Other than the trip to Detroit, it has been a quiet fall season of birding. My one other trip was to the cities to do some dog-sitting. On the way over, I made some short stops in Morris and Starbuck, MN. There were no crazy sightings, but the weather was nice, and I was more than happy with what I was able to see.
My main target for the cities was Dakota County, so on the first morning of my stay I headed down to Mud Lake Park and Thomson County Park. I was hoping to get out and hit some other places within walking distance of the house, but COVID had other plans for me.
Whew, okay. Up to date.
For the 2022-2023 season, Project FeederWatch rolled the starting date back to November 1st which comes in handy for me, and I spent a few hours Friday and Saturday watching the feeders.
The ever-reliable chickadees and house finches were out. Three species of woodpeckers (downy, hairy and northern flicker) came to cling to the suet feeder for a snack. A few goldfinches stopped by. Some early juncos hopped about the leafy yard. The peanuts were quickly swooped upon by the blue jays--in one trip, a single jay put three entire peanuts (shell and all) down its beak before flying away. A little red-breasted nuthatch was also present, zipping to and from the feeders, utterly unperturbed by my presence.
It was a great start to the season, and now I must hurriedly post the few pictures so that I can return to watching Smash Summit 14.
