Ashley and I got out birding some today. Just north of Ames on 180th was this Northern Shrike.
A little later in the day, we drove by an exceptionally tame Cooper's Hawk, photographed below.
At Wolf Creek Rec Area in Grundy County, Ashley and I had a couple White-winged Crossbills. A flock of 12 was initially found here 8 days ago. Although we didn't see quite that many, our visit was pretty brief.
At dusk, we waited at Colo Bog for Short-eared Owls but came up empty.
Some other birds of note today included:
2 Great Horned Owls (1 in Grundy County in a pine stand, 1 east of Nevada after dusk)
1 Merlin
50+ Pine Siskins
1 Rough-legged Hawk
Several Snow Buntings
Numerous Horned Larks along all the roads
