I was able to spend several hours birding southwest of Northfield late this morning and early afternoon. I started at a regular stop, Wells Lake (Rice County), which continues to host a good variety of waterfowl. In addition to 3 Common Loons, I found Gadwalls, Mallards, Northern Shovelers, Ring-necked Ducks, Lesser Scaups (largest number), Buffleheads, Hooded and Common Mergansers, Ruddy Ducks, Pied-billed Grebes, Double-crested Cormorants, Great Blue Herons, and tons of American Coots. No Greater White-fronted Geese, though. Where are the huge flocks we saw last year?!
Then I headed down to Sakatah Lake. Dark-eyed Juncos lined the edges of the roads everywhere, foraging in the bit of grass and gravel that was exposed from snow cover. In a flooded ditch along MN 60 I noticed a number of robins splashing around, so I stopped to see if there might be anything else. A little scanning with the binoculars turned up two Rusty Blackbirds, a Wilson’s Snipe, and 6 Hermit Thrushes along the edge of the water, and an Eastern Phoebe in the trees. At Sakatah Lake (from the Hwy 13 causeway at Waterville, Le Sueur County) I found many of the same waterfowl species as at Wells, plus some Redheads and 15 American White Pelicans. The waterfowl in largest numbers were Lesser Scaups, Canvasbacks, and American Coots. I also saw my FOY Osprey, which plunged into the lake and came up with a small fish. I was surprised to see a Ring-billed Gull briefly give chace. On the way back to Northfield, I decided to turn off I-35 at the CR1 exit. After stopping to look at some sparrows (American Tree Sparrows and a Vesper Sparrow) mixed in with a flock of Dark-eyed Juncos, I noticed a flock of birds in the air about 100 yards ahead. When I drove up along the shoulder I found about 150 Lapland Longspurs in beautiful breeding plumage foraging in the cornfield near the road. About 30 Horned Larks soon joined them. Every time a car or truck drove past, the flock would rise in the air, flutter around like a snow squall, and settle down again as they always do, and eventually I noticed that a flock of about 50 Snow Buntings had come in as well. What a treat, to see both Lapland Longspurs and Snow Buntings in breeding plumage! There are lots of birds to see out there. You just have to get out! Good birding to all. Gerry Hoekstra Northfield ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
