Hi everybody, I am far behind on my coorespondance. Too much going on and no time for posting, but it will be coming. I have spent much of the last two weeks birding in Murray and Pipestone counties in SW Minnesota.
But, today (Wednesday), I stopped at a small wetland just east of Buffalo on CR 35. I found more than 30 Ring-billed Gulls and about a dozen Forster's Terns on a small island in the pond. Some of these birds looked like they could be stting on nests, which would be interesting for the BBA (Breeding Bird Atlas). I also saw a Golden Plover, which was quite unexpected. I would like to check this out again, but do not expect to get out there this month. OK.... a little more. On Friday night and Saturday I was up in northern Anoka County, just south of the county line at the Cedar Creek Bog natural area participating in a "Bioblitz" where they try to find as many species as they can in 24 hours. This year I did more with aquatic plants, and odd ball categories (snails, leeches, and bugs), than I worked on birds. However, some of the birds found this year were interesting: Whip-poor-wills, Winter Wren, Northern Waterthrush, Pine Warbler, Hermit Thrush, and Scarlet Tanager. Red-headed Woodpeckers are doing quite well and could have another bumper crop of fledglings. In my yard: A Hooded Merganser is sitting on eggs in one of my boxes. I expect she will bring out a brood in the near future. We have a family of Mallards that continue a local tradition. These are not the typical dabblers. All of the young dive extensively to pursue their food. Wild strawberries are plentiful in the yard, but are difficult to harvest, because of their size. Raspberries are rippening on the stalks, along with elderberries, and gooseberries. - Steve Weston On Quigley Lake in Eagan, MN [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
