These last few days have finally made outdoor walking non-hazardous, if a bit soggy in places, and the effort has been rewarded with multiple sightings of spring activity. At Lilydale, the eagle was back on the nest at Pickerel Lake. By the adjacent wetland, the abandoned eagle nest was once again occupied by a Great-horned Owl, for the third or fourth year in a row. Almost directly across from the Lilydale Yacht Club was another eagle pair at the nest.
At Crosby Lake yesterday, as I stopped to view the eagle on the nest there, I heard the calls of Sandhill Cranes flying north overhead. The backwaters at Crosby are now thawed out, and a male Wood Duck was in among the usual Mallards. Some of the various woodpeckers were not only showing up paired, but also acting more territorial, with threatening sounds and chases. At Bass Ponds, the Refuge Headquarters' eagles were seen on the nest across the wet meadow. Eight more eagles gathered on the ice, not far off shore from the farm on the bluff; at least one of them seemed to be eating a fish. There were two otters moving in and out of an open patch of water nearby, whether fishing or playing, it was hard to tell. Walking to the large pond with outflow to the river, we found a Great-Blue Heron, a Trumpeter, and a pair of C. Merganser on the river side, among the usual Mallards and Canadas. Too far out for identification was a dark raptor perched low among the meadow grasses at the edge of the ice; we were hoping a lift-off might reveal a Harrier or a Rough-legged Hawk, but it never happened. There were Hooded Mergansers on the big pond itself; from the marsh behind there, we heard our FOY Red-winged Blackbird, which we viewed later in the scope, along with a Red-tailed Hawk perched on the bluff-side. Head to the big holding-pond next to the highway bridge, we saw another spring-sign: a chipmunk scampered across the trail. The big holding pond was harboring quite a few Scaup. After watching those for awhile we headed back, and happened to hear our FOY N. Flicker. We were trudging up the hill to the parking lot, when we heard the calls of a Cooper's Hawk; we found a pair, one of them engaged in building a nest just about over the drive way---nice way to end the walk! Linda Whyte ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
