More bog birds, even a boreal!

[JayinMN]

Today I took another ride down towards Meadowlands looking for that ever elusive Boreal Chickadee. I sat on Admiral Road for quite a while but nothing showed up other then Black-capped chickadees and a downy woodpecker. Worked my way down to the feeding station on Blue Spruce road and there was Mr. Boreal waiting to get his picture taken....

Mr. Boreal

Mr. Black capped who likes to bully the Boreal and chase them off the feeder.

Who me? A bully? Not I!

Mrs. Downy kept a watchful eye.

Mr. Red bushy tail came out and yelled at me to leave.

Mrs and Mrs redpoll just watched from the tree tops.

3-toes stayed hidden in the swamp.

Bambi looked all cute and fuzzy.

But like any typical whitetail he flicked me the tail and headed for the forest. THE END

[Steve Foss]

Good work on all of them, Jay. And boreals are not easy to get, so double good work on that one!

[JayinMN]

Thanks Steve. I have been hoping to see one all winter. I wish I could have got some picutres of it off the feeder in the pines, but the only place I could get him off of the feeder was in the snow. They did not turn out so well. These guys seem to be even more energetic then their cousins. Here is one from on the ground.

[Dbl]

Good work!

[jonny_redhorse]

great work Jay!...good feeling when "things go right"...I saw a couple deer last saturday also about same size on the blue spruce road... seen em twice there already...not sure if I'm going down to the bog this weekend or not....lots of traffic...maybe wait a week...not sure yet

[jonny_redhorse]

Jay...saw your post on MOU!..not even sure how to use the mou post,never tried it yet ...even though I just recently subscribed to it...I see your boreal chickadee pic also!...

[finnbay]

Very nice shots, Jay! I'm really happy to see that boreal! I've never seen one. My buddy Tom is a birder and he was bound and determined to spot one on our trip to Hudson Bay a couple of years ago. We traveled out of our way many times because he saw suspicious bird flight along the shoreline - but we never did see one. I'll have to forward this thread to him.

[JayinMN]

Johnny, I have been reading the MOU hotline for a while now and decided to register today. The hotline has helped keep my up to date on where the birds are so I figure I better do my part too. I also saw 2 magpies on the corner of Cranberry Lane and Sax Rd today. I still have not been able to get a picture of one, but they sure are an awesome bird to see. I work from 4-12:30 with Thursdays and Fridays off so most of excursions are done either before work or during the week on my days off. I think I might head over to Ansley Rd and look for snowshoe hares for a change this weekend till the bog settles down. Its been a while since I have done that. They are pretty common over there and I can usually find a couple. Ok, I just gave up my secret snowshoe hare spot....

Finbay, if your friend lives around here Boreals have also been spotted this winter on Admiral Rd a couple of times. He might have some luck looking in there and in Meadowlands. The only other Boreals I have ever seen, were last winter over by Seven Beaver Lake. I just kind of ran into them in the woods, wasn't really looking for them.

[jonny_redhorse]

I know exactly where you saw the magpies!...I've seen em there quite a few times myself also a little further down cranberry as it turns on that corner on Kolu and on to admiral....admiral itself has been "thee spot" for the magpies from what I,ve seen,the first batch of trees to the left where the seed is(was)...I saw a few also on hwy 5 by the little swan store feeding on a road kill not to long ago and of course they were feeding on that kill on the arkola road near where you saw the sharpies last week...I managed a few quick images of them...I usually don't make any runs down to the bog until the weekends,saturdays usually...birders will be out "full force" starting today down in he bog.....bog festival starts today(through sunday)....really will put meadowlands on the map.......as far as ansley road goes....I live about a hundred feet off of ansley road(31st street) near cobb cook near the water tower....used to hunt that area as a teenager a bazillion years ago(60's)...used to call it "blue valley"..used to snare rabbits in that area so am familiar with it...at any rate you need a pic of a magpie,I need a pic of a boreal chickadee ...maybe the planets will be in alignment sometime soon!

best image of a magpie I was able to get last late summer:

[JayinMN]

Johnny, my parents live on Corey Tracts Rd so I grew up playing/hunting on those hills too. We always refered to it as Blue Valley also, but from what I understand it was alot nicer before my time. It seems to be a favorite place for dumping garbage now. We used to ride our bikes and go fish for northern pike at that little lake by Kerr. We always called it Kerr pond, I know others call it Snake Lake. That area is still pretty popular for snaring rabbits and hunting them so the longer it gets into winter the harder it because to find them. Thats a real nice shot of a magpie. I hope I find one who will sit around long enough to get its picture taken. I see on the MOU that they are a bit worried that rib cage on admiral will run out by the festival. I don't think it will. They last a long time if they are out of the reach of crows and ground scavengers. I have two left though so I will hang a new one up as that one gets really picked over. Hopefully the boreals will return to it on Admiral. next time you go down there. I also hung one on McDavitt.