Hard to believe a gloomy day like today could provide a wonderful
nature walk. Then again it's been a long, long winter.
We walked dowwn the dead end lane at Perch Lake WPA and enjoyed a
variety of our feathered friends.
Most prominent was a flock of well over 100 Cackling Geese which
appeared out of the fog in deafening fashion.
An imm Bald Eagle awaited us in the trees at the end of the lane and a
Northern Harrier coursed back and forth in search
of what, based on the profusion of tunnels in the grass, has to be a
huge population of mice and voles. We nearly stepped
on several and they appeared to be very healthy. In the marsh on the
west side of the lane we observed 6 American Coots.
A very large flock of Tree Sparrows were in the trees at the top of
the hill.
The flooded area on the west side of cty 16 between Perch and Cobb
WPAs held a handful of Common and Hooded Mergansers and a pair of
Green-wing Teal.
The open water area on the south end of Perch is growing with both of
the mergansers and a pair of Buffleheads
As we watched the ducks and geese, one after another Bald Eagles lit
on the ice out on the lake totalling 8 by the time we left.
In the course of travel to and from home we counted 6 Kestrels, three
Red-tail Hawks, and a harrier north of the lake that
may or may not have been the same one we had seen earlier.
John Nelson
Good Thunder MN
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