The river has flooded much of the bottomlands of Crosby Park and parts east, prompting an exploration of the more developed area along the river. From the section of bike trail west of and parallel to the 35E bridge, one can look down into the streams and wetland that empty into the river. For the second time, I saw a kingfisher fly upstream here, and seemingly disappear in the trees by the bank, directly beneath Shepard Road. With so much water available for fishing and bathing elsewhere, it does seem possible this bird might be there to consider a nesting burrow in the roadside hill. If so, I would love to find it before the foliage fills in---not that that seems a likely event for the near future.
The only birds seen on the rapidly moving currents were a couple of male woodies across from the Lilydale public boat ramp, who took off as soon as I leaned over the bridge (near Otto St.) to admire them. Just then three Great Blue Herons flew over, heading NW. Watching them brought into view the unmistakable flight of a small falcon---a female kestrel landed close by, on a power pole along Shepard, just west of Otto. She was hard put to sit still in the wind, but was sighting on something in the open area to the north, which was where she headed when a crow stopped by. By crossing over onto Otto, I was able to see her again, kiting over the grasses. She did this for several minutes, before dropping swiftly into the brush, presumably to eat, as she didn't appear again. Linda Whyte ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
