the bird of day (Thursday) that propelled me to the keyboard was a grebe seen at 70mph from I-94 on one of the ponds north of the freeway just west of the Albertville exit. This was a large dark grebe with a long slender neck that was white on the front and dark on the sides. It appeared to be a Western Grebe, although I could not elliminate a winter plumage Red-necked Grebe. I regret that I was not able to go back and view the bird at 0 mph.
I also saw two groups of three swans on ponds in the area. One was in Dayton along Brockton Lane near 147th Avenue. The other was in Maple Grove in a pond on the south side of I-94. I assume both groups were Trumpeters. Recently I observed a common grey squirrel in downtown Minneapolis right outside the IDS building. There are no trees for blocks. Three weeks ago, by the Pillsbury building a couple of blocks away I found two window killed birds in the street: a Black and White Warbler and an Ovenbird. Neither would I expect to find downtown. My best recent yard bird was a couple of female Purple Finches (9/22 & 9/23). Last night (10/3) I had a small bat cruising the cul d sac. I wish I was better at ID'ing them in flight. I figured it to be one of the small browns. Its erratic flight did not seem as jerky as the littlest bats. I have also found a Nashville Warbler. More interesting was the four Nashville Warblers I found in a large weedy field in Maple Grove. While I have found them in the golden rod in this field in a previous fall migration, this is not a bird that I think of as a grassland bird. In Scott County on 9/27 I found several Franklin Gulls flying over the fields NW of New Prague. The sewerage ponds north of New Prague are hosting a large flock of Canada Geese. As in previous years, there were a few Cackling Geese, although not as many as last year. I have not been seeing many migrating thrushes or sparrows. I am observing lots of Cooper's Hawks. Steve Weston on Quiggley Lake in Eagan, MN sweston2 at comcast.net
