A brief walk at Cliff Fen, where we found a pair of Bell's Vireos intent on protecting their nest territory---an intention we respected by retreating after the barest of glances---inspired us to do a listening-check for the Bell's Vireos that might have returned to the habitat on Xcel's property on Randolph Ave in St. Paul. In the high winds we could have missed their calls, but we didn't hear them. We did, however, hear something quite unexpected.
Driving to the turn-around at the end of the road, we decided to check out the newly-opened dog park under the Smith Avenue high Bridge, on the property that Xcel cleaned up and donated for the purpose. As we pulled into the parking lot, facing the power plant, we were greeted by the distinct calls of Dickcissels---multiples of them, in fact. Feeling incredulous, I donned the ear-buds and checked audio recordings to confirm. They were far out, and deep in the grasses and wildflowers, but we managed to spot one bird, perched on a post far out in the field. Once again, birds have managed to adapt to challenging environments-- incentive to keep plugging away at correcting the damage we've done. Linda Whyte ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
