Pursuant to the Maistroviches' mention of a female Hooded Warbler, I went to Battle Creek Park today to look for evidence of nesting. I found no evidence. I did not see or hear any Hooded Warblers in the southern part of the park, so I walked up the hill and through the woods to check on the one that had been singing near the north end of the woods. I did not see or hear one at the north end either, but on the way, I heard one sing briefly near the center of the hilltop forest. This was all between about 9:00 and 11:00 a.m.
Then I drove a half-mile east on Lower Afton Road to the woods of Battle Creek Park East, and walked there until about 12:45. At 12:30, I heard a Hooded Warbler sing the typical wee ta-wee ta-wee-ti-tew song about four times. The location was as follows: from the parking lot on Lower Afton Road, take the paved trail north from the northwest corner of the lot (go past the start of the trail to the off-leash dog area). After you go north a few hundred yards, the paved trail bends to the left, and a dirt trail goes straight ahead. Take the dirt trail for a little over 100 yards until a trail goes off to the right. It was from this trail intersection that I heard the Hooded Warbler singing pretty far away on the right while a Broad-winged Hawk was screaming its disapproval from overhead. Next year, I hope to check all of Battle Creek Park earlier in June (and earlier in the day). Julian St. Paul > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "A.Maistrovich" <[email protected]> > To: "MOU" <[email protected]> > Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2006 12:34 PM > Subject: [mou] Hooded Warbler - Battle Creek Park, Ramsey Co. > > > We found the Hooded Warbler at 10 am this morning. This was our fourth > attempt. While we heard them on earlier tries, today we were rewarded > with good views of both the male and female. We followed Bill's > directions. At the north end of the ravine the "road" takes a > right-angle turn towards the west and goes up a steep hill. A > hiking/biking trail crosses the "road" about a third of the way up the > hill. We went right (north) on this trail about 100 feet. There is good > visibility here as this glade in the ravine is fern-covered . While we > first spotted a Hooded Warbler foraging on the ground, out best views > came when they flew into the lower branches of the tall trees. We > recommend you listen to a Hooded Warbler recording before going out. > Most of the ravine has restricted visibility because it is rather > heavily wooded. > > We thank Julian Sellers for finding the bird and Bill Litkey for his > excellent directions; the Hooded Warbler is new to our life list. > > Tony & Alice Maistrovich > > On Jun 16, 2006, at 5:31 PM, Bill Litkey wrote: > >> As per several requests for directions, they are as follows. Battle >> Creek >> Park is located in SE Ramsey Co. From Hwy. 61 running along the eastern >> side of the Mississippi River valley turn eastward onto Lower Afton Road. >> Go about ½ mile to Winthrop St. On either side of Winthrop along the >> north >> side of Lower Afton there is clearing back off the shoulder so you might >> be >> able to park there. North of Lower Afton only about 100 ft. hike the ski >> trail that goes west from Winthrop and parallels Lower Afton. Hang left >> on >> this trail at any trail junctures. Eventually the trail curves northward >> away from Lower Afton into a ravine. At the curve there was a Mourning >> Warbler as a bonus. Listen for the Hooded Warbler throughout this >> ravine, >> which isn't very long. It seemed to spend more time towards the north >> end >> of the ravine, but it certainly moves around in there. >> >> Bill Litkey (Oakdale) >> >> _______________________________________________ >> mou-net mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://cbs.umn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mou-net >> > > _______________________________________________ > mou-net mailing list > [email protected] > http://cbs.umn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mou-net >
