Having recently moved to Ortonville, Minnesota, I'd like to share some sightings from the past week that may be considered noteworthy as far as county records are concerned. (I will RQD them shortly).
This evening around sunset we had a great half-hour view of a Merlin hunting from a leafless branch at the top of a tree between the southern side of the high school and St John's Catholic Church. Every few minutes, it would launch off to make a strike (we're guessing it was after some large dragonflies) before returning to the perch. It flew off to a different roost once the sun went down. It was an adult male Taiga specimen. All week long, a Pileated Woodpecker has been coming to my feeders. There are at least two of them active in Central Park, in the middle of town. I've also had Red-Breasted Nuthatches and a single immature male Northern Cardinal showing up. As of this evening, Hummingbirds are still present. Last Monday night, a Barred Owl was calling in Central Park, which is also the evening roost site of approximately 50 Turkey Vultures. Other raptors taking advantage of the thermals this week include: Broad-Winged Hawks (60+ last Tuesday in 3 separate kettles), Cooper's, Sharp-Shinned, Red-Tailed, and Swainson's. The oak savanna at the Bonanza Beach section of Big Stone Lake State Park (the northern part) is overflowing with acorns, and I counted 6 Red-Headed Woodpeckers there last weekend. A few days ago, Ron Erpelding had a Snowy Egret in the backwater on the west side of the Milan Bridge, Hwy 40, in Lac qui Parle County. -- Jason Frank Ortonville, MN. Founder and Vice President, Luddite Ornithologists League (LOL) https://turnstonecreations.smugmug.com/ Sent from my invisible blue Homing Pigeon ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
