Local bird watcher photographs first bird of its kind in winter season in Roseau County
This Juvenile Red-hooded Woodpecker has taken up residence at the Joan and Bill Timm yard, rural Greenbush. It is the first such bird to be seen in the winter in Roseau County. (photo by Joan Timm)
For the past twenty years or so rural Greenbush resident Joan (Bill) Timm has enjoyed the hobby of bird watching. And so it was, on December 26, 2019, that Joan spotted what she guessed to be a black-backed woodpecker with white on its wings. She would see it everyday, usually in the mornings, but also throughout the day.
Thinking this spotting was one of those rarities, she took another photo on January 3, 2020, posting it on the Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union website. She sent a photo to Heidi Hughes at the Agassiz Audubon Society in Warren, Minn., as well.
Joan’s bird watching had paid off. She was pleased to learn, according to Hughes, this is the first juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker spotted in the winter season in Roseau County ever!
“Last year I saw an Idigo Bunting, its color is all blue,” she said with enthusiasm.
She added with a chuckle, “Bill likes to tease me saying that I feed the birds better than him.”
One can also read this story in The January 16 issue of The Tribune in print or online.
