White-winged Crossbill Invasion

When I moved into Pequot Lakes this fall I was worried about bird diversity, but this winter's incursion of White-winged Crossbills such as the one below - have allayed those fears for a while.  

The White-winged Crossbills have been quite abundant in Pequot.  Large flocks of these birds can be found feeding in the tops of the mature spruce trees found throughout town.  Listen for their loud chattery flight calls to help find them although their gregarious flocks are not hard to locate this year.  

My favorite sighting occurred a few weeks ago as I was walking down Old Highway 371.  I passed under a small grove spruce trees when something dropped on my head - I looked down on the ground to find my assailant only to discover it was a spruce cone.  I quickly scanned the tree to find the culprit and discovered nearly a dozen crossbills frenetically feeding.

So if you are in town keep your eyes up!

Crex Crane Cacophony

This Black Friday instead of waiting in line at big box stores and bumping elbows with frantic Christmas Shoppers I decided to spend the morning birding in the Crex Meadows Wildlife Refuge north of Grantsburg, WI.  Since it is almost December and reports of Snowy Owls were pouring in from all over the state I was really excited about the opportunity to find one of the winter seasons most majestic birds.

However, my plans were altered when I pulled over to scan for early morning Short-eared owls near the Main Dike Rd.   As soon as I opened my car door and stepped into the cool morning air the calls of thousands of Sandhill Cranes filled my ears.  I darted back into my car and drove with the windows wide open turning in whichever direction the calls seemed louder.  Soon I found myself just a bit north of Phantom Lake and smack dab in the middle of thousands of Cranes, hundreds of Geese, and even some Trumpeter Swans.

I quickly set up my camera and spent the next hour and a half waiting for them to all fly directly toward the sunrise at the same time.  Unfortunately they weren't that obliging but they did accommodate a few great scenes.  The last pan at the end of the video was taken just before I left and was only a small slice of the birds that remained.  I have been trying to guess how many were there at first light but really I just have no idea. MANY!!!