First-of-Year sightings this morning in Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park
(Anoka County), east side of the dam:
- Eastern Towhee, calling, not singing, just north of the bike trail
bridge over Coon Creek. Eventually he popped into sight, giving us a
visual treat.
- Brown Thrasher - 1 singing from the north side of Cenaiko Lake,
finally appeared; another one quiet, seen foraging in the ski trail SW
of the lake.
Other than the numerous song sparrows, there was a striking absence of
sparrows this morning. We've had a few white-throats at our home about
1.5 miles south of the dam, but we couldn't find any in the park. There
were 10 d-c cormorants roosting in a snag in the river, the first flock
we've noted this spring, although we have seen 1-2 individuals in the
last week.
A note on the heron rookery this spring: Up until today we'd seen only
10-12 herons on the rookery nests, and all were in the western portion
of the rookery. Today we saw about 15 on the western nests and another
6 in the more central nests. For the first time this year we saw 1 pair
involved in nest building. In contrast to the onset of warm weather,
heron arrival and nest construction seem to be very late at this
rookery. Compared to the 40-60 active nests in recent years, this
rookery suddenly appears to be on a steep decline. Hopefully more
herons will return within the next week, proving that my fears are
ungrounded.
We also could see the 3 ospreys on the two nests on the west side of the
Dam.
---Ron Refsnider
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