Sorry for the late report-- Sunday, Feb. 6th I walked the trail leading east along the MN river from underneath the 77 bridge in Dakota Co. At the first big bend in the river, about 3/4 mile east of the bridge, was a flock of Common Mergansers (and eagles to watch them) plus one imm. Double-crested Cormorant and one Am. White Pelican with an injured left wing. The pelican seemed healthy and wary otherwise, and was feeding close to the river bank. I have to wonder if it wandered over from Long Meadow or Black Dog lake somehow, or has spent the entire winter in the river so far?
In St. Paul at Shepard and Gannon (Highland Park neighborhood) later that afternoon an imm/female taiga Merlin was on the lawn of the US Bank building with a recently-killed starling. After a few moments it rearranged its prey and flew with some effort uphill over hwy 5, and I lost sight of it. I felt lucky to be there at just the right time--Merlins are one of my favorite birds and I haven't seen many since I've lived in the Twin Cities. Chris ===== Chris Mansfield Richfield, Hennepin Co. MN [email protected] __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
