Mississippi river today

My family and I headed over to the Mississippi this afternoon to watch Bald Eagles (this time it wasn't me conning dad into going, it was the other way around. This was his idea for a change). We started at Prairie Du Chien and headed up the river to Ferryville, then took Rush Creek Rd to county B to 27 to 171 and back home from there.

Here's some pics of the first Eagle we found:



We found a grand total of 3 Bald Eagles for the entire trip. No Goldens.
The river is still mostly frozen over except for small patches near the dams. The almost complete lack of birds was still astounding.



We took a detour back home via Rush Creek Rd where I found this N Shrike:






Other birds found today included:
about a dozen Mallards
20+/- Red-tailed Hawks
3 Bald Eagles
1 Rough-legged Hawk
2 N Shrikes
2 Kestrels
hundreds of starlings
Assorted common winter birds, including White-breasted Nuthatch, Titmouse ect

The weather wasn't all that great though. It was cloudy and gray all day. Even the birds knew it wasn't a great day.

Shrike!!

I found this N Shrike perched in a tree off US 14 in the field just east of Buckhorn Ln. The bird was in the middle of the field and I was on the opposite side of the road so the pics aren't all that great. It is a Shrike though! Their status this winter is hovering around "uncommon" to "common" right now. usually they're uncommon to rare.
I do love Shrikes though!!!!!!! This one is my second for the year!! It was a good find for me because the last one I saw was a little shaky. It was one of those split second sightings that you would have to guess at the ID if it were any shorter. anyway, I'm glad I got it. I'm down to only 560 more species that I have to see before the year is up. well, I have a long ways to go, and I can't miss a single species. Otherwise I'm cooked. lol

Happy Birding!