[mou-net] good photos of house sparrows
A lot of social behavior (mostly fighting) among sparrows from Switzerland. I think these are HOSPs but are some European Tree Sparrows? That is not a HOSP nest in the one photo, but I think it might be another species nest not related to the young sparrows. need to do some research. Gordon Andersson St Paul http://oddstuffmagazine.com/expressive-scenes-from-the-life-of-sparrow.html Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] Sherburne Refuge birds & wildlife drive status
Hi All, The Prairie's Edge Wildlife Drive will open the middle of April. No specific date chosen yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I get the word. I promise. Bird life here hasn't changed too much in the last few days. We have (that I know of): Lots of waterfowl, seen on all roadside marshes in the area, including Blue and green-winged teal Shoveler Gadwall Ring-necked duck Lesser scaup Wood duck Bufflehead Hooded merganser Common merganser Common goldeneye Canvasback I personally have not seen wigeon, pintail, redhead, red-breasted merganser or ruddy duck - but that doesn't mean they're not around. White-fronted goose last Saturday, none the last two days. No snow geese for a week or so. For raptors: Turkey vulture Bald eagles (2 or 3 nests have hatched just in the past few days) Northern harrier Broad-winged hawk Red-tailed hawk American kestrel Red-shouldered hawk hasn't been seen or reported for about a week No shorebirds other than killdeer Eastern phoebe Northern shrike - think they're moving through Tree swallow Winter wren - Blue Hill Trail Ruby-crowned kinglet - Blue Hill Trail Eastern bluebird Eastern towhee American tree sparrow - but numbers seem to be thinning out Field sparrow Vesper sparrow Fox sparrow Song sparrow Swamp sparrow Junco - lots of flocks around - moving through? Eastern meadowlark Purple finch at HQ on 03-26, but not seen today. American goldfinch Note: The feeder at refuge HQ now contains golden safflower, and gosh are the birds NOT liking it. My goal is to NOT feed the hoards of blackbirds and grackles, but they're getting back at me by scarfing down my flavored suet instead. And the woodpeckers and chickadees still have a hard time getting in to sneak a bite. I'm wondering what will happen when the suet is gone, as I do not intend to replace it. I might have the least-used bird feeder in the state at that point. Betsy Beneke Sherburne NWR Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] Lake Vadnais
The road through Lake Vadnais opened Monday. We've driven through yesterday and today but only saw a single pair of mallards and a few robins. The fishermen are already out, though! Gail Wieberdink Ramsey County Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] Amazing day at Sax-Zim Bog... New arrivals, fun birders, more pictures
Yesterday I guided around fourteen birdwatchers & naturalists from the Audubon Center of the North Woods (Sandstone, MN). We had an amazing time! Our day started out arriving in the bog about 15 minutes to the early-morning twilight coming around; and within moments of heading out of the vans to trek through the woods, the air was filled with birdsong! One of the grandest highlights from yesterday was coming across a moose! We ended the day by stopping at Thompson Hill, to do a little bit of hawkwatching. The mid-afternoon hours proved to be slightly slow, but upon arriving we witnessed a rush of Red-tailed Hawks just ripping low, overhead. It was awesome! The checklist below contains the birds seen on yesterday's trip. Bold words are new bog birds to me (for the year). Below the checklist are pictures from yesterday's trip. Enjoy the photos! Canada Goose WOOD DUCK Mallard RING-NECKED DUCK Common Merganser Bald Eagle Northern Harrier (two Gray Ghosts - aka adult males) Sharp-shinned Hawk (1 migrating overhead) Red-tailed Hawk Rough-legged Hawk American Kestrel RING-BILLED GULL (migrating north) Hairy Woodpecker Black-backed Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker Northern Shrike Blue Jay Black-billed Magpie American Crow Common Raven Black-capped Chickadee Brown Creeper WINTER WREN GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET American Robin AMERICAN TREE SPARROW SONG SPARROW Dark-eyed Junco RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD COMMON GRACKLE White-winged Crossbill Sunrise, deep in the bog http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/142334010 American Robin, taking a break from migration http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/142334001 Bald Eagle http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/142334002 Black-backed Woodpecker (female) http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/142334003 Northern Harrier (gray ghost) http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/142334004 http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/142334005 Beaver Dam, along Stone Lake http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/142334006 Moose http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/142334009 Leatherleaf, in front of Labrador Tea http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/142334007 Labrador Tea http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/142334008 Good birding, Erik Bruhnke Duluth, MN -- *NATURALLY AVIAN* - Guided Birdwatching Trips and Bird photography www.pbase.com/birdfedr www.naturallyavian.blogspot.com birdf...@gmail.com Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
