Eventually I ended up at Big Marine Park to walk around for a bit and see what might present itself. Scarcely any birds seemed awake as the highlight was a flock of 5 Pigeon flying through the park, that seemed really out of place in a foggy park setting.
I then got the idea that I should hike into Crystal Springs SNA on the off chance something is over wintering in the deep cut valley. With the spring feed I was sure open water would exist. The hike was good quality, but a nearby gravel pit seemed to have some serious noise going on today so the serenity of the hike was well broken. Nothing of great interested was found on this hike either.
I then figured I should get fresh State Park stickers for both vehicles so that I'll be ready for my State Park Big Year. I stopped at William O'Brien for the stickers and figured I'd take a look at the feeder station, but a county park shoveling crew was moving through the area and any potential birds had vacated the feeders.
Undaunted I headed south to Marine on St. Croix and drove a few city streets I have not been on before listening for oddities. I eventually found a historical marker for their oldest saw mill in the state. This property comes with a bit of space for an overlook of the river itself and is a spot to at least make note of for future efforts. I'd at least be able to stop into such a place for a quick look on spring migrations. A neighborhood walk up the hill also turned up some American Robins, Mourning Dove, and American Goldfinch at a feed station.
I continued working back down HWY 95 and found myself on Arcola Trail thinking about sparrows along this brushy stretch. I did however find a new to me public access location that is park of the National Scenic Riverway called Arcola Bluffs - Day Use Area.
With shoulder parking this hike in site has a nice mature forest that appears to have gotten an invasive removal effort. The trails were great and the view from the rivers edge was outstanding looking at the High Bridge railroad bridge over the river.
It was a really good hike that left me winded on the return coming up the bluff trail. I left a lot of trail space on the table so I'll have to be sure to find time in the future to hike more of this new space. (A fly over Common Redpoll flock was a nice bonus.)
I eventually met up with Peter Nichols at the Afton Marina as we looked over the large (100+) flock of Trumpeter Swans and mixed Canada Geese. The location is still supporting numbers of Common Goldeneye and Merganser. We enjoyed having some looks at a River Otter as well (pic on my Instagram) and even a Coyote walking on the ice way down river.
After some late lunch Pete and I drove to the Grey Cloud Gravel Pit and scoped looking for more day tics and possible rarities. We did pick up a Pied-billed Grebe and a Cackling Goose along with a bevy of other waterfowl continuing to be present. As some of the last lake water to freeze up this gravel pit has been an excellent stop.
We then ran by the Cedar Grove from the Bohemian spot the day before and looked for birds. I was hoping for Eastern Bluebird, but we settled for Townsend's Solitaire, Northern Flicker, and Yellow-Rumped Warbler (5) all being really nice birds for December.
The day had no plan when I began really, but even the general idea of Snowy Owl hunting was abandoned early due to fog. I rolled with it though and found some great hikes while investigating new spaces and expanding my knowledge of others. With the temp in the low 30's it was a great opportunity to get out and make the winter feel shorter just by being warm and staying out all day.
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