Ok, today’s post isn’t so much about a good picture but about a first sighting for me. While working this week in Dallas, TX the temperatures have raised way above freezing here in eastern Iowa and today I went back to one of my favorite wildlife areas, the Green Island Wetlands, next to the Mississippi River and south of Bellevue, Iowa. I have not seen a Northern Shrike before and it didn’t matter that the bird was too far away for a good photo. I was just happy to see it for the first time. The Northern Shrike is supposed to be here only during the winter. Their breeding grounds reach from northern Alaska across the northern parts of Canada.