This past weekend I had the pleasure of taking the Minnesota Young Birders Club out on their first field trip. We had a great time.
We started at the Bass Ponds and were rewarded with a great view of a Great Blue Heron as soon as we arrived at the bottom of the hill. It was fun to see one this time of year. There were 5 Trumpeter swans present, 3 in the large open pond and 2 on the "river" side where the pond outlet keeps the water open. Also present were Mallards and two Hooded Mergansers. There were a number of Canada Geese there. One of them seemed smaller, possibly a lesser Canada Goose but not small enough to be called a Cackling Goose. It was hanging out with the mallards but clearly larger than them. There were no birds at the beaver dam. Also at the bass ponds were multiple singing and calling chickadees, cardinals, downy woodpeckers, and white-breasted nuthatches. We did not re-locate a brown creeper I had seen there earlier in the week and the morning doves were absent as well. We did spot at least three bald eagles flying overhead and perching in the trees. Our next stop was the Black Dog Lake outlet. We saw Canada Geese, a large raft of ring-necked ducks (approx. 100) and small groups of Common Mergansers. Mixed in with the Ring-necked ducks were two Canvasbacks, a handful of Common Goldeneyes and one Ruddy Duck. Bald Eagles, Crows and Cardinals were also present. We also found at total of 6 Hooded Mergansers, some on the lake, some on the river. Our last stop was the High Bridge in St. Paul. Both peregrine falcons were present. The kids were able to witness one returning to the bridge with prey. While at the site we also spotted a Red-tailed Hawk just upriver closer to the power plant. Five Bald eagles were kettling in the sky, Canada Geese were on the river and 10 crows were keeping an eye on the hawk. As we left we saw our last bird, an American Kestrel sitting in a tree along Shepard Road close to the high bridge. As we drove around the cities we also saw Rock Pigeons, Starlings and English House Sparrows. The youth had a great time and members of the club are forming a team for next month's Youth Big Day Birding Competition as part of the Hastings Area Birding Day on April 20th. ~Kirk Minnesota Young Birders Club Coordinator Lee & Rose Warner Nature Center/Science Museum of Minnesota http://warnernaturecenter.org/youngbirders ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
