[Mnbird] Rice County birding, Sunday, 3/25

linda whyte birds at moosewoods.us
Mon Mar 26 14:35:22 CDT 2018


Sunday marked our annual check of conditions and waterfowl at Wells Lake.
Judging by Alex's report from Old Cedar/Bass Ponds, we may have made the
trek a bit late! Water was well-opened, but wasn't hosting a huge variety
of species. Still, there were many Redheads, Canvasbacks, Scaup,
Golden-eyes, Ring-necks, and Mergansers, both Common and Hooded, in the
mix, along with the usual Coots, Canadas, and Mallards. Also, several Great
Blue Herons were flying about the rookery.
We hiked at River Bend Nature Center, but found no new arrivals there, nor
were there any Red-headed Woodpeckers returned to Nestrand Woods SP as yet.
We did get to enjoy several Kestrels along the way,however.
We then checked Koester Prairie SNA (just west of Dennison) and had some
good luck with raptors. There were two male N. harriers skimming the newly
exposed prairie grasses, as they skirted around the rolling hills. One of
them made a pass following the small stream that empties treated water from
the Dennison wastewater ponds. On the west side of the prairie, a
Rough-legged Hawk was hovering and hunting atop another hill.
In stopping to watch those birds, we had spotted another raptor, high over
the center of the prairie. It was large, and moved in tight circles, with a
slight dihedral angle to the wings. The head did not project noticeably
from the body. It was totally dark in visible color, with no mottling on
the  undersides. Given the season, we thought this might be a migrating
Golden Eagle.
Heading home we encountered a few Kestrels, one of whom was hassling a
Red-tail at Warsaw WMA. We made a quick pass through Randolph Great Western
Industrial Park, where a pair of E. Meadowlarks were singing and checking
out the remaining territory. We'll be anxious to see if they stay, on a
future trek to Byllesby.
Linda & Rob Whyte
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