Birded around Pope County the past couple of days mostly for MBBA survey (in the warmish weather).
Of interest: Still more Dickcissels, this time in my “new” White Bear Lake township priority block. At least two males that appeared to defend territories, one pair copulating (with a female – not the other male). There was also a Bobolink that appeared to defend a territory in this same WPA. At least he appeared to be chasing away another male (it did not look like some friendly bachelor party), he then returned to his post. These were in Gorder (west) WPA. The Dickcissels I found 3 weeks ago in my MBBA survey in Nora township (Mattson WPA) were still there in the exact same spot. The best bird, though, was the Red-necked Grebes. There were two hens on what appeared to be nests on a small western arm of Pike Lake. I will follow up on these. Also on Pike Lake were some Pied-billed Grebes – no fledglings, though. There were several families of Pied-billeds on a Moen WPA lake in Nora Tshp. There was also a lone Red-necked Grebe on Wollan Lake in White Bear Lake township. I have seen Red-necks on this lake before and others have reported them there. I hope we can confirm breeding activity this year. A hen might be on a nest but most of this lake in inaccessible. I was pretty excited to confirm Bobolinks in Ben Wade township across the road from my farm. The bird has been on the same territory since early June and is regularly bringing food to a single location near his favorite perch. Maybe we will see young birds next week. A couple of general observations (western and northwestern Pope County): Sparrows – Song Sparrows are everywhere – adults, downy young, young begging food. Maybe it is because Breeding Bird Surveys force one to notice every location, numbers of birds, etc rather than making lists but I thought there were many more than I remember. Also, Swamp Sparrows are everywhere. I quit making notes on locations because every cattail marsh had Swamp Sparrows calling. Of course, I only actually saw one or two of them and not nests, begging fledglings, or downy young. But then, there are cattail swamps everywhere in the county, too, so maybe that is the reason. Chipping sparrows are well represented, as well. Clay-colored were not common but around – also stuffing insects down little gullets. Uncommon or non-existent: Field, Grasshopper, Vesper, Savannah. According to MOU maps, all of these are rare nesters in Pope County, no nesting records for Savannah. Of course, I have trouble hearing Grasshopper unless I am downwind, light or no breeze, less than 75 yards, etc. This area is primarily agricultural with scattered WPAs, farm groves, and wetland ponds so maybe there are more of these species in the “grassier” southern half of the county, i.e. Glacial Lakes SP. Perhaps many have stopped calling – everything else is early. It just seems to me there were more of these in recent years. There were also no Meadowlarks, very few Horned Larks, and only 3 Pheasants with babies. My farmer neighbors reported, anecdotally, that pheasant populations were down. They attributed this to the harsh winter of 2010-11 with lots of snow and cold followed by a cold and wet spring nesting season. Another unpleasant but real report from the farmers was far fewer Mallard and Pheasant nests molested by hay mowing. I saw very few Mallards on lakes and ponds Ring-necked Ducks were more common – seen on several ponds and lakes – with youngsters. Marsh, Sedge and House Wrens are apparently doing well; Marsh in many cattail marshes, Sedge are in nearly every patch of grass larger than 10 acres, House in many farmstead groves and small clusters of oak, ash, and box elder trees. In response to Al Schirmacher’s inquiry regarding Harriers: There were many Harriers around Pope County in May and early June, many on predictable and regular territories and almost as numerous as Red-tails. This past week – one. Maybe they think it is too hot to go out hovering around the prairie – and maybe the little guys they are hunting are hunkered down in the cool ground. Speaking of little guys – I saw many striped gophers, otherwise known as Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrels along the roads. So there goes my theory – it apparently wasn’t too hot for them to be out. Sid Stivland Plymouth, MN (and Pope county) ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
