The first Canada Goose pair arrived on our frozen lake about a week ago. The lake is still quite frozen and we are up to at least three very noisy pairs on the still frozen lake. They often walk around with their heads just inches from the ground honking up a storm. I watched as one of a pair charged across the lake to challenge a third goose. That goose seemed unconcerned with the aggressive approached. When the aggressive goose got close, its neck went up and the it appeared to say, "Oh, its you." And, peace was extended to that corner of the lake. Mallards are starting to take up territories this evening.
On Saturday my wife watched as a mink rollicked across the yard and then across the lake disappearing a hundred yards away into a neighbor's woods. My wife thought that it had a huge territory, but I thought it was a first year pup heading out from the den to establish a new home. I don't know that rollick would be the best term to describe the high energy romp that characterizes its movement. Recently I found a opossum had been a mortal meeting with a car as it crossed the busy street by the lake, probably an unsuccessful dispersal of a young one. We have a muskrat in the very little open water on the edge of the lake by the yard. New birds for the year today include a Phoebe in the yard and a couple of Great Blue Herons seen around the Metro area. Robins are singing all over the place. On the warm Saturday I heard the trilling of Juncos. On Saturday we had a very cooperative visit from an adult female Cooper's Hawk who sat in a tree in the yard allowing a careful observation, before demonstrating her speedy flight. I still have yet to see or to hear a Song Sparrow. 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
