We met Florida friends in Duluth for some St. Louis and Lake County birding over Memorial Day weekend.
Nothing extraordinary but yesterday morning (5/31) we came across a recently fledged WOOD THRUSH being fed by a parent along Grassy Point Trail (site #1 on the North Shore Birding Trail in south Duluth area); the young bird's repeated raspy three-note cries made us stop and search along the wooded path leading to the board walk -- looks like these particular wood thrush parents will have more than enough time for a second brood! At Stony Point on Saturday (NSBT site # 18) we were treated to a WESTERN KINGBIRD perched in the sun at the very top of a thirty foot tree. At Sax Zim Bog on Sunday (St. Louis Cty) we were surprised to find a WILSON SNIPE weakly calling from the very top of a 20-foot dead tree -- "More flamboyant in summer, calling from bush tops" says Kaufman. We also heard a BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO playing its outer space-like beeps from a bush or small tree just of the road; I think we were on Admiral Road at this point -- never did see it. Best to all, Don Darnell & Michelle Kern Eden Prairie Hennepin Cty. ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html