Hi All, The Prairie's Edge Wildlife Drive will open the middle of April. No specific date chosen yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I get the word. I promise. Bird life here hasn't changed too much in the last few days. We have (that I know of): Lots of waterfowl, seen on all roadside marshes in the area, including Blue and green-winged teal Shoveler Gadwall Ring-necked duck Lesser scaup Wood duck Bufflehead Hooded merganser Common merganser Common goldeneye Canvasback I personally have not seen wigeon, pintail, redhead, red-breasted merganser or ruddy duck - but that doesn't mean they're not around. White-fronted goose last Saturday, none the last two days. No snow geese for a week or so. For raptors: Turkey vulture Bald eagles (2 or 3 nests have hatched just in the past few days) Northern harrier Broad-winged hawk Red-tailed hawk American kestrel Red-shouldered hawk hasn't been seen or reported for about a week No shorebirds other than killdeer Eastern phoebe Northern shrike - think they're moving through Tree swallow Winter wren - Blue Hill Trail Ruby-crowned kinglet - Blue Hill Trail Eastern bluebird Eastern towhee American tree sparrow - but numbers seem to be thinning out Field sparrow Vesper sparrow Fox sparrow Song sparrow Swamp sparrow Junco - lots of flocks around - moving through? Eastern meadowlark Purple finch at HQ on 03-26, but not seen today. American goldfinch Note: The feeder at refuge HQ now contains golden safflower, and gosh are the birds NOT liking it. My goal is to NOT feed the hoards of blackbirds and grackles, but they're getting back at me by scarfing down my flavored suet instead. And the woodpeckers and chickadees still have a hard time getting in to sneak a bite. I'm wondering what will happen when the suet is gone, as I do not intend to replace it. I might have the least-used bird feeder in the state at that point. Betsy Beneke Sherburne NWR
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