[mou] **BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER, Dakota County

I was in St. Paul this morning and decided to stop at Acacia Park Cemetary in Mendota Heights on my way back home. I was on the road along the southern edge of the cemetary, and stopped by the old metal electrical tower, and started pishing loudly to see if any sparrows would come out of the

[mou] Surf Scoter--- Dakota County

This morning at approximately 10:30, I found an immature Surf Scoter on Black Dog Lake, on the west end out from the viewing platform. I studied the bird for nearly 1/2 hour, as it dove and then mostly preened. It would occasionally lift its chest up out of the water and pose. I watched it flap

[mou] Fwd: SUSC relocated

I just received this update from Bruce Fall. Drew Smith -Original Message- From: Bruce Fall baf...@umn.edu To: Drewbec Smith Drewbec at aol.com Sent: Sun, 19 Oct 2008 1:54 pm Subject: SUSC relocated Hi Drew,? ? At about 12:45 I relocated what most likely is the SUSC

[mou] Migration Today, Lebanon Hills, Dakota County

Took a look around the Visitors Center/Schulze Lake area of Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Eagan this morning, and found it to be fairly birdy. Typically, I prefer the Holland Lake area, but thought I'd check out someplace different for a change. Lighting was terrible today, and several

[mou] Kentucky Warbler--- Dakota County

This morning while trying to make more sense out of the maze of trails at Lebanon Hills Regional Park, I stumbled on a singing and very active Kentucky Warbler. After practically having to run it down as it moved quickly through the woods, it flew to an exposed perch and sang in full view.

[mou] Late Migrant: Magnolia Warbler--- Dakota County

Making a very brief stop this morning at Fish Lake Park in Eagan, I was very surprised to find a singing Magnolia Warbler. This is a very small park, with very little habitat, and basically serves as public access to Fish Lake. According to the occurrence maps on the MOU website, this is the

[mou] Brant Update 5/22

My wife and I saw the Brant this morning between 9:45 and 10:00. It was on the water, close to shore, at the observation deck by the Bayfront Festival Park pavillion (just west of the Aquarium, for others from out of town). We found its behavior to be somewhat wary. The bird was swimming

[mou] More BIG Numbers

Stopped by Black Dog Lake this evening and witnessed quite a phenomenon. While I was impressed last week with my count of 31 Common Loons at the Dog, tonight I had 47. Not quite the 50 odd birds seen over the weekend, but still my personal high count in Dakota County. As Black Dog is fairly

[mou] American Pipits, etc. at 180th St Marsh--- Dakota

I'm the guilty party that found the American Pipit at 180th St. Marsh. Haven't had an opportunity until now to make this report. Fortunately, Susan and Bruce Fall and Rob Daves were there as well to enjoy the bird. Susan located another in the same vicinity while we were observing one of

[mou] Hennepin White-fronted Goose Chasers

I received a message this morning about birders driving into the Supervalu Corporate property and looking for the goose. This is private property, and is signed as such at the entry, and is patroled by security. It is advised that birders DO NOT enter that property looking for the Greater

[mou] Greater White-fronted Goose-- Hennepin

As I was heading out for lunch about 12:30pm, I noticed a GWFG hanging out with the Canada Geese on the lawn in front of my office building. Don't know exactly how unusual this is for Hennepin, but I doubt they're an annual event. For those interested, the address is 11455 Valley View Road in

[mou] Late Report: LBBG at Black Dog Lake

My apologies for the late report. Friday evening between 5:45 and 6:00pm I saw an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull on Black Dog Lake in Burnsville, Dakota County. West end, near the concrete pipe and castings. This may be the same bird reported by others at Lake Calhoun in Hennepin County

[mou] Lesser Black-backed Gull at Black Dog Lake

This evening between 6:15 and 6:35 I observed a Lesser Black-backed Gull on the far West end of Black Dog Lake, on the lake and the concrete pipe and castings that extend outward from the South shore. As the plumage was a little unusual, I'll only refer to it as a sub-adult type bird. The

[mou] Late Report: Summer Tanager in Dakota County

Forgot to post yesterday that I had seen a Summer Tanager at Lebanon Hills Regional Park, Holland Lake access in Eagan. Surprising was that this was NOT the returning adult male seen there the last few successive years. This was apparently a first year male, and seemed to be overall

[mou] Dakota County Today

---1173669963 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit A drive through various areas of the county produced the following birds of interest (to me): An early, single Sandhill Crane migrating with 7 Canada Geese, flying over

[mou] SLATY-BACKED GULL--Pt. Douglas

---1168798483 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I just received a phone call from Mark Ochs, who was with Jim Mattsson and others at Pt. Douglas Park, Washington County. They were observing another adult Slaty-backed

[mou] Krider's Red-tailed Hawk

This bird has actually been present at this location for a few weeks. I frequently drive past this area in the morning, and have seen the bird numerous times at approximately 8:00-8:15am. It often sits in the trees between the northbound on-ramp and I-35, but does use other perches as

[mou] LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL at Black Dog

---1159622279 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Yesterday at approximately 8:15am, I saw a Lesser Black-backed Gull on the west end of Black Dog Lake in Burnsville. Most likely the same bird previously reported by

[mou] Seasonal Report Submissions

---1154879937 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I have just finished entering my Summer Season data, and always check my submissions by clicking on the Observation details tab. I noticed many August (Fall)

[mou] Nesting Ospreys at Black Dog Lake

Last evening I saw an Osprey on the west lake near the power plant, and pulled my vehicle over to observe the bird. It flew back towards the lake and I saw that it had a bright orange fish in its talons, then suddenly I noticed a second Osprey in the air approaching the first bird. Together

[mou] Additional Dakota County Observations 3/25

---1143342839 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lake Byllesby: Greater White-fronted Goose- 15 Sandhill Crane- 23 All the interesting birds spooked and left the area when 2 lads decided it was time to take the canoe

[mou] Snow Geese, Wash Cnty

On Friday, Feb 17th, I saw 3 Snow Geese fly into the 140th St Marsh=20 in Dakota County. One was a blue phase bird, and appeared to be a=20 pure Snow Goose. The 2 white birds were not Snow Geese. Seen in=20 flight, they showed no black flight feathers in the wings; and on the=20 water it was

[mou] Tonite at Purgatory Crk and Black Dog Lk

Stopped by Purg this evening hoping to find Doug Kieser's LBDOs, but got skunked on those. Did see 2 Hudsonian Godwits (not as impressive as Conny B's flock this Spring), and a Wilson's Snipe (and other usuals). At the Dog was a briefly seen adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. Likely one of the

[mou] Lesser Black-backed Gull---Black Dog

This morning on the way to work, between 8:10 and 8:25am, I stopped to enjoy the spectacle of a 1000+ American White Pelicans, perhaps an addition 1000 Double-crested Cormorants, and hundreds of gulls at Black Dog Lake in Burnsville. A quick scan with my scope from the observation deck, and

[mou] Frigate bird in IOWA

I was just browsing the Iowa listserve, and someone has found a Frigatebird in Iowa. Who knows what may still be out there waiting to be discovered? Any luck on the Northshore, Mike? (The Iowa listserve is easily accessed by going to birdingonthe.net, clicking Regional Specialty, and then on

[mou] Lesser Black-backed Gull--- Black Dog Lake

Last evening I saw a 2nd Summer Lesser Black-backed Gull at the west end of Black Dog Lake, associating with about 25 Ring-billed Gulls. More than likely, this is the same individual originally seen by Doug Kieser at Purgatory Creek in Eden Prairie a couple weeks ago. This is a very late Spring

[mou] TWO Say's Phoebes and Rock Wren at Felton, Tuesday

Jim Mattsson and I arrived at the Felton Gravel Pits about 10:00am this morning. The Rock Wren was singing loudly as we pulled up near rock pile #6002. We hunted for the Say's for along time, nearly 5 hours without any luck and were about to give up. Ron Erpelding pulls in at that moment and

[mou] Audubon's Warbler, Dakota County

This morning while studying a wave of warblers in my backyard, I noticed a female Yellow-rumped Warbler with a pale yellow colored throat. With further study, I noted the all plain gray head/face and thin white arcs above and below the eye. An interesting (and rarely noted) oddity among usual

[mou] UPDATE** Tufted Titmouse--Dakota County

The titmouse returned at approximately 8:00am, and is apparently back as I'm posting this message. If you're interested in seeing this bird, please phone before coming over. Our number is 651.688.6467. I would prefer that folks not show up and go through the yard. We have a lot of ice still,

[mou] Tufted Titmouse--Dakota County

About 3:00pm this afternoon, my wife and I enjoyed the brief visit of a Tufted Titmouse to our feeders. The bird remained for about 15-20 minutes, came in 3 times to various feeders, and didn't return. I'll re-post if it returns. Perhaps some birds are on the move. Drew Smith Eagan, Dakota

[mou] Snowy Owl --Hennepin County

This morning, just before 10:00 I glanced out the window of my office to see a large-sized, very white bird soaring and circling near Bryant Lake in Eden Prairie. It was distant enough that I couldn't really ID the thing. While trying to figure out what it was, suddenly a crow found it and

[mou] Lesser Black-backed Gull at Black Dog

Late this afternoon (approx. 5:45-5:55) I saw an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull on the west end of Black Dog Lake. This is almost certainly the same bird recently seen at Lakes Calhoun and Harriet. Drew Smith Eagan, Dakota County

[mou] Townsend's Warbler Update

This morning at approximately 8:30, John Ellis and I saw the Townsend's Warbler. It was keeping company with several Black-throated Greens, which made for a nice comparison. There were numerous warblers in the area, perhaps the most I've seen in a while, so looking for this bird could become

[mou] New Park Master Plan for Lake Byllesby

This is a long message, so if you're really not interested, you might want to bail out and delete this now. This past Wednesday evening, Tom Tustison and I attended a meeting in Randolph, Dakota County, about intended new plans for Lake Byllesby Regional Park. As many MOU/MOUnet subscribers

[mou] Interesting Gull Tonight at Black Dog

Stopping by Black Dog this evening at about 5:45, I saw a gull that was different from the several Ring-billed Gulls present. While I did NOT see all of the field marks I would like to to make a definitive ID, astute laridophiles may likely be intrigued by my description that follows, and may

[mou] SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER --UPDATE SUNDAY

My wife and I observered the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher this morning between (approx.) 9:45 -10:15am in the location descibed yesterday by Julian Sellers. For those interested, this is a first record for the county. I believe the bird is an immature, with the color of the belly varying in

[mou] SUMMER TANAGER found again at Lebanon Hills

I'm posting this message on behalf of Jim Mattsson, who found this bird this morning. This is a beautiful singing male bird, in complete alternate plumage. It was located fairly close to the area described by Dave Elwood in his post last Friday, and is likely the same bird. There is a chance

[mou] WESTERN TANAGER at Lake Byllesby, Dakota County

Not as exciting as the beautiful male bird at Wood Lake Nature Center, this morning at about 10:20, I found a female Western Tanager at Lake Byllesby. She was feeding in a Siberian Elm with a pair of Baltimore Orioles, just passed the spot where the dirt road that goes west from the cemetary

[mou] Cattle Egret-Dakota County

If anyone is heading south from the Twin Cities to see the Clark's Grebe at Lake Byllesby, you might like to stop and see the Cattle Egret. I found the bird along CR 66 (or 200th St) between Donnelly Ave and CR 81 (Clayton Ave) on the north side of the road in the flooded meadows. This area is

[mou] Piping Plover, etc. at Lake Byllesby

This afternoon the shorebirding at Lake Byllesby was excellent (19 species). The most notable bird was a single Piping Plover. This is the third year in a row that this species has been present at this location during Spring migration. Other shorebirds were: Semipalmated Plover Killdeer