I decided to spend most of the day walking the entire length of the dike at Reno today (ending at the lock and dam at Genoa, WI). My start was delayed somewhat by the Snowy Owl in Winona this morning, but I was able to walk out and back in about 6 hours including birding. I think this is between 8-10 miles roundtrip. There are 5 "legs" to the Reno Dike. All three birds were near the spot where the 2nd leg ends and the 3rd leg (which shoots due east) begins. The Long-tailed Duck was super close, about 20 yards off the dike, and I had the bird on the way out and back. The two Black Scoters were maybe 100 yards out usually with a groups of Coots and divers, mostly Ring-necked Ducks. I only had them on my way back. Careful there are a few Ruddy Ducks about! I also had a Common Loon about 300 yards out from halfway down the 2nd "leg". Was it worth hiking the whole thing? Well, the most interesting thing on the 5th "leg" was 48 coot carcasses, one every few feet for a good stretch. Must be a popular area for Eagle dining. I only saw a couple coot carcasses on the first four legs, as well as one Lesser Scaup and one Mallard.
Dedrick BenzWinona, MN ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
