There is a truly impressive array of American Coots on Christina Lake (in the extreme northwest corner of Douglas County). Yesterday, as part of the MRV Birding Day, we (very roughly) estimated there were at least 20,000 coots there. That number is probably conservative. They were stretched all across the lake rather than in smaller, tighter rafts. Because the day was so calm, we could hear a constant undercurrent of sounds from them -- grunts, squeaks, tones. Most entertaining! Lake Christina is located about 5 miles northeast of the town of Ashby along Hwy 78. A Nature Conservancy pull-off at the base of the Seven Sisters Preserve is a perfect parking place just across the road from the lake.
Another highlight was a sweeping fly-by of 50 Common Nighthawks while we ate lunch on Inspiration Peak in adjoining Otter Tail Co. --- Dan & Sandy Thimgan Battle Lake MN Otter Tail County -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://moumn.org/pipermail/mou-net_moumn.org/attachments/20080913/b6f81629/attachment.html