Snow Geese: Blue and White Morphs!

Year 2,

A small flock of snow geese greeted my return from Europe! I knew from reading MOU posts that the Arctic birds were migrating though northern Minnesota, and I went out birding this morning in the hope of finding some feathered friends which were a bit unusual in terms of migrating through our area. I was rewarded with finding a flock of six snow geese on the Two Harbors golf course which included three distinct color variations among the birds (see below): Blue Morphs and White Morphs, and one mixed color bird. Very cool!

My travels this morning also yielded some bald eagles feasting on road kill, but I struck out on my search for an early season snowy owl. It was a good morning.

Snow Geese Morph Phases
Y2-M10-Snow-Geese-1 Y2-M10-Snow-Geese-2 Y2-M10-Snow-Geese-3 Y2-M10-Snow-Geese-4

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Bald Eagle
Y2-M10-Bald-Eagle

Hiking the Ostravice!

Year 2

It was cold, drizzly and a bit foggy this morning. If I were at home, it would be a perfect day to hang out in front of the fireplace and not go birding. However, given Molly and I are in the Czech Republic, we went birding with an initial stop at a coffee shop for Molly followed by a hike along the banks of the Ostravice River in Ostrava.

Like at home, most birds have flown south to warmer climates, but I spied this Eurasian Jay feeding amonst the crows. While this bird might be rather common for the locals, it was neat find for me … with its perfect pose juxtaposed the fallen leaves.

Eurasian JayEurasian Jay 1-01_wm

Mandarin Beauty: Olomouc Duck!

Year 2

Molly and I went day tripping to Olomouc from Ostrava in the Czech Republic. The beautiful university town has lots of cobblestone streets, and a gorgeous town square. One apt description might be a smaller less expensive version of Prague with much less traffic … a major plus in my book!

During our walk around town Molly has learned to put up with my checking out every stream and river, and my need to look down from every Stone Bridge into the waters below. My explorations were rewarded when I discovered a gorgeous Mandarin Duck. This bird is rare for Europe, and would be an unheard of sight back in Minnesota.

Mandarin DuckMandarin-Duck

Olomouc Town SquareOlomouc