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From: Laura Coble [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, March 08, 2009 7:37 PM To: '[email protected]' Subject: L. Byllesby, Dakota Cty, Wells Lake, Rice Cty Lake Byllesby, southeast of Randolph, MN, has just started to very slowly open up near the shore at the shallow northwestern end of the lake, and is partially open near the hwy 56 Cannon River bridge. I saw one Bald Eagle perched in a tree and no waterfowl except Canada Geese and Mallards yesterday, viewed from Randolph Cemetery, south of hwy 88. It looks as if continuing cold weather will delay a significant thaw for a while. There is a narrow "canal" of water along the shoreline below the cemetery. Several other birders and I saw 9 species of ducks at Wells Lake yesterday, southwest of Faribault, off of Hwy 60, along hwy 12 (at the dike bridge). We saw most of the ducks Dave Bartkey reported on March 5th, (C. Merganser, Hooded Merganser, Gadwell, N. Pintail, N. Shoveler), plus small flocks of Redhead, Lesser Scaup, Am. Black Duck (4) with the Mallards, and at least one pair of C. Goldeneye. I didn't see Canvasback, but they may have shown up later. The patch of open water extends out from the bridge area, and under the bridge, but ice still covers most of the lake. The advantage is that the ducks are fairly close to shore. I didn't have time to check Alexander Park in Faribault, which Dave mentioned in his post. I also saw a N. Harrier and Rough-legged Hawk near L. Byllesby (Dakota Cty) west of St. Mark's Lutheran Church, north of Randolph, and a N. Harrier just east of Nerstrand State Park in Rice County. I looked for a Red-headed Woodpecker at Nerstrand, and didn't find one. I did find a Pileated Woodpecker. Laura Coble Cannon Falls ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
