I birded the Crow-Hassan Park Reserve area this evening. Highlights are listed below:
**Greater White-fronted Goose**--I counted 19 birds foraging in a cornfield with some Canada Geese on the northwest side of Sylvan Lake (off of Sylvan Road, which leads to the park reserve). Apparently there have been some other sightings of this species in the county, although I'm unsure exactly where. **Cackling Goose**--3-5 birds were resting on the north/northeast side of the lake on someone's lawn **Trumpeter Swan**--9 birds were observed at the lake, which is where I've seen a flock in the summer. I saw another pair on a marsh on the south side of I-94, 1/8 mile northwest of mile marker 212. I've seen that pair there a lot, so I'm guessing that they breed at this pond. **Lesser Yellowlegs**--1 in the pool on the south side of Sylvan Lake Road **Chipping Sparrow**--1 bird mixed in with a flock of American Tree Sparrows and Song Sparrows near the yellowlegs. The white supercillium was obvious compared to the other sparrows. **Field Sparrow**--1 bird singing in the reserve Other birds heard/seen here include 11 duck species, American Coot, Ring-necked Pheasant, Sandhill Crane, Horned Lark, Eastern Bluebird, and Eastern Meadowlark. I didn't stick around long enough to listen to the American Woodcock show. Crow-Hassan Park Reserve is located between Berning Mill and Hassan, both of which are located near Rogers in the northwest corner of the county. Recent sightings in Golden Valley include Pied-billed Grebe, nesting Red-tailed and Cooper's Hawks, American Black Duck hybrid pair, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Fox Sparrow, and singing Eastern Phoebe, in addition to the more suspected birds. I have seen no herons or egrets yet, but given the weather conditions, I suspect that they should be here any day now... Good birding! Alyssa DeRubeis Golden Valley, Hennepin Co. ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
