Today I attempted to re-locate the peregrine falcons at the High Bridge, without success. I then drove to the 180th street marsh in Dakota County. From the turn onto 180th from 52 to the marsh itself I saw nearly 80 Horned larks from the car.
I took the first left east of the marsh and promptly saw a flock of about 30 common redpolls hanging around the highway. They were so close that 3 of them were killed by passing cars in the 5 minutes I watched. I also saw a northbound sharp-shinned hawk flying over the bare farm fields. I noted the larks and redpolls simply froze in place. The hawk continued on it way. I then drove to St. Mary's Cemetery in Mpls in a vain attempt to locate the Townsend's Solitaire. I spent 30 minutes driving through the cemetery with my windows down watching and listening but could not find the bird. All in all it was a grand, if modest morning.
