I have been visiting Purgatory Creek a couple times a week for the last month or so now and activity has definitely picked up in the last week or two as the water levels continue to drop. The birding on the lake definitely seems better in the evening approaching dusk as more birds fly in.
There are many ducks that come onto the lake including many Mallards, Blue-winged Teals, Green-winged Teals, and last Friday we saw a single Redhead on the lake with the other ducks as well. There are also many Ring-billed Gulls and I have also seen a couple of Caspian Terns on the mud-bar in the middle area of the lake. Shorebird activity has been present on the edges of the lake and on the mud-bar in the center of the lake. Last Friday we saw two Greater Yellowlegs, Killdeer, small peeps on the island and also what I believe was a Semipalmated Plover as it was a bird about the size of the other small sandpipers but with a dark black stripe across its chest. Tonight there 3 American Golden-Plovers near the lake shore closest to the path that goes between the two ponds. I would say the best viewing areas in the evening are from the bridge and the path between the two lakes, and also from the boardwalk/blind on the other side of the lake. The variety isn't always great but it seems like there is something to watch most evenings I have been there. Ben Harste ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
