Bird Talk in downtown Warren Minnesota

I made a stop at Dale's Supermarket in downtown Warren today, and was pleasantly surprised that the conversation at the check-out line was all about birds. 

"Are you still looking for Snowy Owls?" asked the woman in front of me.  "Yes," I said.   "Seen any lately?"

Why yes, she said, just the other day.  She told me her story about the huge owl she spotted over by Carpenter's Corner (east of Warren on MN Highway 1). 

Call me if you see another one, I said as she grabbed her bags and headed out the door. 

Then my groceries started to move forward on the belt, the woman at the check out counter told me about her close encounter with an adult Bald Eagle along the highway.  The bird was dining on a deer carcass.

Seeing our National Bird eating roadkill didn't seem to bother her at all.

She went on to share another memorable eagle-along-the-road experience.  She was on a bus when an eagle started to fly at eye-level, right outside her window.  The bird kept up with the bus, for what seemed like miles.  Way cool!

On my way home, as I drove past the Agassiz Valley Flood Control impoundment, I picked up a bird story of my own - one that I shared at the watershed district meeting early this evening.

I spotted a pair of grouse up a tree in the snow.  Nothing unusual about that - except they weren't the usual tree grouse - the Sharp-tailed.  They were Prairie Chickens!

The first time I've seen them near the Audubon Center - and the first time I've ever seen them in trees.   It looked like they were eating buds - everything else was encased in snow and ice.

Prairie Chickens up a tree