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From: Laura Coble [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, April 27, 2008 6:13 PM To: 'mnbird at lists.mnbird.net' Subject: Wilson's Phalarope at 180th St. Marsh, Dakota County At 4:30 pm today, just as I was leaving 180th St. Marsh, I found two female Wilson's Phalaropes in breeding plumage. They were on the north side of 180th St., on the east edge of the west pond, close to the road, in the water around a small clump of marsh grass. I've seen very few shorebirds (just Greater Yellowlegs) this spring, and the phalaropes were a beautiful, more than welcome sight! They were very close to the road, alternately grooming and feeding, turning in circles once in a while. They didn't flush, even when a truck sped by, so I was able to view them for some time. They were still there when I left. 180th Marsh is between Fischer Ave. and Dakota County 85. The gravel road of 180th St.east of hwy 52 was in bad condition several days ago, due to recent rain, so it may be easier to access the marsh by driving less than a mile west from highway 85 and 180th St, northeast of Vermillion, MN. There have been large flocks of a wide variety of waterfowl (including a few Horned and Pied-billed Grebes) at the marsh during the past month, as reported by several birders on the listserv. Today the large flocks were gone--just A. Coots, several Green and Blue-winged Teal, and N. Shovelers. I also checked Lake Byllesby in late afternoon, as well, and did not see any shorebirds--just 60-70 White Pelicans, gulls, C.Geese, and A. Coots. The water in Lake Byllesby is higher than it was last week, with some mud flat still there. Laura Coble Cannon Falls, MN -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://moumn.org/pipermail/mou-net_moumn.org/attachments/20080427/98c38e7e/attachment-0001.html
