The storm of the past two days seems to have stopped the migrants passing through and there are birds just about everywhere today.
The birds that are abundant (in the hundreds or thousands) are: dark-eyed juncos American tree sparrows white-throated sparrows rusty blackbirds American robins fox sparrows The birds that are being seen out in the open in smaller numbers are: veerys Lapland longspurs snow buntings Lincoln sparrows song sparrows killdeer Wilson's snipe greater yellowlegs common grackles There have been a lot of waterfowl concentrated in open water for the past couple of weeks with large numbers of ring-necked ducks, buffleheads, hooded mergansers and common loons. I don't remember looking at a stretch of river and seeing 20 loons like there has been recently. I have yet to see any white-crowned sparrows or Harris sparrows in this movement of birds. This really makes you appreciate the number of migrating birds that pass through an area relatively unnoticed most of the time. Bill Tefft Parks and Recreation Instructor Vermilion Community College 1900 E. Camp Street Ely, MN 55731 Office Phone: 218-235-2197 Fax: 218-365-7218
