Hey birders!
I had a chance to get out today and see what sorts of things are entering the
county.
Cobb River WPA was hopping with over 200 Lapland Longspurs feeding on the
burned prairie off of CR16. I had to walk through the flock a couple of times
and they were remarkably tame. Barred Owls were hooting on an off during the
morning from the woods there too. The pond on the corner of CR16 and CR126 had
several hundred waterfowl including Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, Green-winged
Teal, Northern Pintail, and Northern Shoveler. A couple of Western Meadowlarks
were in the parking lot on the west side of the WPA and there is an
electrocuted Red-tailed Hawk that is hanging from a telephone pole on that same
road (anyone know who to call about that?) Perch Lake on the east side is just
starting to open on the north side and there was some waterfowl there as well.
Roberts WPA had some waterfowl too. There were >120 Ring-necked Ducks on the
pond on the west side of the WPA.
Maple River WMA just north of Roberts WPA has lots of waterfowl. There were
>60 Greater White-fronted Geese and many dabblers including American Wigeon,
Gadwall, Northern Shoveler. There were also small flocks of Rusty and Brewer's
Blackbirds on the south side of the WMA in the morning. While the water there
is not entirely open yet, it is opening rapidly.
I also received a second-hand report of a Eurasian Collared-Dove in Mankato in
the alley of the 500 block of north Broad Street. This is the second report
I've heard for that general area and it may be worth further investigation.
Other new birds for the year: Killdeer, Eastern Bluebird, and Song Sparrow.
On another note...today was the first day I have not had a Common Redpoll in
the vicinity of the Bethany Lutheran College Campus (10 yesterday). This week
I also raked up the seed hulls from the winter season's feeding and they
completely filled two 30-gallon garbage cans! Siskins are still present and
paired up; I am still trying to confirm back-to-back years with nests on the
Bethany campus.
Happy birding!
Chad Heins
Mankato, MN
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