Small flocks of Pelicans have returned to Big Stone Lake-- on Friday morning there were 3 soaring over the south end of the lake in Ortonville, and on Saturday afternoon there were 6 soaring over Big Stone NWR near Hwy 7. The south end of the lake is open, but elsewhere there is still quite a bit of ice, though its visibly thin and ready to go. The Refuge Auto Tour route is open and there's an excellent new Bald Eagle nest viewing/photo opportunity along the MN River in the woods on the one-way exit route from the main loop; looks like they're still incubating as of Saturday afternoon.
Also on Saturday, I heard my first winnowing Snipe at Long Tom Lake, a few miles east of Ortonville. I so far have only one Greater Yellowlegs for the southern Big Stone/northern Lac qui Parle area, which was seen on Friday; shorebirds seem to be staying put south of the Upper MN River Valley, and this is one of the laggiest springs I've ever seen. Even Killdeers are few and far between at the moment. Other news: one week ago, I heard an Eastern Screech Owl trilling in the Central Park ravine, in Ortonville. There are a pair of Barred Owls nesting down there again, and they're vocal at all hours of day and night; I held off on reporting the Screech because I wanted to see if it would (presumably) survive the night; I think it likely only exists in pellet-form now, because I haven't heard it since, and have been listening with windows open after sunset. This is the THIRD spring in a row when a Screech Owl has showed up in the ravine to vocalize for one night only, so in the very least there is some site nearby where they are reproducing and attempting to spread out. Friday and Saturday, some new waves of ducks moved in, including large flocks of Pintail, Canvasback, Scaup, and Wigeon. First small groups of Wood Ducks were seen on the MN River around the Refuge on Saturday afternoon. Last Tuesday, a lone Turkey Vulture was soaring over town, but hasn't been seen since. Must've been sent north on a scouting mission. Rough-Legged Hawks are still around, but are being replaced by more and more Red-Tails with each passing day. We had about "average" snowfall this winter, but it's been enough to raise the water levels on many wetlands that had ample shoreline last August/September; Salt Lake, for instance, seems to have lost around a foot of shoreline since ice-up last winter. -- Jason M. Frank Founder & Vice President Luddite Ornithologists League (LOL) Big Stone County, Minnesota ---- General information and guidelines for posting: https://moumn.org/listservice.html Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html During the pandemic, the MOU encourages you to stay safe, practice social distancing, and continue to bird responsibly.
