Perhaps rarer than any shorebirds in Ramsey County is the presence of a flooded ag field, as the only ones (that I know of) are the experimental fields located on the north side of the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota. At the northern edge of these fields on the south side of Roselawn Ave. between Snelling and Fairview Aves. there is a significant amount of standing water that until today had looked good but attracted no shorebirds. Then this afternoon I was excited to find a Killdeer standing at the edge of the water, which is probably the most excited I've been about finding a Killdeer anywhere in the Twin Cities for a long time. The Killdeer is most likely one of the local nesters, but given the number of recent shorebird reports I wonder if this spot just might attract some variety in the coming weeks.
Be aware, though, that Roselawn is a busy street surrounded by little shoulder room on either side, and the flooded fields are not far from the road which might significantly deter bird use. I suppose if one wanted to spend time at this location he or she could park somewhere in the nearby neighborhoods and walk on the sidewalk on the south side of the road. Bob Dunlap -- Robert Dunlap Graduate Research Assistant Natural Resources Science and Management University of Minnesota Hodson Hall 1980 Folwell Avenue St. Paul, MN 55108 Email: dunla...@umn.edu ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
