I decided to take a trip to the osakis sewage ponds today and surrounding area. On the way I stopped at Lake Osakis in Todd County. The 5th "Western Grebe" I looked at turned out to be a Clark's! It's the first one I've seen in Todd. It was very close, and I could see the bill and face and sides clearly. Well, I eventually thought, why couldn't there be more? So I put up my scope and started scanning the westerns........within 10 seconds I found a second Clark's! It was so amazing, eventually I found another one a little farther up the road, and possibly another one, making 4! One day this week I'm going to do a survey of the whole Lake and see how many Clark's are really out there, because if there are 4 within a half mile......maybe there are a few more in Todd County and maybe even on the Douglas County side. By the way, directions are: From the town of Osakis, go east on 27, after you pass a pond on both sides of the road, take a left. These roads follow the lake. Just start searching at every opening in the trees/houses. They should be relatively easy to find with a scope. Watch out for young Westerns with almost completely white heads. I don't know how I've overlooked these Clark's in the past. Ben Fritchman Long Prairie P.S. With the excitement I never made it to the Osakis Sewage ponds.
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