I made a loop around the Prairie's Edge Wildlife Drive at Sherburne Refuge this morning, from approximately 6 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. I recorded 59 species - both seen and heard. I was surprised by the amount of bird song - were the birds celebrating the cooler, dryer air too? What an absolutely gorgeous morning to be out! There was a family of lark sparrows flying around by the restroom at the beginning of the drive. There was a yellow-billed cuckoo at about 1.8 miles - in the brush and trees on the left side of the drive. On Big Bluestem Pool, I watched one adult common gallinule feeding a fairly small chick (still fuzzy and had red on its head) at the far edge of the water, just at the bottom of the hill after the Birds of Prey exhibit. After about 10 minutes, both birds disappeared into the vegetation. I drove ahead to the Big Bluestem Pool sign and saw another adult gallinule with 4 young birds that were approximately 3/4 grown - feathered and nearly as big as the adult. I watched them for over 1/2 hour as they foraged out in the open water. I never saw two adult birds together with young, but I'm thinking there almost HAS to be two broods of gallinules, because of the huge size difference and the fact that they were at two ends of the pool. I have a photo taken by refuge volunteer, Ken Brennen, from July 17 and there were 5 young gallinules in this older family. The last couple of days, we've only been seeing 4 kids. If you visit Sherburne, please look for the second brood of gallinules - help me prove my theory! There was also a great egret on Big Bluestem Pool this morning - that's my first Sherburne egret. They seem to always show up in late summer; we rarely see them otherwise. Another refuge volunteer and birder, Jack Gburzynski, found a black-and-white warbler and two male yellow-rumped warblers in the woodlands at approximately MM 5.0 - 5.1 this morning. Non-bird sighting was two river otters having a morning clam snack on Stickney Pool - the section by the bald eagle nest. I could hear them "crunching" all the way to my car. Betsy Beneke Sherburne NWR
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