This morning Maureen & I walked the east shore of the Mississippi River
from the Hwy 610 Bridge to the north end of Cenaiko Lake, not going
quite as far upstream as the dam itself. Other than the tern, the
birding was rather slow. We were hoping for a good showing of warblers.
We're wondering if anyone else thought they saw a Caspian Tern flying
over, and diving into, Cenaiko Lake. We're not confident in our tern ID
abilities and would love to hear concurring or conflicting reports.
Caspian Tern, probable - large tern with large tern-like (not gull-like)
bill; sharp-bordered black cap on white head; large red bill (didn't see
a dark tip); tail appeared squarish, almost slightly rounded at times,
but noted a slight notch on one turn; legs & feet black; upper part
(except head) were white, but with slight grayish trend toward wing
tips; underside was white, with gray toward wing tips, becoming almost
black near tips; very adept at catching fish, caught 3 while we
watched. We were viewing with 8x & 10x binoculars from the west side of
the lake while the tern was mostly flying over the eastern half, so our
viewing wasn't optimal.
Common Loon - 1 on Cenaiko Lake
Blue-headed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Nashville Warbler - 2
Palm Warbler - 1
Yellow Warbler - quite a few
American Redstart - 2
Black & White Warbler - heard 1
Golden-winged Warbler - heard 1 by 610 bridge
Osprey - 4 in flight, and probably a 5th on the nest platform on the
west side; possibly a chick in the nest, but we were viewing from across
the river, too far to say for sure
Bald Eagle - 1 left the nest area to chase off osprey that got too close
Thanks for any feedback on the tern.
Ron & Maureen Refsnider
Coon Rapids, MN
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