Spent a delightful day at Wood Lake in Richfield this afternoon from 1:00 to 4:00 looking for the reported American Bittern. No luck there but had the thrill to see two Common, 5 Hooded and 2 Red-Breasted Mergansers all on the large pond in the southeast corner of the park. At one point I could see a Bufflehead, a Common Merganser and two Hooded Mergansers all within 50 feet of each other. Then a Ruddy Duck in full mating glory flew in with neon blue bill and dense cinnamon body. On the way out I was wowed again with a male Hooded Merganser and two females as he took turns courting each with ritualized darting back and forth and flashing his brilliant white hood making his head go from this teensy little thing to something the size of a softball. Each female would tease with a submissive lowering of the head and rise of their head feathers along with vertical tail feathers - only to reject him until he would chase off to the other one and do the whole thing over again. I watched this from the wooden dock in the very northeast corner of the park. With trail sharing with many Canadian Geese who suspiciously allowed me to pass within a few feet from them without even getting up, this was a glorious day out-of-doors. To end it all I visited the Nature Center just as they were feeding the snakes and salamanders. They invite a young boy to come and do the honors including picking up the snakes and feeding them with an extension grip.
I love Minnesota and the Great Northern Midwest. Thomas Maiello
