Hello all,
I and 5 other birders were at the Black Dog Lake gull viewing site
yesterday afternoon, Wednesday. Most of the gulls were roosting on the
rock piles east of the power plant, until about 4:45 when they started
moving over to the lake (unfortunately by that time we had all exited
the plant to look for the roosting flock). Some of these birds were
visible from Black Dog Road, but many were hidden on the back side of
the rock piles, and were only visible when they took to the air.
Herring Gull - 500+
Ring-billed Gull - a few
Thayer's Gull - 1 adult
Franklin's Gull - 1 lingering adult, which has been seen a few times
over the past couple weeks. I'll be curious to see how long it sticks
around - what's the record late occurrence for Franklin's?
There may have been other species present, as we were never able to see
the bulk of the flock, except briefly in flight.
Other than gulls: 1 Peregrine Falcon, a couple Black Ducks, 10 Trumpeter
Swans, a single Hooded Merganser. And of course, lots of eagles, tons
of Mallards, Canada Geese, and Common Mergansers. And a river otter!
Many thanks to the Xcel Energy staff for graciously providing access to
the site (especially Tom Fallgren, the plant director), and to Jim
Mattson for coordinating with Xcel and arranging these visits!
Good birding,
Matt Dufort
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