Waiting for my flight in Minneapolis, sitting in a lovely massage chair! Quick recap of this morning, we combed the docks for new trip birds - got a Common Merganser & an Iceland Gull (Thayer’s).
Iceland Gull (Thayer's) furthest to the right & tucked in.
Then drove the north shore of Lake Superior looking for a Boreal Owl - at one point really thought we had it, but it was a Merlin perched low in a cedar tree masquerading as a Boreal Owl - really looked like one from a distance - all puffed up .Alex’s girlfriend Lauren joined us for the morning (she was hoping for a Boreal Owl as well). It was fun having some new energy in the car.
Fake Boreal Owl... Merlin
We had a lovely visit with a pair of White-winged Crossbills (the only life bird I had not had a good experience with here), so that made me happy.
White-winged Crossbill - Female & Male
Alex & Lauren watching the Crossbills...
We had to head back to the hotel, so Kent and I could make it to MSP for his flight and were saying our goodbyes when Alex got the word one was spotted in Two Harbors - he wanted to load up again and have us all go up to see it, but it would add @1.5 hours to our airport travel time and we didn’t want to risk it.
They saw the Owl and former Rhode Island birder Bill Thompson - but if we were meant to see the Owl this time, we would have seen it. Kent and I made a pact to find it somewhere together in the not too distant future.
Boreal Owl - Photo Credit - Alex Lamoreaux
It was a great trip - lots of fun & great experiences & wonderful birds. A lovely break from routine for me before I go home to cleanse (me & my belongings). More birds pics to come! Had 6 life birds & 47 trip birds (Linda & Alex had 48).
In case you are interested Trip Report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/338698
It's long because Alex birds every bird which yields a lot of checklists (148)
Will post a video montage when I get around to doing it. Great trip -- highly recommended!
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