A half dozen birders made a perimeter hike of Rachel Lilly Preserve (s. side, Hwy 110, Mendota Heights, between Dodd and Delaware Ave.) in Wednesday morning's clement weather. Most of the summer residents were still in evidence either visually or vocally, though quieter than last month. The missed singers included Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Redstarts, and Yellow Warblers, though we did see Common Yellow-throat.
New this time was the sizable flock of Cedar Waxwings, including young, who were downing fruit and hawking insects by the pond, where we also found Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. Because the pond was actually fuller than last month, there was no influx of shorebirds; only a few Kildeer were feeding at the shoreline. However there was a Little Green Heron and an American Egret present. Barn and Tree Swallows were active there also, but there was no sign of Kingfishers. Cormorants and an Osprey gave us fly-overs, and one very sedentary Red-tailed Hawk perched on a power pole in the back field. Goldfinches were very active, vocal, and numerous, but the family of Eastern Kingbirds nearly outdid them in the first two categories. The House Wren, however were mellowed a bit in behavior, though still pretty defensive about our proximity, while we barely heard from the Sedge Wrens at all. Song and Clay-colored Sparrows were heard; Chipping Sparrows also, though they were more subdued than recently. Other species included Crows, Chickadees, Cardinals, Gray Catbirds, Downy Woodpecker, E. Phoebe, Blue jay, B. Oriole, Great-Crested Flycatcher and Indigo Bunting. Having lingered a bit in places, we skipped some of the paths that might have yielded the usual other Woodpeckers. Three of our party had a more leisurely agenda and stayed behind, so may have seen a slightly different subset of birds. Everyone seemed to agree this is a place worth re-visiting, though, so we'll see what next month brings. (My thanks to Chase Davies for sharing information about flora and other fauna, as well as birds.) Linda Whyte ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
