(Posted by Jason Frank <jmfran...@gmail.com> via moumn.org) Hold onto your worms, because these birds are early.
This morning my dog flushed a Common Snipe on public land just west of Gary, SD. Admittedly not Minnesota, but only a mile over the border. Two Northern Flickers and a Red-Bellied Woodpecker at the same location. A drive up to Salt Lake yielded several overhead passes of Greater White-Fronted Geese moving north in flocks of 20-50 birds, 7 Red Winged Blackbirds, lots of Starlings and 3 Meadowlarks (apologies for not knowing whether they were Eastern or Western, as they never sang and the breasts were still gray). Two were on the SD side, 1 just south of the MN overlook. Note: the road that loops back into MN from the SD side northwest of Salt Lake is in terrible condition. Travel not advised without a 4WD truck. I'll monitor the conditions and report when it becomes navigable. Lots of Horned Larks in open fields. Flocks of Canada Geese were landing at Big Stone NWR this afternoon. Ice cover rapidly diminishing. On the wildlife drive I also saw 1 Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, 3 Red Tailed Hawks, and 1 Cooper's Hawk. Jason Frank ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html