[mou-net] [mou-rba] Sand Dunes Forest Hike
Hi We went hiking with Gary Swanson at Sand Dunes State Forest this morning on and around 253ave NW just east of CR 5. . We saw 35 Species of birds. The highlights were Least Flycatcher, Common Raven, Red Shouldered Hawks (2) Both Red and White breasted nuthatch, house wren, Bluebird, Brown Thrasher, the following Warblers, Nashville, yellow rumped, Pine (2) my first ever in Minnesota, Redstart, Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat, and Magnolia, We also saw and heard a couple of Eastern Towhee’s. . No photos worth posting today. Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Long Billed Dowitcher just south of Grassy Point in Duluth
Hi While many others flooded Duluth looking at the Tall Ships my friends Travis, Herb and I were looking for shorebirds. Just south of Grassy Point we found a lone Long Billed Dowitcher in a small pond surrounded by gravel. We did hear his call and heard in the distance another call so there might be two. He had no problems letting us get fairly close to him and was still there when we left. This is not the Grassy Point trail but just down river from there. Later we explored closer to Duluth and found an area where we saw several least sandpipers , and some lesser yellowlegs. Also in the distance we saw some red heads. I’ve never seen them this time of year, and canada geese as well as mallards and perhaps a gadwall. We did walk the Grassy point trail for a bit but near the end the boardwalk the trail was broken and it was a bit of a risk, especially with our camera equipment to go further. I hope someone fixes it. We did see however a red eyed vireo . We also visited Hartley Park in Duluth, another park none of us had heard of and were guided around it by John Kelsey and his wife. What a lovely park and in spite of the fact that it had been pretty severely logged it is well worth checking out. We saw a jv common yellow throat and butterflies and a dc cormorant as well as a tadpole and a small frog. . So we had a lovely day. Here is my link to some photos. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/29068493201/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids. 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] [mou-rba] Northern Mockingbird still in Rosemount
Hi The mockingbird was reported by several people on Facebook on 140th street off of hwy 52 . My wife and I went out to see it and hopefully the Blue Grosbeak spotted in the area but we did not see the Blue Grosbeak. I’m hoping to go back tomorrow and look again. Anyway we got several good looks at this beautiful bird and someone heard a Bells’ Vireo but i did not. I did however see a Dicksissel and an osprey and nest, yellow headed blackbirds and cedar waxwings. It is a nice area to check out. Here is a link to a photo of the Mockingbird, my first of the year. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/27478164104/ <https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/27478164104/> Ron Taube Coon Rapids Google Analytics 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] [mou-rba] Summer Tanager at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is still there
Hi I want to thank John Jonas for giving me the location of this bird and for others who shared it before him Brand Gulstad and Wilmar Fernandez who I believe originally found it. The bird is located near the children’s maze on the 3 mile trail at the Arboretum, It is just south of the maze and could be on either side of the road. We watched him fly back and forth several times across the road.. He was easily located if you know his call at all. I hope that he finds a mate. Here is a link to some photos. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/27354289413/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Yellow Billed Cuckoo at Carlos Avery Today
Hi Today with my every trusted companions Travis Bono and Herb Lindsay we went all around Carlos Avery Wildlife refuge and had a great day. We stated out with a scarlet tanager and ovenbird then we saw at least two Yellow Billed Cuckoo’s. Photos were scarce but I will post one on the link at the end of this. We saw the cuckoos north of 18 and south of Headquarters road along Old Game Farm Rd. Later we also saw a number of warblers including Mourning, Chestnut sided, Yellow, Golden winged and Redstarts. We also saw a Veery some black terns, Great crested flycatcher, another scarlet tanager, blue winged teal, sedge and marsh wrens, great egrets and quite a few species of dragonflies and a few butterflies. Here is my flickr link for a few photos https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ <https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/> Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Great Day at Carver Park
Hi Today with my friends Travis Bono and Herb Lindsay we went to Carver park. We saw and got photos of some of our favorite birds. We saw several Indigo Buntings, at least two Great Crested flycatchers, first of the year Bobolinks, my third Henslow’s sparrow of the year and common yellow throat, ruby throated hummingbird, red eyed vireo and several others. What was most amazing was that we saw not one but at least two or three Henslow’s and we sat on a bench while we took photos. Here is a link to some of my photos. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/27062045730/ The Henslow’s and Bobolinks were on the south side of Lake 2. The weather held for us until we were ready to leave then it began to sprinkle. Happy Memorial day to everyone Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Prothonotary Warbler at the Coon Rapids Dam Today BP Side
Hi First of all I want to thank the people who told me about spotting this bird this year. Adam Roesch posted it and Jo Ann Morse told me about it. I went out to the Bp side of the dam this morning and got caught in a deluge but I did get a warbling vireo before I got wet. So I went back this afternoon under a light sprinkle and found the prothonotary almost exactly where I was told that it was. I didn’t stay long because the rain started to get heavier again but at my flickr link I have a few photos. Thanks for all of you out there who post bird sites. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/26637549614/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Henslow's Sparrow at Crow Hassan Park in Rogers
Hi We were out with Gary Swanson’s Tuesday hiking group and we saw and heard a Henslow’s Sparrow along the trail. Gary asked that if I post this that anyone who sees the sparrow there to please stay on the trail and don’t drive it out of the area. Other birds seen or heard on the hike were a American Kestrel, vesper sparrow, grasshopper sparrow, field sparrow, Northern rough winged swallow, a baltimore oriole building a nest, scarlet tanager, warbling vireo, olive sided flycatcher, belted kingfisher and a single pelican. We saw 52 species in all. Here is a link to some photos. and a video. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids Mn 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] [mou-rba] Today at the Bass Ponds
Hi Several of us went out with Gary Swanson’s Ornithology class to the Bass Ponds. We saw 64 species. Among them were Black and White, Tennessee , Orange Crown and Yellow Warblers as well as a couple of Northern Waterthrush. We saw four maybe five Dowitchers a lifer for me and heard a least flycatcher. A clay colored sparrow posed for us and other shore birds included, Lesser yellowlegs, Solitary , spotted, and semipalmated sandpipers. Also Barn, cliff tree and bank swallows. We heard a couple of Baltimore Orioles but I never got a good look at one but they’ll be in my yard any day now. A female Hooded merganser with about six chicks was quite a treat to see and a single eastern towhee was heard. It felt like we were finally seeing some good birds. Here are some photos. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/26769807511/ <https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/26769807511/> Ron Taube Coon Rapids. 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] [mou-rba] Lake Osakis on Earth Day
Hi A few weeks ago at the Coon Rapids dam I met a woman and we started talking about birding and the topic of western grebes at Lake Osakis came up in our conversation. I had never been there but she had so we agreed to take a trip there primarily to look for Grebes the Grebe I was most interested in was the Western Grebe, a bird that I had never seen before. She saw them last summer with their babies on their backs as well . I had seen no postings this year of the Western Grebe so I wondered if they were even back yet. We arrived at a resort on the north west corner of Osakis at 8 a.m. We were going to rent a small boat and motor but they gave us a deal on a pontoon boat so we took that. My friend knew the lake and expected to see some western grebes from the shore but we didn’t. We did see and photograph a common loon close to shore. Once we got into the pontoon boat we drove slowly along the shore line looking for whatever and hoping for the grebes. We saw a belted kingfisher soon but no photos. Lots and lots of coots and red heads. ring necks and a few canvasback as well as a few pelicans were seen in the first hour. We also saw many double crested cormorants and then we saw a pair of Red necked Grebes We got close to them. I had just seen two at Sherburne a couple of days earlier but no where near a close as these. My friend had never seen one before and we were both excited to get shots of this beautiful bird. We saw several more pairs of red necks and a horned grebe before sighting our first pair of western grebes. We were both happy to see this beautiful bird. The distinctive long white neck really stood out on the calm waters of Osakis today. This was a lifer for me. We shot many photos and tried putting out bait but they didn’t get that much closer however we did attract a caspian tern (first of the year)who dive bombed into the water close to our boat. He came back many times. We then saw several more western Grebes but no large group as we hoped for and we didn’t see them do their dancing on the water act but they did do some courting. We also saw many more pelicans, cormorants, at least a dozen loon, a pair of common mergansers and a pair of red breasted mergansers, a bonaparte’s gull, another belted kingfisher, We were out four and a half hours and it flew by like a few minutes. At one point the lake appeared to have many thousands of birds in it. A great example of what to do on earth day. Below is a link to some photos. Ron Taube Coon Rapids. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/25981658493/ <https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/25981658493/> 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] [mou-rba] Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge , Highlights Red Necked Grebe, Brown Thrasher and Wilsons' snipe
Hi We went out this morning with Gary Swanson’s hiking group on the Auto Trail at Sherburne. It was fairly dark and a bit windy and felt colder than it should have. We got , I think 45 species of birds. The list included 2 common loon, 2 Red Necked Grebe (found on cr 5 in a pond on the west side of the road just before the turn off to the auto drive) pied billed grebe, . We also saw Trumpeter Swans, Blue Winged teal, ring neck ducks, Lesser Scaup, Bald Eagles, A sharp shinned hawk. pheasant, greater and lesser yellow legs, brown thrasher, barn swallows, bonaparte gulls, an eastern Towhee was heard but not seen, swamp sparrow and several eastern meadowlarks, sandhill cranes, great blue herons, several bunches of yellow rumped warblers and a belted kingfisher. We saw a wilson’s snipe practically right next to our car and i managed to get fairly good shots of him through the window and later outside of the car. The photos at my link are a bit dark and in the case of the Red Necked Grebes quite a distance off but they are at least id-able. Ron Taube Coon Rapids https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ 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] [mou-rba] Trip to Miller Lake, Salt Lake and Big Stone NWR
Trip to Miller Lake, Salt Lake and Big Stone NWR Highlights include Semipalmated Plover, Western Meadowlarks, Marbled Godwit My friends Herb Lindsay, Travis Bonovski and I took a trip yesterday (Saturday)to western Minnesota to Miller Lake in Yellow Medicine County, Salt Lake and Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge. I had never seen Western or Clarks Grebes and I had heard that they were common out there. I realized that it is a bit early the year but we were hopeful. Herb picked me up in Coon Rapids at 4 a.m. and after picking up Travis we drove straight through to Miller Lake arriving at about 7 a.m. We saw no other birders to our surprise. The lake was filled with birds however. We immediately saw Northern Shovelers, Lesser Scaup, a couple of Pied billed Grebes and a couple of Horned Grebes but those were the only Grebes that we saw in that lake and we really searched. As for shore birds we saw pectoral and least sandpipers killdeer and to our surprise a semipalmated plover. We all took lots of photos of him. Also at the lake were a couple of yellow headed blackbirds many green winged and blue winged teal, bufflehead, coot by the hundreds,double crested cormorants, northern flicker,mallard ducks, ruddy ducks,gadwall, wood duck and red heads. Next we drove to Salt Lake. On the way there we saw and heard two western meadowlarks along the road. We also saw what we think was a vesper sparrow. When we arrived at Salt Lake we went out on the platform on the east side of the lake and immediately saw a Savanna Sparrow. We had our scopes and I immediately looked for grebes but again saw only pied billed and horned grebes. We saw many northern shovelers bunched up on the shore, canvasback, redheads and several northern harriers. Next we drove to the western side of the lake, the South Dakota side, and hiked out into the peninsula that divides the lake. We saw several hundred greater white fronted geese as well as five or six snow geese and a couple of dark morphed snow geese. some tundra swans, pintails, many green and blue winged teal, bonaparte’s gulls, wigeon, another western meadowlark, ruddy ducks and the high point for me a Marbled Godwit. We first saw him fly from the south east side of the lake towards the platform in the east then to the north west side of the lake where he landed and was near a lesser yellowlegs. He stayed there a few minutes then flew straight east and we didn’t see him again. Thankfully we all got photos. I hadn’t seen one since a Duluth trip four or five years ago. We then saw some pelicans, From Salt Lake we went to Big Stone NWR and frankly did not see much. We did see painted turtles a white throated sparrow and my friends saw an owl possibly great horned but I did not. We saw an eastern phoebe there near a pond where there was a platform and we saw northern shovelers and a snapping turtle and a tree swallow and a cedar waxwing. All in all we all felt that we had a great trip. Travis did a total count for the day and came up with 62 then Herb added two with the pintail and brown headed cowbird so that made 64.Below are some photos. Ron Taube Coon Rapids https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ 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] [mou-rba] At Lake Cenaiko at the Coon Rapids Dam today
Hi I’ve been watching a Common Loon at Cenaiko Lake for the last three days. I watched him catch a fish today as I followed him around the little Cenaiko Lake. Also I saw at least fifty Tree Swallows sitting in the grass. I was taking photos of them as a girl rode by on her skateboard and she called out to me “Are you getting a Family Photo?” I laughed at that because that’s what I was doing. I saw two Osprey from the platform across the dam fishing in Cenaiko but I didn’t see either of them catch anything. I saw two Great Blue Herons fly and sit by the lake but none in the Rookery. I was assured however by a couple that I run into from time to time at the Dam that they saw seven of them in the rookery last night. I also saw a red tailed hawk, a broad winged hawk , gold finches, house sparrows, and canada geese. On the river were some common mergansers, bufflehead, ring billed gulls . I enjoyed the walk also in spite of the cold and the wind. Here are a few photos https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/25730124153/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids. 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] [mou-rba] Bass Ponds/ Lake Harriet
We started out the morning at the Bass Ponds with Gary Swanson’s weekly hike. We saw 41 species including green winged teals, quite a few, northern shovelers, golden crowned kinglets, a single Greater yellow legs, wilson snipe, 3 i think, an unusual juvenile bald eagle that had a lot of features one might associate with a golden. We saw also tree swallows, blue winged teal (foy for me), a red tailed hawk, a sandhill crane, fox , song and tree sparrows, hooded mergansers(2), turkey vultures,wood ducks,great blue heron, northern harrier.and some leopard frogs . After we left Gary he also found a long tailed Duck at the Bass Ponds. Then my wife and i and a friend went to lake Harriet where we saw Northern Shovelers, Gadwall, Red Breasted Mergansers and a group of 6-10 horned Grebes that we followed around for quite a while. Then someone reported seeing a common Loon in the Lake and we found that . So we had very fine birding day in such nice weather. I have posted some photos below on this link https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/25499601883/ <https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/25499601883/> Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] 180th street marsh and Lake Byllesby today
Hi Today with a friend of mine we went to the 180th street marsh then toLake Byllesby and Industrial Park in Randolph. To start out at the 180th street marsh we saw half a dozen or so Northern Shovelers in the north west pond. As we headed east on 180th we saw American Wigeon, half a dozen, Hooded Mergansers, at least two, three Trumpeter Swans, some Redheads, fifty or more lesser scaup.a flock of fifty or so European Starlings, and some horned larks along 180th. Next we drove to Lake Byllesby. The water is very low there and much of it on the western area is essentially mudflats. We walked along the shore and saw Gadwall. a dozen or so Green Winged teal, Ring necked duck, ring billed gulls, a couple of bald eagles and when we went on the south side we got a flock of 150-200 Greater White Fronted Geese with two snow geese in the flock. We watched as they circled the lake at least twice. We also saw more horned larks and Killdeer along the road to the boat launch on the south side of the lake. Next we drove by the Church at the industrial park. There we saw half a dozen bufflehead, ring necked ducks and at least two Canvasbacks. We also saw a red tailed hawk more horned larks. It was a good day for us. I posted a few photos on my flickr page below https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] 180th St Marsh/Industrial Park/Lake Harriet
HI My friend Travis and I went over some of the same areas that i covered a few days ago. We started at the 180th street marsh where we got Horned Larks,Greater white fronted geese, Tundra Swans, canvasback, at least three, redheads, scaup, gadwall, Canada Geese and northern Shovelers. We needed our scopes for most of it. We ran into several people that we knew including Gary Swanson who has hikes on Tuesdays. We left shortly after Gary left and he called me to tell me that he saw a eurasian Collared Dove in Vermillion. Well I had never seen on and Travis had never seen on in this state so we drove to Vermillion and saw two of them in a front yard on the west side of Vermillion. Next we headed for the Industrial Park near Randolph we saw four , possibly five eastern meadowlarks we got nice photos and a video of them, we saw half a dozen killdeer there also a red tailed hawk, half a dozen sandhill cranes flew over head and more horned larks. On to lake Byllesby where we saw many green winged teals but little else besides a couple of eagles. From here we heard that a Eastern Screech owl had been seen in Mpls and we headed over to where it had been seen and found a dozen photographers getting there shots. We got ours too then went over to Roberts Bird sanctuary where we saw a handful of turkeys and a couple who told us that there were red breasted mergansers in the middle of the lake. At first we weren’t sure that this was true then we saw them. One was on a floating dock taking rest and three others kept us busy photographing them for the better part of an hour. All in all was a great day in march for both of us. Below is a link for some photos. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/25821342926/ <https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/25821342926/> Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Mountain Bluebird still at Clear Lake Location
Hi My friend Russ and i spent the morning and part of the afternoon at the Island View Park near Clear Lake location in Sherburne County looking for the Mountain Bluebird reported earlier. We met several birders when we first arrived that gave us tips on where to look and then we met one man with a large camera when we first arrived by the river. He told us as the others did that this bird hangs out with several eastern bluebirds. We saw nothing for at least an hour then a man and woman couple waved us over to an area downstream of where we started and for twenty seconds or so we saw a silhouette of an eastern bluebird and a mountain bluebird and then ti was gone. We then met up with three other birders and talked to them for a while before splitting up with out seeing anything, or so we thought. I took a couple of bad photos through some branches that I now see was likely the Mountain bluebird. Russ and I then split up from the other birders and went back to where we started. After looking for another half hour i could see the other birders photographing something so we headed over to them opposite from the river or I guess you could say south and east a bit. As I approached the other birders they said that yes they had seen the mountain bluebird and were within twenty feet of it. One showed me an excellent photo. Next we definitely saw the mountain bluebird atop a large tree at the foot of the hill that lead back to the parking lot. I got a few photos this time before it took off again chasing an eastern bluebird . It was a lifer for me but it took us three hours to find it. My photos are not that great but still I’m delighted to get what I did. Unfortunately Russ only saw the silhouette of the bird and it was a long hike for him. Here are some photos from today. Thanks to all the birders who helped us out today. What a great hobby this is. Ron Taube Coon Rapids, Mn Here are a couple of photos https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ <https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/> 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] [mou-rba] Update at the Coon Rapids Dam
Hi I took a walk across the Dam again this morning at around 8:30 and saw a red head up close to the walkway as well as several scaup. I also saw ring necked ducks but didn’t get any photos and bufflehead. I followed four of them up and down the river trying to get close but only got distant shots. Looked like some mating behavior going on. I also saw dark eyed juncos on the island . Not quite as many birds as yesterday but still a nice assortment. Thanks for your notes and comments they are appreciated. Here is my link for some photos. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Migration sightings at the Coon Rapids Dam
Hi I got out early with my scope at the Coon Rapids dam and saw a fair amount of waterfowl this morning. I was there about nine thirty in the a.m. and upstream from the walkway I saw perhaps as many as two thousand birds. Up close to the walkway I saw a dozen or so gadwall and twice that many lesser scaups both male and female. As I was watching these and some goldeneye I noticed many birds half a mile up steam. So I lugged my scope to the Brooklyn Park side and hiked up the trail for half a mile or so. It was then that I also saw two hooded mergansers crossing the river lots more of the Lesser Scaup, some red heads and a pied billed grebe. I might have seen a bufflehead but since i neither got a good picture of it or saw it well in the scope i’m going to say only maybe. As I stayed and watched the crowd of birds seemed to thin and then a couple of bald eagles drove some off. As i was heading back across the walkway I spotted a single male Northern Shoveler and some Common Mergansers to add to it. Also I saw a bald eagle on the ice. I’ve posted a few photos. I’m afraid that they are not of the best quality because of the distances but they do show some idea of what i saw. At least it shows that the migration is in full swing Here are some photos https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] American Wigeon at Palmer Lake Park
Hi I got a call from my Friend Travis today. He saw an American Wigeon, Drake at Palmer Lake Park. I immediately went down there and met him there. If you know the park at all it is in the north central part of the park where the bridge over Shingle Creek is. From the bridge it was seen about two hundred yards north on the creek. There is a paved trail on the east side of the bridge that can get you fairly close to him if he’s still there. Here is a link to some of my photos and a very short video where you can hear him call. Not much else besides Mallards there today however. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/24915216803/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Veterans Park Shakopee
Hello birders Well my wife and I were down at the World Bird sanctuary showing at Carpenter nature center in Hastings this morning and then we were looking at a dozen or so horned larks along 180th street when I got a call from my friend Travis reporting birds in Shakopee. I missed the turn off to meet him and ended up at Veterans Park and called him because I was seeing better sightings than he was so he joined my wife and i. First of all we saw a bird i had never seen before. We had to look it up. It is called a Chinese Goose and it is descended from a wild swan goose. It is a domesticated goose apparently. Well wherever it came from it was certainly a lovely sight. We also saw sever goldeneye, gadwall,coots, hybrid black ducks and a strange brownish mallard that was probably a hybrid. I think we saw some cracking geese too but I’m never certain of those when I see them. I posted some photos on my flickr page and a couple of video. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/25185960621/ <https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/25185960621/> Happy birding to you Ron Taube Coon Rapids. 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] [mou-rba] Northern Goshawk at Palmer Lake Park
Today with Gary Swanson’s Tuesday hiking group we went to Palmer Lake park. The first thing we saw there was a Northern Goshawk. It flew past us off of 73 rd st and then headed south to the south east corner of the park where it landed in a tree. I tried to get some photos and did get some distant shots of it, though I’m not posting them. Gary id’d it positively as a Northern Goshawk. We also saw at least three bald eagles, two red tailed hawks, northern cardinals, gold finches and house sparrows and a muskrat. Here are a few photos from the day https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/25126593061/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Black ducks and Green Winged Teal at Anoka Dam
Hi At the risk of posting too often to this site I want to say that I went to the Anoka Dam this morning hoping to see the Mottled duck that was reported. There were a number of birders that I saw but no one that I know of saw the mottled duck but I was delighted to see two black Ducks and when a man on the west side of the river started feeding the ducks in a parking lot i walked over and got a close look and photos of a green winged teal. Later I saw the teal in the river as well. So even though I never got the Mottled Duck it was worth the trip. Here is my flickr link to a couple of photos > https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids. 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] [mou-rba] White Winged Crossbills at Sherburne
Hi First of all I want to thank all those that have posted information on the crossbills on various sites. I hadn’t seen a WW Crossbill in years. Gary Swanson formerly of the C.R. Dam has now started a weekly birding hike and this is where he took us today to the Blue hill trail at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. We found a small flock (25-35) of White Winged Crossbills about a mile or so north on the Blue Hill trail along the pine stand area. We saw them several times as he hiked around and through the pines. We also saw white and red breasted nuthatches, trumpeter swans, hairy and red bellied woodpeckers, tree sparrows and juncos. Below is a link to some photos. It was kind of dark but I did the best i could . https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/24953619522/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids. 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] [mou-rba] Long Tailed Duck still at the CR.Dam
Hi I was out on the walkway this morning at the C.R.Dam between 8:30 and 9 a.m. and i saw two other men with scopes looking for the Long Tailed Duck One of them on the west side of the walkway spotted it first and pointed it out to us. The long tail swam eastward generally for about half an hour. At one point it came within a couple of hundred feet of us so i took some photos. Then it flew upstream after that. Here is a link to some photos and thanks to Cole Foster for spotting this and reporting it. Ron Taube Coon Rapids Here is the link https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ 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] [mou-rba] Trip to Duluth and Sax-Zim bog
Hi My wife Carolyn and I just came back from two days in Duluth and at the Sax-Zim bog and I want to first of all thank Clinton Nienhaus for all of his help. We were originally going to the bog with him on Friday for a Raptor hunt but he changed it to going raptor hunting in and around Duluth. As it turned out this worked out great. I exchanged some emails with him asking about what was good to see and he told me where to find some black billed Magpies eating on a deer carcass. We found the carcass along cr 133 near the meadowlands and saw several Magpies there eating on the deer. We also found the Boreal chickadee gray jays and a porcupine along MacDavid road, not the one earlier reported on owl avenue. No we did not get a Great Gray Owl but i got one in December so I’m satisfied with that for now. We also saw Redpolls, pine siskins. and two roughed grouse but I did not see any sharp tailed grouse. i think we arrived at the Lek too late. I looked for the black backed woodpecker along the logging trail but it turned out that I was at the wrong end of the trail. Maybe next time. Today we joined Clinton as we toured canal park several areas around Duluth then into superior. We saw three peregrine falcons, a rough legged hawk, four bald eagles, a red tailed hawk. We did not see any snowy owls or the gyrfalcon but I got the gray one last time i was up there. I also saw a Glaucous gull around sunrise. There were few gulls in canal park today. The highlight for me were the Magpies. This was my best shot at seeing them close and photographing them. Here are some photos and a video from the trip in my Flickr page. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/24213816574/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Sunday at Canal Park and Superior
Hi Yesterday my friend Herb and i drove to Canal Park hoping to see the Kittiwake but even though we stopped in there three times we had no luck and none of the other observers said that they saw it either. Nevertheless we did see the Ivory Gull and a Greater Black Backed Gull and an American Black Duck. As an added bonus we watched an Otter in the snow below the lighthouse swim to the snow covered rocks in front of the boardwalk and walk around on it for a bit. I shot a short video of this. We then wen to Superior and saw the Gyrfalcon chasing a pigeon near Peavy elevator. We looked for the snowy on tower ave but had no luck. We then drove up to Northern Duluth looking for Bohemian Waxwings. Two other men from California that we met at Canal park were also looking for the Bohemians. They saw on Facebook that some were reported in Agate Bay in Two Harbors so all of us drove up there but after much searching we never saw them. It was a great day but i have still never seen a Bohemian Waxwing. This link offers some photos https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Townsend' Solitaire is still at West Mississippi River Park
Hi I went to west Mississippi River park and immediately saw the Townsends’ Solitaire there again. The road was closed down to the boat launch but I parked and walked around it since there was no sign saying that you couldn’t go there on foot. After getting a good look at the Solitaire I walked down to the Mississippi River and saw maybe two hundred goldeneye and half a dozen common mergansers .Walking back towards my car I saw two downy woodpeckers and a flock of 50 or so cedar waxwings who settled in a tree. Here is a link to a couple of photos. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Happy New Year everyone! Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Trip to Sax-Zim
Hi My friend Russ and I went to the Sax-Zim Bog yesterday. We were hoping for a Great Gray Owl and also to see Pine Grosbeaks that I haven’t been able to find for two years. Also I wanted to see the Boreal Chickadee and perhaps a Northern Hawk Owl though I didn’t know if any had been spotted up there. Well when we first arrived at the bog just after sunrise we stopped at the Kelsey Whitefish feeders and only saw a few downy’s and two common redpolls. I had hoped to see at least a pine grosbeak but nothing there. We drove around a bit hoping to see some pine siskins at least but nothing. Finally we went to the Admiral feeders hoping to see the boreal chickadee and stayed there almost an hour with no luck. As we were leaving we met a man, and I forgot his name but he said that there was a great gray almost parallel to where we were but on McDavit road. So we drove over there and searched with no luck so we headed back to the Admiral feeders and saw John Cay and a friend of his attempting to see the Boreal Chickadee. We stayed with them for some time but again no Boreal. As we all were leaving I asked them if they had seen the Great Gray and they said that they had seen two in the same area on McDavit as the first man so I asked them if they would show us and they said that they would so we followed them to the spot and we got our Great Grey for the day. Russ had never seen one. We then proceeded to Mary Lou’s feeders where we saw about twenty or so evening Grosbeaks then we headed to the welcome center where Frank and his wife told us that they had seen some Pine Grosbeaks at the feeder and that if we could wait around a bit they might come back. We waited maybe half an hour and they appeared at the feeder outside the window. At least four males and three females. I was very happy to see these beautiful birds. We went to a few other spots after that but that was pretty much it for the day. We never saw a northern hawk owl though we went to several areas where i’ve seen them before and we never saw the boreal Chickadee. Maybe next trip. Thank you to Frank and his wife for all their help and to John Cay. Ron Taube Coon Rapids Below is a link to some photos https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ 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] [mou-rba] Snow Owl at Msp Airport
Hi I got a text from Herb Lindsay that he was seeing a snowy owl at the Msp Airport. My friend Travis and I were already at Black Dog so we headed over there and sure enough there was one there. At the very end of Cargo road where you can park you can look through the chain link fence past one runway to the south and east is a snowy Owl. I had been out to the Airport several times last year and never found it but this time we did. Photos are not great from such a distance but I put one on my flick account so that you can at least see it. Here is my link P.s. We looked for the eared grebe again at Harriet and did not find it but we did find the red necked grebe on Calhoun. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/23462422981/in/dateposted/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Eared Grebe,Shovelers and a Hybrid Mallard at Harriet today
Hi Thanks to a posting by Peter Nichols yesterday I checked out Lake Harriet this morning In the south West corner of the lake ai at first found 15 Coots and amongst them was a winter plumage Eared Grebe first of the year for me. I followed him east as he and the Coots moved and eventually found a dozen or so Northern Shovelers as well as a hybrid mallard that a passing birder pointed out to me I did not see any Gulls but then I was told that they don’t usually show up till evening and I won’t be able to come back in the evening. So here is my link to some photos. Happy birding to everyone. Ron Taube Coon Rapids https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ <https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/> 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] [mou-rba] Varied Thrush still at Oakdale Cemetery
Hi My wife Carolyn and I went to Oakdale Cemetery this morning in spite of the terrible traffic conditions and found the Varied Thrush eating crab apples over by the Hobby Farm fence described by Milton Bloomberg. I want to thank Milton for posting this. It was a lifer for both of us. I also want to thank Peter Nichols for posting his beautiful photos that made us want to find this beautiful bird. The bird seemed quite content to eat the crab apples and I wouldn’t be surprised if he hung around even through the coming snow. Here is the link to my photos I did not have time to make a search for the Tufted Titmouse. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Townsend"s Solitaire still at West Mississippi Park
Hi I want to thank Cole Foster for his report yesterday. I found it just where he said he saw it just off of the western edge of the new parking lot near the river. Another birder was with me and he saw it too through his scope. It was my first of the year. Here is a link to some photos. I got pretty close to him. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Trip to Lake Mille Lacs and Aitkin County
Hi Herb Lindsay and I took a drive up along the west side of Lake Mille Lacs today. We were up there from about 9 a.m. on. On the lake we saw several common mergansers, mostly female, a few coots, a lone female hooded merganser and a canvasback as well as several goldeneye. At one point we saw twenty or more goldeneye floating high in the water and it took us a while to realize that they were decoys. A laugh on us. We also saw a couple of trumpeter swans and a dozen or so mallards as well as at least 3 bald eagles, one of them immature. Once we were at the north side of the lake we decided to go on into Aitkin county to see what we could see. Well we were happy to see 3 rough legged hawks, all light morphed, a northern shrike, quite a few redpolls in several areas especially along CR 18 west of the Hebron Cemetery. We looked hard but did not see any great grays. Here is the link for some of today’s photos. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids Mn 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] [mou-rba] White Eyed Vireo This morning
Hi Thanks to the help of previous reports by Conny Brunell and others and my friend Gary Swanson and a man named Dave Zumeta we found what the common consensus was a juvenile White Eyed Vireo this morning at Woodlake Nature Center. Between about ten and ten thirty a.m. Dave saw both an adult and a Juvenile but I only saw the juvenile with the darker eye. Where we saw this bird was a bit north and west of where it has been seen before along the fence. Someone later saw one along the fence but I got over there and had no luck seeing it. Several people encouraged me to get my shots and Dave even helped to get me a relatively unobstructed view. . This was a lifer for me. There was one reported earlier at Sunset Cemetery by my friend Travis Bonovski but I never saw it. Anyway here are some photos from my flickr page. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ <https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/> Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] White Eyed Vireo Correction
Hi Again I exchanged emails with Dave Zumeta and It seems clear that my photos showed an Adult White Eyed Vireo so I wanted to make a correction here. Sorry for the wrong info. Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] Has anyone seen the clarks nutcracker lately ?
Hi We are heading to Winona on Tuesday and I was wondering if anyone has seen the nutcracker down there lately? Any help would be appreciated. Ron Taube Coon Rapids Sent from my iPad 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] [mou-rba] Good Day at the Coon Rapids Dam including a Red Shouldered Hawk
Hi Today at the Coon Rapids Dam on the Anoka County side Naturalist Gary Swanson lead his phenology group and we saw 43 species of birds. Some of the highlights include several species of sparrows including white throated. White Crowned,Fox, Harris , Lincoln’s and Dark Eyed Juncos . We also saw several species of raptors including a red shouldered hawk that we got good looks at on several occasions and a Red Tailed Hawk and a merlin. We saw three species of warbler, the Orange crowned, Nashville and Yellow Rumped. The only vireo we saw was a blue headed one. We also saw ruby crowned kinglets and a pair of juvenile bald eagles. I have posted several photos on my flickr page including the Red Shouldered Hawk at this link https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ <https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/> Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Northern Parula on the BP Side of the dam today
HI Yesterday I reported a Northern Parula on the Coon Rapids side of the dam but I didn’t actually see it, only Gary Swanson the naturalist at the dam did.. Today I took photos of what i thought might be a Northern Parula but i had my doubts until I looked at my photos. So I think it is one . Let me know if you think i’m wrong. Here is my photo link. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/21114762829/in/photostream/ <https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/21114762829/in/photostream/> Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Good Outing At the Coon Rapids Dam this morning
Hi Once again we had a good outing as Gary Swanson lead us on his phenology hike. We got 55 species of birds , including Palm, Yellow, Chestnut sided, Nashville, Tennessee,Wilsons, and Northern Parula warblers. Redstarts, common yellowthroat, yellow throated vireo, We saw several flycatchers including the least and the pewee. We saw three eagles, three female Scarlet Tanagers, a coopers hawk and finally a Female Merlin eating her prey on top of a telephone pole. Here are a few photos from my flickr account. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ <https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/> I wish this could go on but I know it will soon pass. Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Black Billed Cuckoo and 61 other species seen at CR Dam today
Hi We went on Gary Swanson’s phenology hike this morning and saw 62 species of birds including five species of vireo nine species of warblers and a black billed cuckoo. Some of the warblers were, blackburnian, Tennessee, yellow, Chestnut sided, and black and white, . We saw at least five female scarlet tanagers. An olive sided flycatcher , female rose breasted grosbeak , female indigo bunting and others. It was very dark and though I got many photos most were too dark to post but here are a couple on this link including the cuckoo. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Phenology Walk at the Coon Rapids Dam , Merlin spotted
Hi I was on Gary Swanson’s phenology hike this morning. He has one every Wednesday morning at the Coon Rapids dam on the Anoka County side at 8 a.m. We saw Tennessee, Nashville and Chestnut sided warblers as well as red eyed vireos and several other species. What was most interesting today was when Gary spotted a Juvenile Merlin chasing Bluejays around and at one point one of them chased the Merlin. We watched his non stop action for over half an hour . We were worried that he would get worn out he was so active. I have some photos on my flickr page at this link. It was just a beautiful morning. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Yellow Crown Night Heron is still at Shiloh Park
Hi First of all thanks to Laura who first reported this and to Peter Nichols for the update on this bird. It is a lifer for me. I went out first on Monday morning and spent a couple of hours there with no luck. But after hearing that it was being seen in the evening I tried again tonight and we got it. We got there around 6:15 and there were several birders, a couple that I knew, already looking at it. It was by the dock on the smaller pond. We watched him for about an hour and got photos before we left. I am so grateful for all of you who post to this sight and not just Facebook. The link below shows him in several poses including eating what I think is a crayfish Ron Taube Coon Rapids https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/20337691430/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/20337691430/in/photostream/ 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] [mou-rba] Can any one give me birding info about Lac Qui Parle and Salt Lake and Big Stone?
HI I know that this may not be the best place for this but my friend and I are planning a trip to western Minnesota eastern South Dakota in the next week and though I’ve heard of these places for years I’ve never been there and don’t know what to look for in birds. Can any one give some personal information about Lac qui Parle or Salt Lake or Big stone parks? I could find precious little on the internet and nothing on Ebird for the last month so I’d appreciate any info you could share even best places to access the parks. Thanks so much Ron Taube Coon Rapids. 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] [mou-rba] Correction from yesterday At Randolph park
Hi I must have had a senior moment. Yesterday I reported seeing at Randolph Park a Savannah Sparrow. I went home from the park knowing it was a Grasshopper sparrow then I had it in my mind that it was a Savannah and I posted that and even had my picture with the wrong info. I have corrected it and am sorry for any inconvenience it may have caused. Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Some Birds at Randolph Park
Hi My friend Travis and I went to Randolph park today in hopes of seeing the Dicksissel and what ever else was there. Well we saw a Dicksissel and a Savanna Sparrow and a Clay Colored Sparrow. We heard a Western Meadowlark but could never quite see him. We also saw a few horned larks but never got our cameras on them. Later we stopped at the 180th street marsh and saw some young fledged eastern kingbirds but failed to see any of the hoped for Loggerhead Shrikes in the area. Here are a few photos from today at this flickr link. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids. 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] [mou-rba] Finally found the Tropical Kingbird
Hi Thanks to various postings on here and the help of a young couple at Murphy-Hanrehan my wife and finally found the Tropical Kingbird. This was our second attempt. I started noticing a pattern of postings and people seemed to be doing better in the evening so we arrived at the area a little after six p.m. He was right up in the cottonwood where several have seen him. We saw him catch some bugs and fly to another tree then when I was about to get a closer photo he took off. Still at least we saw him. We also saw an eastern towhee and common yellowthroat as well as several other species in the area. Thanks to all who posted on here before for your help. it was a lifer for me. Ron Taube Coon Rapids Here is a link to some photos from today. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ 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] [mou-rba] Hooded warbler at Westwood Hills nature center
Hi Herb Lindsay and I went to Westwood Hills nature center and looked for the Hooded Warbler that was reported I think yesterday. . We were up looking for almost an hour hearing two different birds calling at the same time and seeing them popping in and out of the canopy above. We didn’t think that we had any photos but a couple of times I just shot into the trees and hoped, and as it turned out I did get a picture of one when I put it on my computer and lightened it up.. It’s not a great one but i think you’ll agree that it is one. My thanks to the staff at Westwood who gave us directions and to Herb who helped me look. IT was a lifer for me. Last year I spent countless hours trying to find one at Murphy Hanrehan with no luck. Here is my photo, such as it is. Here is my flickr link https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/18879164606/in/dateposted/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Prothonotary Warbler is still at the CR dam
Hi This is an update. Two weeks ago I saw a Prothonotary Warbler at the Coon Rapids Dam on the Hennepin county side. I went down there this morning and found two of them still there in the same area. I got a couple of photos that are not the best but they are proof that a bird is still there. This was the bird that Adam Roesch first spotted. I am hoping that they are nesting there but I could not see any cavity in use though someone had pointed out to me where it was likely to be. Here is a photo https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] White Eyed Vireo and Golden Winged Warbler at Sherburne today
Hi My friend Russ and I went to Sherburne today and though we didn’t get a lot of species we got some good ones. On the Blue hill trail we saw a Golden Winged Warbler and got some nice photos of him. I was hoping to get the Blue winged but no luck. We saw several yellow warblers and heard many common yellow throats but little else except an eastern meadowlark. We then went on the auto trail and saw three more meadowlarks several eastern towhees and near the outhouse at the start of the trail we heard then saw a white eyed vireo on her nest. We saw maybe fifteen to twenty other species including sandhill cranes, trumpeter swans bald eagles and blue winged teals. Here are a few photos from my flickr account. Ron Taube Coon Rapids https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ 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] [mou-rba] Correction on the White Eyed Vireo it is a least flycatcher
Hi I apologize to everyone for my mistake on the White Eyed Vireo. I relied on someone else’s id on this with out careful checking. It was a least flycatcher that we saw. I heard a vireo call and that’s why I just thought that the person who id’d it was right. Ron Taube 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] [mou-rba] Ruddy Turnstones and Cape May warblers seen at Park Point today
Hi This morning my wife and I joined the Duluth Audubon group at park point and we had a wonderful morning. We saw many species of warblers, including wilson’s, cape may, blackburnians, yellow, northern waterthrush,eastern kingbirds, brown thrashers, spotted sandpipers and many others. We also got the presence of a Ruddy Turnstone for about five minute and a couple of terns, the caspian and the common. What a nice group of birders it was to be out with. My thanks to all of them for there spotting abilities and help. Here is the link to a few photos from the last few days in Duluth Ron Taube https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ 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] [mou-rba] Whimbrels at Park Point Duluth
Hi Last night someone reported seeing a whimbrel at park point with a Marbled Godwit so this morning my wife and i went down to the point and though we didn't see the Godwit we saw two Whimbrels and later on three of them walking slowly and occasionally flying in the direction of Duluth. I followed them for almost two miles along the beach before they finally took off about 7:45 a.m. This was a lifer for me. I also looked for the piping plover but today did not see it. Here is a link to some photos. I had a video also but was not able to upload it. I will either tomorrow or Friday. P.s the warbler wave was considerably less than yesterday. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Sent from my iPad 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] Piping plover on park point Duluth today
Hi In addition to several species of warblers seen on the point today ,including at least half a dozen blackburnians,many chestnut sided ,mourning, Canada and palm warblers we saw a piping plover on the beach thanks to some kind birders who pointed it out to us. I was told that it was a female but I'm not sure. Here is a photo. Let me know if you can tell Ron Taube Coon Rapids https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Sent from my iPad 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] [mou-rba] Carlos Avery today
Hi I went out with Lyle Bradley’s ornithology class to Carlos Avery Wildlife Refuge today. We saw about 40 species including Eastern Wood Pewee, Black Terns, marsh and sedge wrens, Swainsons Thrush, Northern Waterthrush, and first of the year for me Scarlet Tanager and Chestnut sided warbler. I have a photo of each of the last two on my flickr page. Here is the link https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids. 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] [mou-rba] Harris Sparrow at the CRD
Hi This morning while watching the Osprey at the CRD on the BP side i saw a dozen or so sparrows mostly white throats but there was at least one Harris sparrow in the bunch. It was my first of the year. Here is one photo. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/17368050642/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/17368050642/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] FOY Green Heron in Coon Rapids
Hi While trying to get photos of the Eagle nest in Coon Rapids on Hwy 10 between Hanson and 242 I saw a Green Heron fishing in the stream that runs under the highway. I did not get any photos of the Eagle chicks by the way, they were sitting too low at the time. I have posted some photos and a video on my flickr account. Ron Taube Coon Rapids https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/17114919598/ 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] [mou-rba] Belted Kingfishers and Vesper sparrows at West Mississippi Park Ramsey
Hi Among 45 species of birds seen on Gary Swanson’s hike at West Mississippi Park in Ramsey this morning were Belted Kingfishers, Chipping Sparrows, Vesper Sparrows and a Broad Winged Hawk. There was at least one Eagle chick visible from the nest across the river . Here are a few photos from the hike. Ron Taube Coon Rapids https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ 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] [mou-rba] Black Crowned Night Heron and Avocet
Hi My wife and I hit several spots today including the ponds in Golden Valley off of Louisiana and Laurel mentioned by Tony Lau this morning. We saw at least five maybe six Black Crowned Night Herons. I posted one photo here https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/16527306994/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/16527306994/ Then we went to the bass ponds and saw quite a bit including the Avocet. Well I took photos but they are so distant that you might not see it clearly but we did see it. Also a single Double crested cormorant , a single male bufflehead, quite a few shovelers, many coots, greater and lesser yellowlegs blue and green winged teal, tree swallows, mourning doves, eastern phoebe and a sulphur butterfly to name a few. Lastly we went to Lake Harriet hoping to see the Loon but no luck. There are thousands of Coots, a handful of red breasted mergansers and a few horned and pied billed grebes. I may post more photos later. Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Loggerhead Shrike in Ramsey at Itasca Lake Confirmed
Hi I am happy to confirm the earlier spotting of the Loggerhead Shrike in Ramsey at Lake Itasca . My wife and I went down there this morning and ran into another couple of birders and we saw what I think are two Loggerhead shrikes on several occasions in about a one and half hour period. We also saw another birder who also saw the loggerheads. I’m pretty sure that the second bird was a loggerhead also. We did not get as close to the second one but my photos seem to support that they both were loggerheads. We also heard the call and one of the birders we were with played the loggerhead call from her device and it matched the call of one of the birds. Here are a few photos and a short video but there is no call on the video. Ron Taube Coon Rapids https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ 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] [mou-rba] Lake Harriet Today
Hi Upon the advise of a couple of birders that I know I went to Lake Harriet looking for Red Breasted Mergansers. It’s one of my favorite migrants. I came in on the west side and stopped near the north west corner of the lake and found two groups of waterfowl with fifty or more birds in each group. There were a number of coots as well as red breasted mergansers (male and female) horned grebes (male and female) pied billed grebes and a few scaup probably the lesser. I was happy to get as close as I did to these birds as I stood behind tree branches in a kind of a blind.I hoped to see some loons but had no luck. Later I went to the Coon Rapids Dam and saw some flickers, osprey, juncos, and for Adam Rausch’s benefit no yellow rumped warblers. Here are some photos Ron Taube Coon Rapids https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/17089938081/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/17089938081/ 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] [mou-rba] Osprey Back at the Dam
Hi Yesterday I was at the Coon Rapids Dam around 5:15 and from the Coon Rapids side i saw two osprey on the power tower on the Brooklyn Park side. I immediately took some photos then drove over there where i saw a female osprey perched on the corner of the tower and the male flying around. Later the female sat on the nest and the male sat on a nearby pole. It was my first sighting of the season. Here are some photos https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Sherburne Today
Hi My friend Russ and I drove up to Sherburne today. We did the auto drive trail. First we drove left off of 5 to CR 16 to check out the marsh there. We saw some shovelers and a trumpeter swan then we started talking to some other birders who were also going to be doing the auctorial. They asked if we might see Meadowlarks in this area and Russ and i told them that we had certainly seen them up there but didn’t know if we would see them this early even though I just saw several on 180th street marsh yesterday. We then proceeded on to the auto-trail and I stopped near the bathrooms and heard an eastern meadowlark but didn’t see him. I noticed that there had been a control burn in the area bout a mile east on the trail. After the trail turns right and then left there is an overlook and we saw four killdeer displaying. It was fun to watch. We proceeded east on the trial and about a mile further at about the two mile marker I asked Russ to stop the car because I thought I saw a Northern Harrier. I can’t confirm that but as I was looking at a tree nearby I saw an eastern Meadowlark. Russ and I took photos and just as we were done the couple that we saw earlier approached just as the meadowlark flew off. I believe that they saw two of them flying off so I hope that they got them for the day. Russ and I continued and saw quite a few sandhill cranes also displaying and in the sticky pond just before the end of the trail we saw a green winged teal land for a minute and then take off. We also saw a handful of tree swallows chasing each other over Stickney. Later we decided to go to Pelican lake where a friend of mine saw a Mute Swan yesterday. We drove to where CR37 and 119 meet then towards the lake where we stopped at several locations and looked but never saw the mute swan but we did see a couple of double crested cormorants flying around in circles. I had hoped to see more but we were quite content for the day. Here are a few photos from the day. One more thing. We saw the eagle nest on Highway ten between Hanson and 242 and she is on eggs but the Eagle nest at Sherburne made me wonder since both were off of the nest. I didn’t see any sign of chicks but if there are any I’d appreciate someone letting me know. Thanks https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] 180th Street Marsh/Industrial Park Randolph
Hi After stopping briefly in Rosemount where we saw four kestrels, two of them by the power pant where they nested last year my wife and i got down to the 180th street marsh around ten a.m. this morning. We saw a pied billed grebe in the south west pool but nothing else then on the north west pool we saw maybe 200 Coots and several redheads, a couple of bufflehead, half a dozen ruddy ducks, ring necks and a few shovelers. Next we went to the north east pool and saw maybe 100 or so greater white fronted geese and to our surprise two what looked to be Ross’s Geese. Other birders in the area confirmed this. We also saw a flock of fifteen to twenty tundra swans, two of which landed in this same pool. As we searched the pool with binoculars and scopes we also saw three then another two wilson’s snipe, half a dozen green winged teal, a dozen or so blue winged teal, Canada Geese , a dozen sandhill cranes flew overhead and one birder saw a Woodcock but I did not see it. Later in the day when we returned to this pool we saw two white geese in the distance that someone had reported were Ross’s Geese but they were larger than the Ross’s and looked to some of my birding friends more like snow geese. I think that the Ross’s geese swam right or east out of sight and then these two appeared in a more distant part of the pond and since others were reporting ross’s geese some assumed that that was what these were. The Ross’s geese have smaller bills and are much smaller than the Snow geese. In the south east pond there were at least fifty northern shovelers and some snipe and later on some wigeons. We also saw a couple of killdeer. My wife and i then continued down to the industrial park in Randolph where we saw at least half a dozen meadowlarks, I’m assuming that they were probably eastern as I’m not that good at identifying the difference between eastern and western. I have some photos and I listed them all as eastern, if anyone sees a western in there please feel free to let me know. We also saw a northern Harrier flying over the field very low and in the pond behind the church we saw some what I think are lesser yellowlegs and some shovelers and ring necks. I also saw a northern harrier near the 180th street marsh just west of it. Here is my link to some of my photos from the day. I posted this because a young woman with her grandmother requested that I do it. Ron Taube Coon Rapids https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/16999187496/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/16999187496/ 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] [mou-rba] Coon Rapids Dam Update The Great Blue Herons are coming back to the Rookery
Hi I was back at the Dam this morning and again this evening. I saw a muskrat in the pond behind the visitors center then I met a fellow birder We went looking for the Long tailed duck. We went all the way north past the ravine and no sign of it was found. We did see two hooded mergansers, some redheads, a bufflehead and some scaup and some goldeneye.. No sign of the Osprey yet though I expect them any day. We saw a couple of wood ducks in the river and another one in the pond between the trails on the north side. South of the dam about half a mile or so we saw at least 15 great blue herons on nests in the rookery and a red tailed hawk near a herons nest. A friend that we ran into said that he had seen two red tails on a heron nest for the last two or three days which has happened there before. Tonight I counted 18 great blue herons at the rookery but did not see the red tailed hawk. It was a beautiful night. The link shows a couple of photos. Ron Taube Coon Rapids https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ 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] [mou-rba] Long Tail Duck is still at the Coon Rapids Dam
Hi We went hiking at the Coon Rapids Dam above the dam between eight a.m. and eleven a.m. and saw the long tailed duck again. I couldn’t get any good photos but I have a link at the end of this to show you that at least it is still there. In addition to the Long Tailed Duck we saw a couple of bald eagles, one mature, one immature, a red tailed hawk, some goldeneye, ring neck ducks, two hooded mergansers, two coots, lesser scaup, a single wood duck flying by plenty of Canada Geese, no redheads today that I could tell. It was cold and windy. . Below is a link to a couple of photos. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Happy Birding Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Cinnamon Teal in New Germany
Hi Three of us drove out to New Germany to see the Cinnamon teal. We saw seven or eight other birders with scopes so we all helped each other see the bird. This was a lifer for me. We saw him in at least five different areas on the pond. He was with blue winged teals in the beginning but was mostly by himself after that. We also saw some green winged teals as well. I thank whoever posted this information for sharing this. As an added bonus we also saw at least five Kestrels including two sitting right next to each other. I have posted some photos. They are from quite a distance but at least I think you’ll find them id able. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Lake Byllesby/180th st Marsh report
Hi My friends and I went to the 180th street marsh and arrived just after ten a.m. We saw at first only Canada Geese in the western most pools then we went to the eastern pools and on the north side quite a ways out we saw at least half a dozen Northern Pintails, a dozen or so Greater White Fronted Geese, a couple of wigeons, mallards and a couple of killdeer. Next we drove back west towards Hwy 52 and saw at least twenty or so Horned Larks, mostly on the road. We drove to the industrial boulevard on 284th and saw three killdeer near what was once a pond just north of 284th and then we went to Lake Byllesby. First we stopped at the cemetery and I walked down to the lake past the cemetery. I saw three green winged teals which soon flew off. We saw a pair of bald eagles and then we drove around to the south side where the boat launch was. Others have posted how low the water was and that is true but i would say more than 50% of the lake is open now. Here we saw 9 trumpeter swans, some bufflehead, common mergansers and a red tailed hawk sitting on an irrigation pipe. There were no Greater White fronted geese at Byllesby when we were there. I posted a few photos on my flickr link. They show just how far off most of the waterfowl were at the 180th street marsh. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Long tail Duck at CR Dam
I am going to confirm the spotting just posted by Peter Nichols of an Adult Male winter plumage Long tail Duck seen at the Coon Rapid dam between about 8:30 and 9:30 this morning. He might still be there. Here is a link to a couple of photos that I got. He was just up stream from the dam on the Coon Rapids Side about in the middle swimming with some Hooded Mergansers and some goldeneye. Here is the link to my photos. Ron Taube Coon Rapids https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ 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] [mou-rba] Coon Rapids Dam Update
It was another wonderful morning out at the Dam on the Coon Rapids Side. The redheads and the lesser scaup were still there and in increasing numbers but still not a lot. I saw more buffleheads and goldeneye. My friend Larry saw some ruddy ducks but they weren’t in the area that I was walking. I also saw my first bluebirds of the season. There was a pair by the walkway that hung around for quite a while. We saw six or seven trumpeter swans a couple of bald eagles, more Canada Geese, and even more cedar waxwings. There were at least 20 hooded mergansers on the BP side of the river, thanks to a tip from another birder with a scope. There was a young man flying a drone near the channel. He said that he had the sense to keep it way from nests so I was happy about that. Here is a link to some photos. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Dam migration update.
Hi I was at the dam this morning with my friend Larry. We saw no gadwall but did get some Redheads, male and female, a pair of bufflehead, three green winged teal flying and I believe some ring necks and the usual common mergansers, goldeneye, and a single Ruddy duck. I’ve posted some more photos. Not the greatest since they are from a distance but you should do well with your spotting scopes. People have asked me from where I saw these. Well first of all on the Coon Rapids side. If you don’t want to pay parking park outside on the street. Then I would go up to the walkway first. It is closed to walk across but you can get up to it. Then I would take the trail east of the visitors center upstream or north and every couple of hundred yards look towards the river. There are a couple of good areas to sit and wait maybe a quarter mile upstream and then another quarter mile. There are not large flocks but twenty to thirty here and there. Good Luck I saw several of you today. Ron Taube Coon Rapids Here are a couple more photos from today https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ 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] [mou-rba] This Morning at the Coon Rapids Dam
Hi I’m not going to say that there is some major migration going on but this morning at the dam we did see six or seven Lesser Scaup mostly male but at least one female, at least two maybe three Gadwall, one in flight, a single coot, quite a few goldeneye, common mergansers, a brown creeper, and a bald eagle. Gary the naturalist had 29 species the last time I saw him in the afternoon. Below are some photos on my flickr page. Happy Birding. Spring will happen Ron Taube Coon Rapids. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ 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] [mou-rba] Snowy Owl in Arbor Lakes is still there.
Hi I want to thank Pete Makousky for reporting the Snowy Owl yesterday at Arbor Lakes. Today around noon I went to the top of the parking ramp and looked and found him on top of Bath and Body Works. Another birder saw him from there two and both of us went below and took photos. The mall music was playing and he seemed to be enjoying it. I took some photos and a short video of the owl listening to the music. Here is the link https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Thanks again for this wonderful group Ron Taube Coon Rapids. 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] [mou-rba] Yesterday in Aitkin County
Yesterday two friends and myself drove from Coon Rapids Via Brooklyn Park to Aitkin County. We hit the usual roads besides 169. As we headed east on CR210 we spotted three bald eagles. We drove up CR 5 from Cr 210 to Palisades where we saw male and female common redpolls at feeders as well as black capped chicadees . North of Palisades we saw a northern shrike and later a rough legged hawk (light morphed) on a pole The Hawk took off and we followed it a bit trying to get better photos when we saw another rough legged hawk. Later as we reached CR18 we saw yet another rough legged hawk. As we headed west on CR 18 we saw another northern shrike. We drove up and down 18 looking for Great Gray owls but had no luck. We drove up and down 320th pl or Pietzs road and saw very little. on the way back down CR5 we saw the rough legged hawk again sitting on a pole near a farm house. It was a snowy day and not particularly good for photography but I posted a few photos on my flickr account. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Trip to Sax-Zim bog
My friends Travis and Alyssa and I went to Sax-zim bog yesterday and had a wonderful time. We saw two great gray owls on Admiral Road moving up and down the road and one on Overton road later in the day. A magpie was spotted early on by Alyssa but I never really got a good look at it.. We saw a flock of twenty or so pine siskins on 133 near Cotton. We saw redpoles on several occasions including at the Welcome center. At the feeders on CR 444 we saw purple finch, evening grosbeaks and redpoles. At the feeders on Admiral road we saw plenty of Gray Jays and black capped chickadees but never saw any boreals and we came back there one more time. We saw no northern hawk owls and at the welcome center we were told that there had only been one spotted recently. We didn’t see any crossbills or Pine Grosbeaks which was a disappointment to me. I later saw a posting that the the crossbills had been seen in Meadowlands. I have some photos on my flickr account . Here is the link https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids. 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] [mou-rba] Rough Legged Hawk at the Coon Rapids Dam
Several of us were out on a guided hike by Gary Swanson the naturalist at the Coon Rapids dam and my friend Larry spotted a bird in a tree that turned out to be a rough legged hawk. It’s the first one I've seen there in maybe seven or eight months. It was dark and foggy but I managed to get a couple of photos of it to at least verify what it was. Here is a link to some photos. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Two snowy Owls seen near Big Lake
Hi My friend Travis and I decided to go to Big Lake after the recent reports by Betsy Bennecke and others of Snowy’s seen there. We took 10 and turned south on 17 as was suggested. We found a snowy owl about a mile or so south of 10 and near one of the irrigation pipes, he was about one hundred to one hundred fifty yards from the road but we could see him with binoculars and we got photos of a fashion of him. There we met Michael Thompson who we talked to for a while and a guy named Jeff but I forgot his last name. Anyway Jeff told us that someone had seen a snowy off of 178th street so we drove over there and Michael Thompson was right behind us . Travis exchanged phone numbers and we decided to go our own way and five minutes later Michael called us to tell us he had spotted a snowy right by the road off of 172nd st. This would be a couple of miles south of highway ten. We all sat there for over half an hour watching this beautiful bird who paid us no heed. A few other cars arrived and Travis and I left but when we came back twenty minutes or so later it was still there. Later we went back to the original bird on cr 17 and he was still there and we saw a red tailed hawk near highway ten. It is wonderful to be seeing the Snowy’s so early in the year. Here is my link to a couple of photos of the one near the road and the red tailed hawk https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Cattle Egret at the bass ponds
Hi I got a call from Gary Swanson the naturalist at the Coon Rapids Dam about one p.m. He and some other birders saw a Willet and Cattle Egret at the Bass ponds. I headed right down there from my coon rapids home and found them under the new cedar bridge. They had seen the Cattle Egret earlier just north of there and followed it to the bridge. I saw it on the other side of the river and was able to get a few shots of it even at that distance. I put one on my flickr account. Here is the link https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ So they had the cattle egret in their sights before one and I saw it around two and by two thirty it was out of sight just south of the cedar bridge (presumably) I never did get to see the willet but I saw some green winged and blue winged teals and some lesser, I think, yellowlegs and some northern shovelers and a red tailed hawk. I also saw at least two great egrets including one that was next to the cattle egret at one point. Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] American Bittern at Hillside Cemetary
My wife and I were out and about when I got a call from a friend of mine named Travis who had just spotted an american bittern at Hillside Cemetery in north Minneapolis off of stinson. It was near the front of the cemetery and to the right before going up the hill. It was under and right next to a maple tree of all places. My friend had to go but I found it with his directions. This was between one and two p.m. today so I don’t know if he will hang around or not. He was there at least half an hour when Travis called and we watched him another half hour. He didn’t seem disturbed by other activities around him. I told the groundskeeper about it and his comment was funny. He said “We’re interested in things vertical as well.”Here is a photo at my flickr account. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/14937679074/in/photostream/ Good luck Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] [mou-rba] Wigeons at Grass Lake
Hi My wife Carolyn and I went to Grass lake in south Minneapolis this morning between ten and eleven a.m. and we found at least fifty wigeons in and amongst numerous coots and mallards and Canada Geese. I took a few photos and videos and posted some of them at my flickr account. We also went to Veterans Park in Richfield but only saw a few birds amongst them was a pied billed Grebe. Here is a link to my photos and one video. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/14929861854/in/photostream/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] To the administrater
Hi I don’t want this to be a big issue but I’m wondering if we could just get back to this email site just being a rare bird alert like when I first signed on. I’ve spoken to a couple of other birders who also use this site and they agree. As it is we have to read a lot of non rare bird emails to get to the rare bird alerts. There are political issues and so forth. I have no problem if you put those issues in their own email site but why are they in the rare bird site? I hope that this doesn’t make another issue to clog up the site. So i want to address it only to the administrator. Thank you Ron Taube 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] Wood stork
Has anyone seen the wood stork lately off of manning in Washington county? Ron Taube Coon Rapids Sent from my iPad 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] Osprey Fledging at Coon Rapids Dam
Hi Some fellow osprey watchers and myself have been observing the three chicks atop the power tower on the Brooklyn Park side of the Coon Rapids Dam and two of the three chicks have now fledged. This is particularly good news in light of some losses at some of the other osprey nests. The first one fledged on thursday afternoon at 1:50 p.m. and the second one fledged yesterday at 1:35 p.m. We expect the third one to fledge in the next couple of days. The tower is 125 feet up and it’s tough to get good photos but I did the best I could. There are some of my photos at my flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/?deleted=14747581912. I am a volunteer for the 3 rivers osprey project . Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] Western Kingbirds and Orchard Orioles at West Mississippi Park
Hi I want to confirm the earlier reports of the Western Kingbirds at West Mississippi Regional Park I saw at least two of them this morning around 9 a.m. The park is at the intersection of Traprock and Highway 10 In Ramsey just west of Anoka. I’ve seen these birds for three years now at this location . I saw them several times coming and going within fifty feet of highway ten just off of traprock. They are easy to spot. If you don’t see them right away park in the lot just off of Traprock and wait. I hiked around towards the river and on the paved trail about halfway between highway ten and the river I saw at least three orchard orioles. Two females and a male. I also saw eastern kingbirds and an osprey. There is a platform nearby. Here are some photos from my flickr account. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] Cerulean Warbler at Westwood Hills Nature Center
Hi My friend Travis apparently saw this Cerulean on a Facebook page so we have them to thank for telling us where to find this bird. We saw the Cerulean at Westwood Hills Nature Center in St. Louis Park this evening. We had no luck for the first hour then someone named Tony pointed us in the right direction and we found one just off the the steps leading up from the lake. He was moving fast along the ground and came within three feet of me at one point but he was moving so fast he was tough to photograph. I got at least an id able photo as did Travis. We also saw a chestnut sided warbler and a northern parula just off those stairs. I did not get a photo of the parula. What a nice park that is! Neither of us had ever been there before but we will surely be back. This link will take you to my photo. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] Yesterday at the CR Dam and Veterans Memorial Park
Hi Birders Yesterday was a great day and I hope many of you saw some of these birds Yesterday morning under the expert guidance of Naturalist Gary Swanson we saw 58 species of birds at the Coon Rapids Dam on the Coon Rapids side. The highlights of that hike were a northern Parula , Baltimore Oriole,broad winged hawk, Redstarts, great egret, double crested cormorants brown thrasher, white crowned and white throated sparrows and a lincoln sparrow. Later that evening my friend Travis called me and asked me if I wanted to go to Veterans Memorial Park in Richfield as he heard that it was good for warblers. I readily agreed and from about six thirty to eight thirty last night we saw several species of warblers including yellow rumped, black and white, Yellow, redstart, chestnut sided, magnolia, black throated green, yellow rumped and palm . We also saw catbirds, wood ducks, baltimore orioles, we heard a sora and I saw what was for me a lifer the black crowned night heron. Here is my flickr link where I have some of the photos from yesterday https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] Garganey at Crex Meadows
Hi Birders I want to thank all the people who kept reporting this or I wouldn’t have had the gumption to drive all the way up there to see this bird. I was exactly where it was reported several times before just south of Able and west of county road F in the eastern most channel. We first saw it at around 10 a.m. swimming with Blue winged teal, male and female, and a northern shoveler. We got some shots then i later realized that my camera had been set at a way too high iso so we went back an hour later and he was still in the same channel there. I also got a video . You can see some shots and the video at my flickr link below Again thank you all for this service. Ron Taube Coon Rapids https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/14085128745/in/photostream/ 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] Garganey Ps.
I’m sorry about the mistake. It should have been east of county road F that we saw the Garganey on Able rd.. Ron Taube 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] W.W. scoter still at Boom Island
Hi My thanks to those who posted this bird. I’d never seen one before. We saw it just before noon downstream from the Plymouth bridge hanging around the channel. She would struggle against the wind drifting towards the channel then fly upstream a couple of hundred feet then drift back towards the channel. She was as close as five feet from shore. I got some pretty good photos at this link Thanks again and to the guy at the park who pointed us in her direction. Ron Taube Coon Rapids. photo link https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/13765536955/in/photostream/ 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] Birds at the Coon Rapids Dam this past week
Hi There are a fair amount of waterfowl above the Coon Rapids Dam this past week. Yesterday and today I have walked above the Brooklyn Park side and around the construction zone to the river to find as many as several thousand waterfowl. Fair amounts of Scaup, mostly lesser I think, redheads(at least a dozen today) Bufflehead, hooded mergansers, common mergansers, ruddy ducks, double crested cormorants ( i saw over one hundred yesterday and less than that today), coots, blue winged teal and i think I saw two green winged teal this morning. Also today I saw my first osprey of the year but some friends saw at least one yesterday. The two I saw today seem to be comfortable around the nest. On the Coon Rapids side upstairs behind the visitors center we have seen many of the birds listed from the other side as well as many eagles, and a few other raptors like sharp shins and red shouldered hawks and two rough legs. I have a few photos from this past week at this link https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/13727723315/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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 Byllesby Area Today
Hi First of all I want to thank Conny Brunell for her report from yesterday on this area. She always does such a good job. My friend Russ and I went down this morning first of all to the Industrial park. We didn’t see too much the first time we were there, just a horned lark and some geese flying in the distance but they were too far off to id. They were flying towards Byllesby so we drove over there. I was surprised to find it mostly with open water. We saw many thousands of geese flying around the lake when we arrived. For the most part they were greater white fronted geese with some snow geese amongst them. I have a few photos that I will put the link on at the end of this. We also saw canada geese, a pair of northern pintail, scaup, canvasback, wood ducks and coots. On a power line near the cemetery we saw a kestrel then we drove to the landing on the other side of the lake but saw nothing. Next we went back to the industrial park and saw hooded mergansers, in the open water near the church and another horned lark. It was then that Russ spotted a meadowlark on a sign post. We photographed it the best that we could but he never gave us a front view. I cannot say if he is an eastern or a western meadowlark. I’ve never seen the western. We also saw a northern harrier flying by the pond at the cup de sac. We stopped at the 180th street marsh on the way home and saw only some coots, a muskrat and 3 red tailed hawks. Here is a link to a few photos from today. I wish they were better but i”m grateful to get what I got. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/13570514105/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids. 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] Red Breasted Merganser at the Coon Rapids Dam
Hi Everyone I spent some time this morning looking at one of the Snowy’s in Ramsey. He was sitting on a pine tree near the cell tower. There were several of us there. I was hoping to see a horned lark like I did a few weeks ago up there but no luck. Next I went to the Coon Rapids Dam. ON the Brooklyn Park side I saw half a dozen common mergansers and a few goldeneye then I saw the Red Breasted Merganser. I was with Gary Swanson the naturalist at the CRD yesterday and we spotted him from the Coon Rapids side but the only place that you can see him from that side is down near the pavilion so today I wanted to get closer. I got several photos most of them kind of dark. One of the better photos is at this link.http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/12974000233/ I understand that someone actually reported seeing him a few weeks ago so he might stick around. Ron 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] Snowy Owl with transmitter
Hi This was the first time I’ve been back to the Ramsey snowy owls since the transmitter was put on one of them. We found two snowy’s today. One near the cell tower and the second with the help of an alert birder that we ran into. on the south side of highway ten about half a mile south and east of the cell tower. I was using my old camera but my shot at least showed the transmitter on the owl. We did not see a third snowy and we covered the area pretty well for over an hour. Here is a link to the snowy with the transmitter. We also saw a horned lark in the field between the town houses and Coborn’s. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/with/12617396355/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] Possibly 3 Snowy Owls in Ramsey
Hi Birders Some of you might remember a few days ago that a woman named Monica asked if anyone would take her out and show her a Snowy Owl. Well I volunteered and this morning we met up in Ramsey near the Cell tower. Actually she got there early and spotted that one Snowy that’s been hanging around the cell tower before I arrived. I think that one is a juvenile. When I got there I saw the snowy landing atop a pine tree . Monica and I got some photos then I asked her if she was interested in looking for the other snowy and she said she would. We drove to all the usual spots where the other one has been seen including around Coborn’s and the field just north of there but without any luck. Finally I spotted one atop a house just north of the field . By the time we got near it it had flown to the field just south of the houses. We watched it for a while then it took off and flew a block west to some other houses then it headed back towards us and the houses we were near and out of nowhere another one joined up with it and they seemed to make physical contact on the side of a house. I ran around trying to see where they went and they had both disappeared from my sight but Monica saw it too and saw them flying back west again towards the other houses so we got into our cars and followed them but we had lost them . We then went back to the first snowy that we saw and he was still there in the pine tree resting near the cell tower on the other side of Armstrong. I realize that it’s not proof but Monica agreed that it was very likely that there are at least three snowy’s in that area. I hung around a bit longer after Monica left and found one back at the houses on the east side of Armstrong seemingly hiding behind a roof and then back to the cell tower where that one was now sitting next to the road so I got some nice photos of him. Here is a link to photos of two of them, I never got a photo of the third one. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] Two Snowy's in Maple Grove
Hi I don’t know if this has been reported yet but my friend Travis and I saw two snowy’s in Maple Grove this morning. I had been on there a couple of times before and didn’t see any but this morning we saw two. The first one was to the right or facing south on Jonquile road and 82nd near where the houses are being built. . I would say that this was the juvenile reported earlier. Several people were out there with us then someone saw another one on the north side of the road on a snow hill. It then flew westerly and landed a hundred yards on a snow mound. We watched and photographed him for a while then he flew back to the hill near a road where we first saw him. The other one was still in place where we first saw him so there were definitely two of them. Here is the link to my photos and I do Id them as first and second Snowy. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ 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] Update on Snowy in Ramsey
I got this update just minutes ago and was asked to pass it on on that snowy in Ramsey off of Armstrong ave and 147th that I reported on yesterday. Here is the email Ron Taube Coon Rapids Ron, My father, Ken Oulman, sent me your message this morning. I am a Naturalist at Eastman Nature Center. I just wanted to update you on the Snowy Owl. I saw it this morning at 8:00. My 12 year old daughter was the one who actually saw it first. It was sitting on as light pole in the round-about on Sunwood Dr. that leads into Coborns, east of Armstrong. I went back with my co-workers at 9am and it was still sitting on the same spot. We watched it for a while and then it got spooked and flew and landed on a house north of Bunker Lake Blvd. Would you be able to pass this update to the MOU alert? Thanks and Happy Birding! Vicky Wachtler Interpretive Naturalist Eastman Nature Center Three Rivers Park District 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] Snowy In Anoka County seen again
I spent the morning trying to relocate the snowy owl off of 147th and Armstrong in Ramsey that I saw on Sunday. After forty five minutes of looking around the cell tower and areas adjacent to that I drove east across Armstrong and near a mall where there is a Gym and pizza place. On the corner of Sunwood Drive and Zeolite street sat the Snowy preening himself on a light pole next to the street sign and sitting comfortably in the sun. I stayed with him for over an hour then he flew south and sat in the snow overlooking highway 10 then ten minutes later he flew back to a pole right across the street from where I first saw him. I took many photos. Was trying to get a shot of him flying and just as he took off my cell phone rang and it was enough to distract me from a good shot. This was the first time he flew so after he returned to the other pole I watched him another ten to fifteen minutes then I took off. As I was turning left onto Armstrong I saw some birders that were watching the Cell tower so I drove over and told them about the snowy on the pole and they followed me back to it. We were watching it for a few minutes then a young woman saw us and asked me how long the bird had been there and I said well over an hour maybe two and she said that she had just seen one atop of the cell tower almost a mile away. So maybe we have two Snowy’s. I drove back there again and it wasn’t there but I suppose it is possible that there are two. I uploaded three new photos athttp://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/ Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] Snowy owl in Anoka County
I want to thank the people who posted this owl in Anoka County especially Rebecca Field who I ran into at the sight and pointed it out to me. For anyone interested one of my photos of it is at this link. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/11784102984/ I love this website. Ron Taube 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] Ross's Goose
Hi I saw the Ross’s goose on the water near the Theodore Wirth golf course with about 50 Canada Geese yesterday between 12:30 and 1P..m. and got decent photos of him. There is a paved trail that you can take from just north of the Golf Course main building. After a mile or so you come to a footbridge and he and the Canada’s were sitting along the channel there. If you want to see a photo check out this link. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/10949786615/ I want to thank the people before me who have posted this . I went out to Hopkins twice trying to see the one there but never did. Ron Taube Coon Rapids 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] Coon Rapids Dam today
Hi I spent five hours at the dam. It won't be long before the walkway will be closed for two years on April 15th. I saw many species. On the Coon Rapids side I saw an immature bald eagle in a tree with a red tailed hawk. Then I saw pied billed grebes, horned grebe and eared grebe, thanks to someone with a great spotting scope. There were many scaup greater and lesser, and bufflehead, a few ruddy ducks still around, thousands of coots, ring necked ducks, another red tailed hawk, goldeneye, mallards, I did not see any red heads or canvasback but I'm pretty sure I saw a northern Shoveler. On the Brooklyn park side we saw our first Osprey back at the nest. There was a pair that looked like the same as last year and they were mating. The male was banded but I couldn't be sure of the band. I also saw a Merlin and several Golden Crowned Kinglets near the shore line. I bumped a flicker, my first of the year while getting photos of the kinglets. I saw another red tailed hawk on the old osprey platform. By the way on the Coon Rapids side of the dam there has been what looks like an injured Trumpeter swan for the last several days. He seems to be nursing his right wing and I have not seen him fly yet. Ron Taube Coon Rapids Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
