Oops... I tried to save that to send out later, but the program had other ideas. I will have more info later.
Steve Weston ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Weston" <[email protected]> To: "Paul A. Lender" <lender at umn.edu>; "MNBird" <mnbird at lists.mnbird.net>; "Mou-net" <mou-net at moumn.org> Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 9:56 AM Subject: Re: [mnbird] Birding about the Metro > cavity nesters are well-known for dropping eggs in nests with other bird > eggs. I regularly see both wood ducks and hooded mergansers visiting the > same boxes. The wood duck eggs are usually ovid (egg shaped), while the > merganser eggs are rounder. They are also slightly different colored, but > I am not sure how reliable that is for differentiating them. I try to > minimize my handling of the eggs, so I do little more than count the eggs > and determine if both are present. > > If you realize that a hen lays one egg a day, you see that often > multiple hens are using the boxes. While some boxes are major dump zones, > nearby boxes will be ignored. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Paul A. Lender" <lender at umn.edu> > To: "Steve Weston" <sweston2 at comcast.net>; "MNBird" > <mnbird at lists.mnbird.net> > Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 8:54 AM > Subject: Re: [mnbird] Birding about the Metro > > >> Hi Steve >> >> I just want to be clear: the Hooded Mergansers are laying eggs in active >> Wood Duck nests? Is this known to be a common occurrence? Do the >> Woodies actually raise the young Hoodies? >> >> -- Paul >> >> Steve Weston wrote: >>> On Sunday domestic duties kept me at home. I did check my wood duck >>> houses. One I cleaned out and took down for rehab. The squirrels tore >>> it up pretty bad. One has juvenile Gray Squirrels and one is presumed >>> to still have squirrels. The other two had 13 and 17 eggs. >> >> *** Although it >>> appeared that most were Wood Duck, each had at least one or two Hooded >>> Merganser eggs. *** >> >> >>> Company arrived and we all sat down to dinner, when two Barred Owls flew >>> in just outside the windows. The closest must have sat there for about >>> twenty minutes. >>> >>> Today I stopped at Purgatory Creek lake in Eden Prairie. I found two >>> Common Terns, at least ten Bonapartes Gulls, and Rough-winged Swallows, >>> which were also found in Anoka County. In Andover I saw my first >>> butterfly, a Mourning Cloak, which hibernates over the winter as an >>> adult. >>> >>> I heard Chorus Frogs and Spring Peepers in Coon Rapids. >>> >>> Steve Weston on Quiggley Lake in Eagan, MN >>> sweston2 at comcast.net >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> mnbird mailing list >>> mnbird at lists.mnbird.net >>> http://lists.mnbird.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mnbird >>> >> >> -- >> ======================================== >> Paul A. Lender >> University of Minnesota Department of Orthopaedic Surgery >> 2512 South 7th Street, Suite 200 >> Minneapolis MN 55454 >> Voice: (612) 273-8053 >> FAX: (612) 273-7959 >> e-mail: lender at umn.edu >> >> The information transmitted in this e-mail is intended for the person or >> entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or >> privileged material, including "protected health information." If you >> are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any review, >> retransmission, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message >> is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in >> error, please destroy and delete this message from any computer and >> contact us immediately by return e-mail. >> >
