in the road just after the Sand River o= n Hwy 2 then rounded a curve near MM302 on Hwy 1 and found a spectacula= r male strutting in the road. I stopped and he flew over and almost la= nded on my truck! He proceeded to strut his stuff then I noticed there= were 8 more grouse in the tree next to my truck. It was quite a sight= . Also saw RED CROSSBILLS along Hwy 2 and GRAY JAYS & a PILEATED W= OODPECKER along Spruce Rd. At the feeders at the cafe in Isabella ther= e were around 100 COMMON REDPOLLS (no Hoary though).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I also stopped by Two Harbors on 3/13 to search for the HARLEQUIN DUCKS= and found one male along the breakwall.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>On 3/14 I stopped by Forest Lake and saw the NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL that= John Wallner has been hosting for a while now. Thanks John!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Also this morning I searched all over for the GYRFALCON in Dakota Co.&n= bsp; but couldn't find it or any groups of waterfowl.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Good birding...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Jay Gilliam</DIV> <DIV>Norwalk, IA</DIV></BODY></HTML> -------------------------------1110849102--
