Did my usual ever improving rounds along Zachary Lane at the WNW corner of the lake. Awesome day!
One odd bird of note - a large flycatcher but generally pale undersides and rufous tail. I thought it was a Great Crested but the undersides were pale and no distinguished yellow but the bill said flycatcher and the size said Great Crested but the book said Ash- Throated but not in our area. Any ideas? It was high up in the tree tops catching flyers. I was holding it as a Great Crested one year old or pale famale or something. Watched it for a good 10 minutes and this is the best I could come up with. Birds of note - gonna list all of them seen during my hour and a half out there - even the common ones Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green Heron Northern Oriole Hooded Merganser Coot Wood Duck Red-winged Blackbirds Cowbirds Common Grackles American Redstart Yellow Warblers Goldfinches Crows Cooper's Hawk (nest #6 - if you build it she will come - saw the pair and they appear to be in blessed hawktrimony) Swamp Sparrow Cedar Waxwing Ovenbird Purple Finch (lifer) House Finch (conveniently there for comparison - thank you great spirits) House Wren Marsh Wren Ring-necked Pheasant Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker Double-Crested Merganser Horned Grebe Ruby-Crowned Kinglet Yellow-rumped Warblers Robins Brown Thrasher Palm Warblers Kingfisher Mourning Doves White-breasted Nuthatches Black-capped Chickadees Cardinals Mallards Canadian Geese Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers Fox Sparrow Song Sparrow Ring Billed Gulls Common Terns Bluejays Chipping Sparrows Common Loon Black and White Warbler And I think I am missing some! Isn't that like 50 species!?!?! All in a hour and a half!!!! What a great day! Time for lunch. My work here is done. Wonder what might show up later on? Thomas Maiello Angel Environmental Management, Inc. Maple Grove, MN
