Wells Lake (Faribault) is continuing to open up. Gene Bauer and I checked it out mid-afternoon today and found a good variety of waterfowl, though none in huge numbers. Most abundant were Common Mergansers, Canvasbacks, and Ring-necks but there were also other species, most notably three Red-breasted Mergansers. Notably absent were Greater White-fronted Geese. Here’s a list of species:
Canada Geese American Wigeon Mallard Canvasback (60+) Ring-necked Duck (40+) Redhead Bufflehead Hooded Merganser Common Merganser (120+) Red-breasted Merganser (3) Pied-billed Grebe Double-crested Cormorant (35) Great Blue Heron (3, though I counted over 30 last Sunday in the rookery) Ring-billed Gull (70+) Herring Gull (1) At Alexander Park in Faribault we found some Greater Scaup as well, and driving around the roads of Rice County south of Northfield we came upon several flooded fields that hosted waterfowl. One on CR8 just E of I35 had large numbers of Canvasbacks, Ring-necked Ducks, Lesser Scaup, and Mallards. Others held Tundra Swans, Hooded Mergansers, and Wood Ducks. In Big Woods SP and the road to it we came across Eastern Bluebirds and Song Sparrows, as well as the usual Horned Larks, Dark-eyed Juncos, American Kestrels, etc. Good Birding to all! Gerry Hoekstra Northfield ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
