After living and birding in Oklahoma for some 20 years, I was working in my yard this morning in Spring Lake Park. I heard the distinctive mimicry of a mockingbird. I have never seen one in Minnesota before, even after 15 years. And there in the tree nest to my house poised on the uppermost crown was a juvenile Mockingbird complete with faint breast spots and windows in its wings. It perched for about 15 minutes calling its varied doublets and triplets and flew to the top of another tree across the street. I studied these birds in college and know that they set up a perimeter around their nesting site by perching on selected tall tree tops and call repeatedly and seemingly forever as they stake their ground. When they have young in their nest they perch and fly straight up and down calling in a territorial display - usually in early to mid summer in Oklahoma. Mine wasn't doing that - just calling. It was here for about an hour and now I don't hear or see it. I am all ears though. Are these fairly common in this neck of the woods or suburbs?
Thomas Maiello
