Around 10:00 this morning I found an adult Snowy Egret at Chaska Lake in eastern Carver County. From Hwy. 41 in downtown Chaska, go west on 1st Street to the Chaska ballfields. Park in the parking lot and take the main trail south which runs along the eastern side of the lake. In about two hundred yards the woods will open up and you will be able to view most of the lake looking west. The Snowy Egret was actively feeding on the close shore from here. It was still present when I left around 10:45.
Also on the lake was a flock of about 45 White-rumped Sandpipers. These birds could only be viewed with a scope, as they were feeding on the far western shore. Water levels at Chaska Lake are continuing to drop, and it looks like this will be good shorebird habitat throughout the summer and fall as long as water levels stay low. A scope is absolutely necessary though. There was also a Yellow-billed Cuckoo calling loudly that could be easily heard from the lake viewing spot. Bob Dunlap, back in Carver County for the summer