In Stillwater's Massive Ice Maze
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Expires 2/28/21 2 THE LOWDOWN FEBRUARY 2021 www.presspubs.com TURN THE PAGE 3 6 9 13 PAUL DOLS | PRESS PUBLICATIONS 3 | Rise of the Robin: 9 | Flash of Silver Breaths: About the cover Why some birds are changing where they spend New exhibition opens at Franconia Sculpture Park. the winter. Workers piece together and smooth out the translucent blocks of ice used to construct the maze in the south parking lot at the Zephyr Theatre. See more on 6 | ‘Waiting for you, waiting for me’: 13 | Waiting for ‘new normal’ to end: page 9. Stillwater’s Sofi a Logan makes her musical debut. Local breweries stay afl oat through pandemic. Around the Lakes 690955 Certified Collision Repair and Car Hail Damage Auto Body Work Bill’s Auto Body team includes collision repair and car hail damage experts, including the owner/opera- tor, production manager, body repair technicians, highly skilled painters, custom detailers, estimators, bookkeepers, and other support staff. 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Press Publications reserves the right to refuse, reject, or cancel any ad for any reason at any time without liability. FEBRUARY 2021 THE LOWDOWN 3 www.presspubs.com Rise of the Robin: Why some birds are changing where they spend the winter BY JACKIE BUSSJAEGER BY THE NUMBERS CONTRIBUTING WRITER Top 10 Species from the The song of the American robin—large, friendly red- Northeast Suburban Christmas Bird Count breast of suburban lawns and back yards—has long been 1. Black-Capped Chickadee 1,083 said to herald the arrival of spring. For scientists who 2. American Crow 472 study long-term data, collect- ed by community volunteers, 3. Rock Pigeon 372 the presence of the robin can signal much more, especially 4. American Goldfi nch 332 when it appears here in the winter. 5. Blue Jay 314 Volunteers for the 2020 Audubon Winter Bird Count 6. Wild Turkey 313 observed 303 American robins during their survey 7. American Robin 303 in the Northeast Suburban area on Dec. 26. This area 8. Dark-eyed Junco 300 includes the communities of White Bear Lake, Dellwood, SUBMITTED 9. Northern Cardinal 265 Hugo, Mahtomedi, Withrow, The winter range of the American robin has been shifting Stillwater, and Marine on St. northward for decades; today, it is not unusual to see robins in the 10. White-breasted Nuthatch 263 Croix. The volunteers adjust- coldest months of the year in Minnesota. ed well to the restrictions of COVID-19; staying socially years of involvement in the itz said—as winters become Total Number of Species: 49 distanced and never sharing count, Northeast Suburban milder, more birds are able to a vehicle with others outside count coordinator Jim Howitz stay in place without expend- Total Number of Individuals: 5,954 their household or immediate has become well versed in ing energy on a long migra- social pod. Despite the new the trends and statistics that tion south. Waterfowl may counters don’t see. Over grosbeak seen on the North- rules, 42 route-patrollers and prompt scientifi c questions even do so to avoid hunting the long term, the CBC has east Suburban bird count was 18 feeder-watchers were able about which populations are seasons in the warmer areas recorded declining numbers in 1989. to participate in the count changing, and why. of the U.S. of northern birds, which used “Those were two northern this year. One thing has been clear CBC volunteers also tallied to be seen in the Northeast fi nches we used to be able The international Winter from the decades of amassed a number of other species Suburban area in abundance. to count on, and they’re not Bird Count tradition is more data: birds such as the Ameri- that aren’t usually found “We set the record for here,” Howitz said. “We’re than 100 years old. It was can robin are changing where here in the winter months. redpolls in 1977,” Howitz said. picking up new birds like rob- established as a less deadly they spend their winters. Some sparrows, such as “We had more redpolls than ins, wrens, titmice, and losing alternative to Winter bird “When I was a kid, you dark-eyed juncos, are known anyplace else in North Ameri- birds that aren’t coming this hunts: once a staple of family never saw robins in winter,” to stay through the winter, ca, with 4,015 individuals. far south, like redpolls.” Christmas gatherings. Over said Howitz. “Their species but on Dec. 26, counters They come in these enormous Birds from the southern the decades it has evolved name is ‘migratorius,’ so observed song, chipping, and fl ocks, and for a moment they reaches of the state, such as into one of the longest and they’ve been migratory since white-throated sparrows. can blot out the sky. Some wild turkeys and red-bellied most consistent collections the time of Linnaeus, but Volunteers also found Wil- years it’s just a handful, and woodpeckers, are traveling of bird observation data, they stick around now. They son’s snipe, brown thrashers, this looks like a handful year. further north than they ever providing insight into the use ornamental trees around and a varied thrush—a robin They may explode later in the have before. This year, the trends and behaviors among yards, and during breeding relative normally found in year, sometimes you don’t see CBC included a Carolina populations, which in turn season nest by your house the Western U.S. Howitz said them at all and then in Febru- wren and two tufted titmice— provide clues about the state and eat worms.” he expects it will be able to ary and then you’re deluged species Howitz said we can of the environment around This changing behavior survive the winter, with the with them. Winter is young.” expect to see more of as the us. The bird count is an is part of a much larger aid of ornamental fruit trees Some birders expected a climate continues to warm. entertaining way to spend a trend: robins are one among in the neighborhood. winter irruption of north- “Practically everybody was winter afternoon, somewhat dozens of species that are While this diversity of spe- ern fi nches this year, but happy with what we found; like a neighborhood scaven- pushing their winter range cies is exciting for volunteers the count volunteers saw no most people were fi nding one ger hunt.