On Saturday Jan. 31, 2009 I spent the morning birding near
Waskish along St. Hi. 72. I found a Northern Hawk-Owl at mile marker 41
near the intersection of Shoreline
Dr. NE and Hi. 72. About a quarter mile
north of mile marker 43, I found a male Black-backed Woodpecker working the
tamarack trees which are highly visible across the deep snow-covered ditch on
the east side of the road. The boardwalk trail parking lot for Big
Bog State Recreation Area (turn at mile marker 44) is crossed by a snowmobile
trail and if you walk the snowmobile trail to the south about a quarter of a
mile, you enter excellent habitat for Gray Jays and Boreal Chickadees. The
boardwalk trail is too snowed in to walk except with snowshoes. I
found a freshly killed Spruce Grouse near mile marker 48 about a mile or two
south of the Lake of the Woods
County line on St. Hi.
#72. Black-billed Magpies, as usual, are numerous at the Rhinestone Farms
feed lot about 4 miles northeast of Waskish on County 112. Also, there is
an excellent feeder with many Common and a couple Hoary Redpolls about 200
yards west of St. Hi. #72 at mile marker 38, turn west on Laport Rd. NE(at the
intersection with County 112).
Douglas Johnson
Bemidji