Today was a day to treat myself as it was my birthday. I won't say which,
but my Golden Buckeye Card isn't a rookie. I headed north with Bruce Simpson who
 has been a good friend for years. Overall activity was slow at Killdeer
Plains,  in part because of the numerous hunters. Wearing my best bright orange
vest,  Bruce and I hit the field in search of feathered friends. The pine grove
off  TH-108 was battered by the wind storm earlier this year and the habitat
isn't  very inviting for Long-eared Owls as the trees have been greatly thinned
of  branches and needles. The "Traditional" pine grove off CH-71 fared better
from  the wind storm, but the close presence of hunters is the likely cause
it was  quiet. The best we did there was a lone Great Horned Owl. I got my
birthday  present on CH-68 when Bruce and I located a Northern Shrike. We watched
it for  about a half-hour until another vehicle came through and disturbed the
shrike,  but before this Bruce was able to shoot a series of photographs. The
shrike was  incredibly cooperative, perching on teasel, dropping to the
ground and returning  to the teasel, hovering like an American Kestrel and landing
in the grass  beside the road. It seemed to want us to get a good look as it
turned right,  left, faced us and turned to display its back. This had to be
the most  cooperative Northern Shrike I ever had the pleasure to meet.

Several other birds of interest we observed were, at Pond 27 which is  mostly
frozen, many Great Blue Herons and a few Gadwall; 5 Trumpeter  Swans on the
pond near the intersection of CH-71 and CH-115; multiple  immature Bald Eagles
spread around the area; Horned Larks and American Tree  Sparrows on the roads
and the adjacent fields; and mixed flocks of Red-winged  Blackbirds and Common
Grackles. With 26 species, it was not an impressive list,  but it was too
nice a day not to get into the field.

Charlie Bombaci



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