Some odds and ends, bird-wise

A few late autumn migrants are lingering, perhaps enjoying the mild weather. A dark morph Snow Goose, found at the mouth of the Pic River by Wayne Michano a few days ago, was present this morning.

This morning, I found a late Killdeer at Cummings Beach, here in Marathon.

Meanwhile, the Sandhill Crane remains at the town dump on Penn Lake Road.

Sunrise at the mouth of the Pic River

[click on image to enlarge]

Townsend's Solitaire near Pic River

Two silhouetted views - click to enlarge.
Near Pic River this morning, I drew in a small flock Pine Grosbeaks, Black-capped Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches. Among them was a Townsend's Solitaire, which perched on the tips of spruces trees in the scrubby forest alongside the road. I saw it well through the binoculars - the white eye-ring, brown wing patches and white outer tail feathers were all visible. It faded away with the grosbeaks after a few minutes. The pictures are poor as the bird was between me and the sun.

Directions: The bird was at a point (48.61147, -86.29108) along Pic River Road, about 50 metres NE of its intersection with Hwy 627, a stone's throw from the Pic River bridge.