Went to refill my 14+or- wood duck houses this weekend and go birding. Saturday was foggy and hazy all day, saw a few raptors and waterfowl in late PM looking for a SEOwl or GEagle. Wind from E today and cloudy bright in AM and cloudy in PM but many birds seemed to have moved in and moving today (Sunday). Had three geese sp. including a lone Ross's Goose in feeding with a flock of about 80-100 Canada Geese. (My first in Douglas County.) Ross's was on south side of Douglas 56, .4 miles west of Douglas 7, just S of 94-Brandon Exit. NO Snow Geese! Canada Geese were everywhere and quite a few Duck species had moved in from yesterday to today. (Had all expected except Redheads, Am. Wigeon and BWTeal. Including Coot and CMerg. and Hooded Merg. I had 14 species of duck, three of geese and a flock of 16 Trumpeter Swans. Many raptors were moving: One Sharp Shin, 2 Coopers, 19 Am. Kestrel, 21 N. Harriers, 41 Red-Tailed Hawks, 38 Bald Eagles including 13 on the ice at Lake Christina, but the others in singles and a few pairs. There were a few unidentified but I think they were probably Red-Tails. Had a N. Shrike, a few Snow Buntings, still lots of Juncos and Am Tree Sparrows. Had first of year Bluebirds, W. Meadowlark, Sandhill Cranes (on Territory), Grackle, Killdeer, Mourning Dove and most of the Ducks. Runoff ponds are open to various depths, permanent ponds and lakes are still frozen except where there are inflows and outflows, all streams are open. Lake Irene still had two feet of ice on it. John Ellis-St. Paul
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