I stopped by the Wilds this wet morning on my way South (home) from a
weekend in Cleveland and located the Northern Shrike immediately upon
turning onto Zion Ridge Road from SR 146.  Once again, this bird flew right
in front of my vehicle to alert me of its presence, just like it was doing
on Prouty Road almost 40 days ago.  I had the strangest luck with the bird
flying across the road in front of me while driving slowly, and today it
happened again.  I parked and then got out in the downpour to study the bird
for awhile, watched it feed, fly around and then took some digiscoped images
of it before it flew out of sight to the East.  I had the feeling that this
was the same bird I saw on December 9 almost two miles away but will take a
close look at the photos to see if I can see any similarities.  Today's
Shrike was soaked and this changed the appearance of the bird considerably.

All in all, raptor numbers were low and there were no eagles to report.  For
me, the Golden Eagle hasn't been as easy to find this winter as it was last
winter.  Oh well, still plenty of time this season to see the bird(s).
Ring-necked Ducks made their most numerous showing of the season too, with
at least 100 between 5 different water bodies.  Eastern Meadowlarks were
also active in the rain (about 35) as were Horned Larks (27).

Others were RL Hawk (2), Harrier (3), RT Hawk (2), and Kestrel (2), Bluebird
(3).


Glen Crippen
Burr Oak Lake

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