First ice-free day at Lake Calhoun (Minneapolis)! We're not patient counters, but I can say that there were a TON of ducks. Red-breasted Mergansers were everywhere, chasing each other around and displaying. There was a lone Pied-billed Grebe and a pair of Blue-winged Teal hanging out with the R-b Mergansers along the eastern shore of the lake. A large, tight group of American Coots were milling about in the middle of the lake. Our old binoculars were able to make out the fuzzy forms of either Horned or Eared Grebes out by the Coots in the middle of the lake. There were a few Ring-billed Gulls, and a Forster's Tern soaring around overhead. A smallish group of Bufflehead flew in and joined the ever-expanding group in the middle of the lake. We only saw a single Common Loon, in sharp contrast to the other Minneapolis Lakes we've checked out over the last few days. Maybe word hasn't gotten around yet that Calhoun is ice-free. And finally, a Song Sparrow was singing away in a small tree on the eastern shore.
Molly Nutting Uptown, Minneapolis
