Ring-necked Pheasants have been a dominant theme during winter birding activities the past week.

More semi-terrible winter weather kept me office bound until Saturday, when I braved blowing snow across area highways to drive to Bismarck for a fun outing. I was surprised to see a Rough-legged Hawk blowing north in a mostly sideways position on the strong south wind. Three Sharp-tailed Grouse were a highlight along with sightings of a lone male Ring-necked Pheasant in low flight about mid-way, pus 2 more male pheasants closer to the capitol city. Along the way, I observed 4 groups of Horned Larks that varied from 1 lark to about 20.

On the northwest side of the big city I enjoyed a nice view of a soaring adult Bald Eagle.

After greeting my friend Vicki, we drove through the riverside woodlands north of the city, appreciating views of a Black-billed Magpie and another colorful Ring-necked Pheasant. We also took time to savor the wild sound of Canada Geese calling in flight, and view hundreds of other Canadas feeding in ag fields and wintering along the mostly ice-covered Missouri River. A highlight was checking in with ‘Wild Bill’ to gain access to the wooded shoreline of a local ranch that I hadn’t visited for a few decades. Although birds were scarce there during our visit, we enjoyed viewing a trusting herd of White-tailed Deer with a pretty buck in their midst, and a colorful Fox Squirrel. What, no Wild Turkeys, chickadees, or woodpeckers?

Redpoll Sunday

Back in the office Sunday, a hearty flock of at least 8 Common Redpolls visited my feeding station – by far the most to date. By late afternoon the sun broke through cloud cover luring me into the field before sunset. After miles of no birds to the south, I picked up a male Ring-necked Pheasant about 6 miles to the north. A flock of 14 Common Redpolls was next, and 2 more were stationed about a mile from home. When I drove 2 miles east, I found a big flock of redpolls numbering about 55, which had a very light-colored individual – a Hoary Redpoll?

Although the flock flew up, the redpolls landed closer to my vehicle, with the light-colored redpoll closest of all – what luck. I took a few photos of the lighter-colored, slightly larger redpoll, but more than anything this bird was a good example of the apparent lack of true division between Hoary Redpolls and Common Redpolls. This seemed to be a bird that was transitional between looking lighter and larger than Common Redpolls, but not as white or large as a Hoary Redpoll. You may remember that in last week’s issue we provided a Birding News article that described research that indicates Hoary and Common Redpolls are actually a single species with variations between the smaller darker redpolls and whiter larger redpolls.

Pheasant Tracks!

Just as Sunday’s redpolls were active in both my yard and the field, the other most common birds in the area – Ring-necked Pheasants – were also active in my yard and in the field Monday. Yes, although I didn’t see the pheasants, I was alerted to them by 2 sets of tracks that showed prominently in the melting snow along the north side of my house. The trail of pheasant tracks led from my backyard chokecherries, under my blue spruce, along the side of my lilacs, through the sumacs and close between my bay windows and the feeding station, continuing through my front yard and to the northwest. Too bad I missed them, but I’m glad I was able to detect them. Plus I was able to determine when the pheasants passed by; between 12:30 when I filled my feeders, and 2:50 when I began my afternoon drive – while I was working on this issue. Close but not quite, they passed beneath my field of view, below the view provided by the bank of bay windows – but a few feet away!

Keeping within the pheasant theme, the first birds sighted during my afternoon drive were 2 female Ring-necked Pheasants, which were active about 7 miles to the north, as were 2 more females about a mile north of the first pair. And that’s also where I caught sight of a flock of about 35 Snow Buntings flying in tight formation, while the next 2 flocks I observed were about 60 Common Redpolls and 12 redpolls. The star of the day was a Great Horned Owl perched in the open, low in a tree on the edge of a grove of mature trees. South of my office, the landscape seemed vacant, again, until 2 Horned Larks finally showed there was life in that direction.

Hope you had a chance to do some quality birding over the Martin Luther King weekend. I’m still waiting for ample sunshine to provide impetus to take a photo field trip south or east – most likely to my SoDak winter raptor area that holds an additional attraction of impressive wintering ducks. Wish me luck, as I wish you fruitful birding opportunities in the coming days.

Article and photos by Paul Konrad

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