Saw 56 species today, mostly at Bass Ponds and Old Cedar Avenue Bridge from 1:30-6:30 p.m., including 5 species of shorebirds and 12 species of ducks. At Bass Ponds, saw 2 Avocets, 120 Pectoral Sandpipers, 25+ Greater Yellowlegs, 5+ Lesser Yellowlegs, 1 Killdeer, 100+ Shoveler, 53+ Green-winged Teal, 2 Pintail, 5 other dabbling duck species, 14 White Pelicans flying over, 5 Sandhill Cranes flying over -- all of these species seen from two locations less than 200 feet apart. At Old Cedar Avenue Bridge, saw 4 species of diving ducks, including 21 Ruddy Ducks, a large but distant flock of Lesser Scaup, 2 Ring-necked Ducks , and 1 Bufflehead; excellent views of 2 Sandhill Cranes that have apparently been in the vicinity of the boardwalk across the marsh for the past 3 weeks, 16 Double-crested Cormorants, and 1 Barn Swallow among dozens of Tree Swallows. All of theses species except the Ring-necked Ducks were seen from the observation deck at the end of the boardwalk across the marsh. Bald eagles were on nests at both Bass Ponds and Old Cedar Avenue Bridge, and 6+ additional Bald Eagles were flying around or loafing on the edge of the lake at the two locations. To identify a few of these species (e.g., the Pectoral Sandpipers, the Pintail, and several of the diving ducks), a telescope is essential, but most of them (including the Avocets) could be identified with a good pair of binoculars.
---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
