We enjoyed a sunny morning tour of MacCready Preserve on Skiff Lake Rd. this morning. So it was a bit cold, but the temperature continued to rise through our walk and soon broke into the double digits.

While I'm usually not appreciative of Scotch (or Scotts) Pines, these specimens at the Preserve are good looking and the morning sun came in just perfect to highlight their orange bark.

(Steve Jerant)

(Steve Jerant)

We got off to a slow start with the birds and the crisp fresh snow made for a very noisy walk, impairing our ability to hear.  A good size flock of American Robin (~50) were quite busy chowing down on several oriental bittersweet vines.  A lone Hermit Thrush was in their group and a few Cedar Waxwings were also enjoying the plentiful berries.

One of my targets for the morning was a Yellow-bellied sapsucker.  Don was able to finally track him down in the north section of the property on the border trail.

(Steve Jerant)

We got three more woodpeckers and three hawks which were flying high above us.

Our trip eBird list is available HERE

Our next tour is on the Lakelands trail SP next next Tuesday.