I am finding duck broods showing up. A couple of days ago it was a Canada Goose family with five. I have always figured that the earliest hatchlings are probably younger pairs that lay less eggs. Today I saw a Hooded Merganser brood sitting by the Cattle Egret in Bloomington. Today in the yard, I had another Tennesee Warbler singing, a Common Yellowthroat, and a Great Crested Flychatcher.
My showy orchis is blooming in all its glory. The spiderwort is ready to bloom. The front lawn is rich with dandelions. My wife thinks the lawn looks horrible. I doubt the weather will cooperate sufficiently and the forces of the cosmos will align properly to propel me into the garage to drag out the lawn mower. My neighbor has been gathering morels and oyster mushrooms. Tonight I feasted on morels, which I sauted with onions. Thankyou Dave and Jeff. I was already to head south to Frontenac to run my frog and toad survey. My lake has been boisterous with treefrogs and even toads the last few days. That's the right mix for my second survey run. But, I was slow out the door and dusk was deep over the lake. I opened the door to hear the chorus and was greeted with silence. So, I went back in. Checking a half hour later, I heard the deep snore of the Leopard Frog. They are common in the yard, but I rarely hear them, probably because they sing early in the season on colder nights when I am less apt to be at an open door. Well, the survey will have to wait for a warmer evening when the right frogs will be randy. -- Steve Weston on Quigley Lake in Eagan [email protected] ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
