I was on a business retreat yesterday (Thurs) in the conference cottage at St Croix River Bluffs Regional Park (Washington Co). As I drove from Rte 10 onto St Croix Trail and proceeded up the hill to the left curve in the road, I saw at least 40 "wild" turkeys feeding in the yard of the house on the right side of the road (they have a lot of feeders up and I suspect that they also provide sustenance for the gobblers, as well). A few of the turkeys were displaying...Then, further up St Croix Trail, about 1/2 mile before the St Croix Bluffs park entrance, I had a beautiful low flyover of 6 trumpeters swans. They continued flying over the farm fields to the northeast...
During the retreat, as we sat in the cottage with a wall of windows overlooking the St Croix River, I couldn't help noticing eagle activity: an adult pair landed on the ice at the base of the tree-covered hill below the cottage, a couple of adults flew individually up the river, and late in the day an immature gave us good looks heading south on the MN side of the river at eye level. What a way to do business! Glad I stumbled on this retreat location while out birding in the Prescott area earlier this winter ;-) Kathy Confer Near Lake Josephine in Ramsey County ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
