Saturday had the last warm & dry forecast of my visit, so I used it to do the long haul to Sherburne NWR. This was where I went to see the white-winged crossbills last year, but it was quite windswept and had little else to offer. I was curious whether the crossbills would be back, and wanted to try to find the Townsend's solitaires at nearby Ann Lake. The weather was pretty good today, but for some mysterious reason the birds seemed quieter and less numerous than I remember from last year.

It was a crispy and calm morning, with frost everywhere. I let the Sun rise a little bit before I attempted to go out on the Blue Hill Trail that leads to the conifer plantation where the crossbills were last year. The oak savanna was fairly quiet at first, until the first wave of chickadees and nuthatches came through. In the denser forest I started to encounter woodpeckers and juncos as well.

When I reached the conifer plantation it was very quiet. I didn't see much during a big loop around and through them which should have revealed any crossbill flocks like I saw last year. Just a smattering of chickadees, juncos, blue jays and woodpeckers. The most interesting sighting was when I flushed a grouse-like bird about the size of the francolins I'm used to, which quickly escaped into the conifer stand. It was dark grey all over, and appeared to have a buffy rump. Doesn't exactly match anything in the bird book.

On the return trip through the oak savanna I made the second interesting discovery of the day: a small flock of purple finches. Unfortunately they were in a bad spot for photos, but at least it was a good spot for watching them. These are the first purple finches I've been able to ID in the years since I started watching for them.

After leaving Sherburne NWR I went down to Sand Dunes State Forest on the edge of Ann Lake. I thought it would probably be easy to find the Townsend's solitaires, but unfortunately I didn't check the directions in the morning. I wandered all over the trails of the Bob Dunn Recreation Area (x-country ski trails in winter), but did not catch any hint of solitaires. There was one long whistle I've never heard before. This area is a mix of deciduous forest, grassy openings and pine plantations on ancient sand dunes. It was fairly quiet, unfortunately. The most interesting sighting I had was the red-breasted nuthatch that was in the area of my car at both the beginning and end of my tour. I got a couple of travelling bird counts out of it, though.

Afterwards I didn't have enough time for another big destination. I decided to head back towards White Bear and visit Vadnais Lake. By then the breeze had picked up, and this may have contributed to my general lack of success there. It was very quiet. Sparse robins, cardinals, chickadees, nuthatches and woodpeckers. A pair of mallards and a pair of loons on the water nearby. Unfortunately no sign of the pine siskins I saw last year in the junipers and other low conifers.

Bird counts:
Blue Hill Trail:
0842-0922 850m
9 BCCH, 4 WBNU, 5 AMGO, 8+ DEJU, 3 BLJA, 2 RBWO, 1 DOWO, 1 PIWO, 1 AMCR, unknown swan flyover

Sherburne NWR Conifer Plantation:
0923-1015, 930m
8 DEJU, 12 BCCH, 3 BLJA, 1 AMGO, 1 AMCR, 1 DOWO

Blue Hill Trail Return:
Casual Obs 1030
X BCCH, 2 AMGO, 3 WBNU, 2 HAWO, 4 PUFI, 3 BLJA

Ann Lake Out:
1124-1240, 1300m
15 BCCH, 6 WBNU, 1 RBNU, 1 PIWO, 1 RBWO, 2 BLJA

Ann Lake Back:
1240-1340, 1200m
8 BCCH, 4 WBNU, 1 RBNU, 2 DEJU, 2 HAWO, 1 DOWO, 2 AMRO

Vadnais Lake:,
1505-1615, 1850m
25+ BCCH, 6 WBNU, 2 BLJA, 2 AMCR, 2 MALL, 2 COLO, 1 AMRO, 1 AMGO, 4 DOWO, 1 PIWO