Day 3 in Minnesota started off with a bang as we picked up Boreal Chickadee, White-winged Crossbill and Brown Creeper within the first half hour. After a futile attempt to locate a Northern Goshawk, we headed to an area where a Snowy Owl has been regularly sighted over the past couple of weeks.
Along the way, we saw our second and third Great Grey Owls. Both were in hunting mode under the gray morning skies.
After striking out with the Snowy Owl, we headed southeast to Crex Meadows in Wisconsin. Again, we picked up three more species quickly including Ring-necked Pheasant, American Tree Sparrow and the Horned Lark pictured below.
Shortly thereafter, we located the Golden Eagle perched high in a pine tree under the deteriorating Wisconsin sky.
While searching for the Sharp-tailed Grouse, we witnessed Bald Eagle sex. Sorry, but the photos are not suitable for this blog. What I'm really trying to say is I didn't get a good picture. Anyway, with a little luck, there will be a couple more eagles flying around this spring.
With the weather deteriorating into snow flurries, we weren't able to locate the Sharp-tailed Grouse or the Rough-legged Hawk we were looking for. We did run across this Ruffed Grouse, probably the 10th one of these observed during our three days in the north country.
While we did not get every target species on the list, we did very well, adding 27 species to the YTD tally which currently stands at 254. So, in just a month and a half we are more than half way to the 2025 goal of 500 species. Unfortunately, the more we get, the tougher it becomes to get more. We'll see.
Now it's back to the Free State of Florida and some birding in shorts and t-shirts instead of four layers of pants and jackets.
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