Expanding a little on what Kim has said, Common Mergansers stage in late fall every year on Lake Minnetonka and remain until the lake freezes over. The Excelsior Christmas Bird Count includes most of Lake Minnetonka and on about 1/4 of our counts, a portion of the lake (particularly Smith and Browns bays) will be open. On those years, we often count well over a thousand mergansers. The record year was 2015 when a count of approximately 13,000 Common Mergansers was estimated. The biggest problem, as others have noted, is there is essentially no public space on which to view these bays.
Howard Towle Golden Valley, MN > On Dec 4, 2023, at 12:12 PM, Kim R Eckert <ecker...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Based on today's and other recent reports on mou-net, there is little or no > doubt in my mind that the posting of a second-hand report a few days ago > about “thousands" of Common Loons at Lake Minnetonka actually involved > misidentified Common Mergansers. I have frequently witnessed non-birders and > beginners mistake mergansers for loons. – Kim Eckert, Duluth > > > On Dec 4, 2023, at 10:55 AM, Jim Williams <woodduc...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Mics-morn Wayzata Bay 100s common mergs stretched across mid-bay east to > west. Too distant and hazy to distinguish loons. Unusual, no eagles seen > hunting or in trees at bay entrance. Did not check Cty Road 15 shore. > > Jim Williams > Birding columnist > Minneapolis StarTribune > startribune.com/variety/homeandgarden > > ---- > General information and guidelines for posting: > https://moumn.org/listservice.html > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > > During the pandemic, the MOU encourages you to stay safe, practice social > distancing, and continue to bird responsibly. > > ---- > General information and guidelines for posting: > https://moumn.org/listservice.html > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > > During the pandemic, the MOU encourages you to stay safe, practice social > distancing, and continue to bird responsibly. ---- General information and guidelines for posting: https://moumn.org/listservice.html Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html During the pandemic, the MOU encourages you to stay safe, practice social distancing, and continue to bird responsibly.
