Hi On my way back from my fiance's parents place in Morton, MN we swung down to Sleepy Eye to see if the Great-tailed Grackle reported earlier was present.
We stopped at the entrance of the Sleepy Eye recycling area which is on the north side of the sewage ponds, and saw one adult male Great-tailed Grackle at 5PM. It then flew over to the fence line that separates the sewage ponds from the recycling area and was joined by another adult male Great-tailed Grackle on the grass that lines the sewage pond. The birds were identified as Great-tailed Grackle based on their size in comparison to the Common Grackle that were present, their coloration, tail shape, beak size and the vocalizations they made. I was unable to take photographs since the recycling area was closed, and the birds moved around quite a bit. One male appeared to be staking territory just south of the marsh area on the north side of the recylcing area. Looks like similar habitat to the area in Jackson County where they have been present for the last few years. Other new migrants for me - all seen in the vicinty of Morton, MN: White-crowned Sparrow Turkey Vulture - 20 + Wilson's Snipe Yellow-rumped Warbler Ruby-crowned Kinglet Chipping Sparrow American White Pelican Regards, Terry Brashear Hennepin County, MN http://tbrashear.imageculture.com [email protected] __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo http://search.yahoo.com
