Stopped by Black Dog Lake this evening and witnessed quite a phenomenon. While I was impressed last week with my count of 31 Common Loons at the Dog, tonight I had 47. Not quite the 50 odd birds seen over the weekend, but still my personal high count in Dakota County. As Black Dog is fairly shallow, it doesn't usually drawn many loons at all. I have NEVER seen double digit numbers of loons on any body of water in nearly 18 years of birding in this county. Also present were 35 Red-necked Grebes, another personal high count. I believe my former high count was 4 or 5. 35 blew me away! Imagine, it wasn't that long ago that finding 1 here in Dakota was doing really well! This number nearly TRIPLES the total number of Red-necked Grebes I've seen in the county! Still counting other birds, I had 49 Horned Grebes, yet another personal high count in the county. More typical in spring would be finding small groups of up to seven or so individuals. Seeing this many was amazing! I don't recall numbers of loons or grebes like this in the Twin Cities area since I've lived here. That other lakes are producing equally good numbers is remarkable. I encourage everyone to keep counting and report their numbers. It may be many years before an event like this reoccurs. Also present were numerous ducks, including many Greater Scaup, Ruddy Ducks, and several Canvasbacks and Redheads with several others. Drew Smith Eagan, Dakota County
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