I'm happy to hear the positive local raptor news! I will add another piece: the Merlins that have traditionally nested in the Macalester College area have apparently been successful again. I brought in to the Raptor Center a grounded brancher/fledgling for a check up; it was deemed healthy, banded, and returned to its nesting area within the hour. The parent keeping track of it had been in vocal and visible evidence, and its behavior too, was clearly normal. I know less of the status of a pair of fledgling Cooper's Hawks over in Oakland Cemetery. The first had been released after treatment for a common mouth infection. The second was strong enough to combine leg work and some low flight to evade capture for a bit of time. Given the extreme heat that day, and the likely scenario that it had gotten it's siblings infection, I can only hope it too was able to be treated and released. If parents are still feeding these inexperienced flyers and hunters they may avoid dehydration. But it's good if we all keep bird baths clean and filled; I have seen even small raptors using them in extreme heat. Now we can hope the predicted storms bring them relief and a minimum of accidents. Linda Whyte
On Fri, Jul 22, 2022, 8:58 AM Brian Tennessen <[email protected]> wrote: > Just to pipe in again on this St. Paul area raptor thread, last weekend I > did a bike ride through Lilydale park and saw one eagle perched along the > river downriver of the yacht club, near the nest there. > > This past Tues I went down by Ford Dam and didn’t see any of the falcons > while there but did see an Osprey nab a Sheepshead in the channel just > downstream of the lock. > > https://flic.kr/p/2nzfdoD > > Yesterday afternoon I did another bike ride through Lilydale park and > coming up Ohio St / Cherokee St., along the bluff I saw 3 falcons flying, 2 > juveniles interacting / locking talons in the air. The third I didn’t spot > whether adult or juvenile, I was huffing and puffing up that big hill.. > > All the best to you all, happy birding! > > Brian Tennessen St. Paul > > On Sun, Jul 10, 2022 at 1:37 PM Jason Frank <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I'll chime in here, from The Edge of the Realm (Ortonville) > > > > -Eagle numbers around here seem pretty average to me. There is a nest in > > Big Stone NWR, easily visible on the exit route of the auto tour through > > the woods by the river, where there's a strong/healthy-looking juvenile > > branching now and ready to fly. I'm still seeing multiple adults per day > > soaring around. > > > > -Accipiter numbers appear typical. Cooper's and Sharp-Shins are a common > > site in town and in the woods along Big Stone Lake. Kestrel numbers seem > > typical (for the past 10 years, which is to say: fewer than there were 20 > > years ago). Red-Tails are still around but seem to be roughly 1/3 less > than > > what I was seeing last year at this time. > > > > -Turkey Vultures are showing the most notable decline here. Last year, > > there would be at least 40 adults who would congregate in Ortonville to > > roost every evening. By late summer, they'd typically expand to around 60 > > individuals. They'd usually start drifting into town around 6:00 PM. > That's > > about how many showed up in April, and since early May I haven't seen > more > > than 15 coming in to roost and/or taking off in the mornings. They were > > eating a lot of roadkilled turkeys and pheasants this spring. > > > > On Thu, Jul 7, 2022 at 3:52 PM Tom Gilde < > > [email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Subjectively, I am not seeing the familiar eagles and osprey in SW St. > > > Paul and Lilydale. I’m wondering whether anyone has, or can point me > to, > > > objective data about the impact of avian flu on our local raptors. I > > miss > > > them. > > > > > > Tom Gilde > > > ---- > > > 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. > > > > > > > > > -- > > 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. > > > > ---- > 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. > ---- 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.
